Devoted

Title: Devoted to a Growing Church

What this is all about: Devotion

What I want you to know: You can only be devoted to one thing

Series: Acts of Harvest

Text:

Date: January 21, 2018

Pastor Mike Ellis

Introduction:

Today we are going to continue in our Acts of Harvest series.

We are looking in the book of Acts at the actions taken to harvest the fields in which Jesus spoke about in the gospels.

John 4:35 CSB

“Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, and then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready for harvest.

Last week spoke about the start of the church, and how it came to be.

Today we are going to speak about what the early church looked like.

Let’s read

Acts 2:41–47 CSB

So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

Devotion (verse 42)

Devote means to give all or at least a large part of time or resources to something.

It did not always mean something in the positive.

The understanding of the word devoted comes from the Greek word anathema that was translated from the Hebrew word cherem.

The word refers to booty taken in a holy war that must be thoroughly destroyed (; ).

Leviticus 27:28 CSB

“Nothing that a man permanently sets apart to the Lord from all he owns, whether a person, an animal, or his inherited landholding, can be sold or redeemed; everything set apart is especially holy to the Lord.

Deuteronomy 20:10–18 CSB

“When you approach a city to fight against it, make an offer of peace. If it accepts your offer of peace and opens its gates to you, all the people found in it will become forced laborers for you and serve you. However, if it does not make peace with you but wages war against you, lay siege to it. When the Lord your God hands it over to you, strike down all its males with the sword. But you may take the women, dependents, animals, and whatever else is in the city—all its spoil—as plunder. You may enjoy the spoil of your enemies that the Lord your God has given you. This is how you are to treat all the cities that are far away from you and are not among the cities of these nations. However, you must not let any living thing survive among the cities of these people the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. You must completely destroy them—the Hethite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite—as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that they won’t teach you to do all the detestable acts they do for their gods, and you sin against the Lord your God.

3.

The total destruction of this booty showed that it was being completely turned over to God. In the NT, “anathema” has two seemingly opposite meanings. It means gifts dedicated to God as well as something cursed.

Luke 21:5 CSB

As some were talking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said,

Paul invoked such a curse on those who did not love the Lord as well as one who preached another gospel other than the gospel of grace.

1 Corinthians 16:22 CSB

If anyone does not love the Lord, a curse be on him. Our Lord, come!

Galatians 1:8–9 CSB

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, a curse be on him! As we have said before, I now say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, a curse be on him!

It is from these uses that anathema has come to mean banned or excommunicated by a religious body. Paul said he was willing to become anathema, cursed and cut off from the Messiah for the benefit of his Jewish brothers.

Romans 9:3 CSB

For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the benefit of my brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood.

We find the early church devoted to four topics and these are not in any particular order.

The first is teaching

The first is teaching

The teaching of the apostles was the instruction of that time, and it is the same today.

We can find their teachings within the Bible.

This teaching is guided and understood only from the Holy Spirit

The second is fellowship

Fellowship is being in close relationships.

This is much more then meeting once a week like the church of today.

This means to be a part of each other’s life to the point of sharing it with one another.

This is also called discipleship.

The only way to disciple someone is to be apart of their life.

Is there anyone in your life that you are discipling right now?

If not, why?

Do you believe that God is all done with Moorcroft Wyoming, that there is not any body left here to disciple?

More and likely if you are not discipling anyone, it is because your devotion is misplaced.

We need be involved in peoples lives.

I do not mean making small talk that we all make with one another about the weather or sporting events, or whatever else we can think of to pass the time.

I mean the important stuff.

Things like, what sins you are struggling with.

Sharing the times of joy as well as heartache.

The deep personal stuff that you think should be held in because someone might judge you.

The third is breaking bread

This is literally sharing meals with one another and while at the same time observing the Lords Supper, or communion.

The idea is that these believers would always to be sure to share their table with other believers.

Something wonderful happens when people share a meal together.

I have never been able to really put words to the idea, but there is something deeply spiritual about sharing a meal with one another.

The fourth is prayer

Prayer is how we communicate with God.

We are taught that we are to prayer with out ceasing, this means that we pray on our own as well as a group.

But this means that we need to get to the real issues of prayer, and above all else it is spiritual.

If more often then not you are praying for the physical, then you should step back and reevaluate what is truly important.

We should be way more concerned about one’s spiritual health then we ever are about their physical health.

The is point of it all.

We are to put others before ourselves, love others as we love ourselves, to love others as Christ loved us.

We are to be about others.

Through discernment we need have an open attitude about people.

Matthew 13:16–17 CSB

“Blessed are your eyes because they do see, and your ears because they do hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see but didn’t see them, to hear the things you hear but didn’t hear them.

Proverbs 18:15 CSB

The mind of the discerning acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks it.

Proverbs 20:12 CSB

The hearing ