This is Church Week 8: This is How We Do It

Tyler Harris

Sermon • Submitted 6 months ago • Presented 6 months ago

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Recap

Last week we celebrated the day the church was born!

Pentecost was when the gospel message went public and the beginning of world transformation happened.

We celebrated more than a historical event…we celebrated a present opportunity

Many responded to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit last week

Today we’re going to Acts 2:42-47 and having a conversation entitled: This is how we do it.

If you didn’t have a soundtrack go off in your mind you didn’t listen to R&B in the 90’s or watch any movies from the 90’s for that matter.

INTRO: From Outpouring to Outworking

Peter stands up and preaches

The next forty verses give us a picture of this former coward named Peter who stands up in front of this world wide audience and proclaims the gospel of Jesus.

Peter didn’t get better than Andrew…Peter got better than Peter

Being filled with the Holy Spirit doesn’t make me better than you…being filled with the Holy Spirit makes me better than me.

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MISSION > MICROPHONE

The eleven stood with Peter…unwavered by who got to do the talking as long as the message got preached.

When mission becomes the focus…who’s holding the microphone becomes irrelevant.

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Now what?

He preaches this message and a lot of people get saved…BUT THAT WASN’T THE END

This was just the first paragraph of the first chapter!

Pentecost was not the finish line—it was the starting line.

3,000 souls saved in one sermon… but now what?

Acts 2:42–47 answers that question.

This is a portion of scripture where we transition from descriptive to prescriptive.

Acts 2:42–47 NLT

42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. 43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

The Spirit didn’t just empower an event; He created a new environment.

What does it look like when the Holy Spirit isn't just present—but preeminent?

Acts 2:42-47 shows us some of the characteristics of a church who is functioning as God intended for the New Testament church to function.

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1. Devoted to Doctrine

Acts 2:42 NLT

42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.

"Devoted" (Gk: proskartereō) = steadfastly attentive, unrelenting.

They weren’t chasing novelty—they were clinging to truth.

Our culture is ravished with the pursuit of creativity and what’s new

WE ARE ADDICTED TO WORSHIP MUSIC

I’m baffled by the doctrinal ignorance of some of the worship music I hear

When the enemy attacks…don’t fight with a song…FIGHT WITH THE WORD!

You can’t fight with what your not familiar with.

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Commited to a message…Open to new methods

The early church was hated because Everything about the way people did communion with God was shifting.

This is why many of the apostles gave their life

They were challenging established norms and traditions.

We will do ministry with new methodology…because the method doesn’t matter that much…but the message must remain the same.

IF THE METHOD COMPROMISES THE MESSAGE THAN THE METHOD IS WRONG!

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The teaching

What was The apostles' teaching =

the gospel of Jesus,

the story of Scripture,

the commands of Christ.

These are elements that are to build upon one another and create a systematic life change in each and every hearer.

In the kingdom…Teaching isn’t meant to be just informational—it is meant to be transformational.

The Word of God is not intended to simply increase our intelligence…it is intended to increase our holiness!

LOOK AT YOUR NEIGHBOR AND SAY IT SHOULD CHANGE YOU!

You won’t be changed by what you only minimally partake on…

Dietary lessons

I learned I could eat almost anything…if I didn’t eat very much of it.

When I partake of it in bulk…it adds bulk to me!

The key to being transformed by the Word is not to snack on Scripture— feast on it.

🔥 Bottom Line: If we are going to be a Spirit-filled church….We must be Word-filled. You can’t have Pentecost power without apostolic grounding.

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2. Connected in Community

Acts 2:46 NLT

46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—

The earliest manifestation of a Spirit filled church was the fact that they loved to be together.

If you don’t love God’s church…You’re not full of God’s Spirit!

Why do we push connect groups…Prayer nights…Serving on a team…etc?

Because we are taking the knowledge of the early church and understanding the necessity of community.

Fellowship (koinōnia) = partnership, communion, shared life.

They didn’t just sit in rows; they sat around tables.

Deep connection is hard to establish in church services.

I’ve never made a close friend inside of a sanctuary…

But I’ve made a lot of close friends at Mcdonald’s after the service was over.

Breaking bread together is one of the greatest connection tools in the world.

ALL OF THIS TO SAY: If you are living life alone and in isolation…that’s a choice.

Understand, i’m not saying that in order to be Spirit filled you have to be an extrovert.

You don’t have to have a large community…but you do need to have a community.

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This was meant to be personal…not private

Many people believe they can walk their faith out in private..

I can study the Word by myself

I can worship by myself

I can pray by myself

All of this is true...but you can’t

Call out your own error

Hold yourself accountable

Challenge yourself on your blindspots

The early church shows us that Christianity was meant to be deeply personal but never private.

🔥 Bottom Line: Revival is sustained not just by services, but by relationships.

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3. Passionate about Prayer

Acts 2:42 NLT

42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.

Prayer wasn’t an accessory—it was non negotiable.

It wasn't occasional—it was devotional.

Prayer was their first response, not their last resort.

They weren’t trying to manufacture results—they were cultivating dependence.

The key to truly being a person commited to prayer is being more interested in enacting the practice than in receiving the benefits.

We often grow cold in our prayer life when we pray with the results in mind.

If you are only commited to prayer so long as God moves on your behalf because of the prayer…

when God’s timing doesn’t line up with yours…you will grow weary and give up.

A commitment to prayer has to be based on maintaining proximity not enacting productivity

🔥 Bottom Line: The church moves at the pace of its prayer life.

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4. Marked by Miracles

Acts 2:43 NLT

43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.

“Awe” = reverent fear, holy wonder.

This should be a place that strikes awe of God and wonder of how did he do that in our hearts…

It is important that we understand that the church is intended to be a place marked by miracles.

But the miracles are dependent on the motivation.

If we are simply pursuing the miracles so we can have a sickness be gone…or have a good show or a merit badge to wear…WE’RE MISSING THE POINT.

Miracles were not magic tricks—they were divine signs that authenticated the message and confirmed the Messiah.

The awe they were experiencing wasn’t just about the supernatural acts,

It was about the fact that the God of all creation was moving in their midst

If you’re looking for a sense of validation…there is no greater validation than the fact that the God of the universe moves in our midst on a regular basis!

Their awe wasn’t only based on supernatural acts…but the supernatural atmosphere.

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Presence over power

Are you more commited to the proxmity of the savior than we are the power of the signs?

In seasons where I don’t see the effects of his Power am I content to rest in the promise of His presence?

The old song..”just to be close to thee.”

When we prioritize presence over power, awe returns to the house.

5. Given to Generosity

Acts 2:44–45 NLT

44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.

They sold possessions not out of obligation, but overflow.

We are not having a deed commitment session at the end of the service

Nobody asked them to sell their property…they did so because they were overwhelmed with love for the movement.

They were so overwhelmed by what God was doing in the house of God that they would rather invest in it than their own house!

This wasn’t forced socialism—it was voluntary Spirit-led generosity.

Their generosity was not driven by guilt but by grace.

I don’t ever want to manipulate someone into giving…I even hesitate to talk about the “robbed God” part of tithing.

THERE IS SOMETHING POWER WHEN YOU GIVE NOT BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO…BUT BECAUSE IT OPENS UP INCREDIBLE DOORS IN YOUR WALK WITH GOD!

When you are living in generosity…you are marked by joy!

🔥 Bottom Line: When the Spirit gets a hold of your heart, He often loosens your grip on your stuff.

Generosity is not an act of the wealthy…it’s an act of the obedient.

6. Obsessed with the Outsider

Acts 2:47 NLT

47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

Their marketing was non existent…

They didn’t grow because of mailers…or ads…or cards…

They grew because the effectiveness of the gospel was evident in their lives!

Their lives were so attractive that outsiders leaned in.

The growth of the early church was rampant because the adherents were not commited to a weekly gathering…but a daily lifestyle!

The Spirit birthed a movement that was daily, not just weekly.

Evangelism wasn’t a program—it was the overflow of a powerful community.

The community wasn’t just powerful because of the commitment of those on the inside…It was powerful because of the inviting nature towards those on the outside.

THEY ADDED TO THEIR FELLOWSHIP.

New believers were immediately introduced to the same level of community as years long followers.

🔥 Bottom Line: You don’t have to beg people to join a church that’s alive—healthy things grow.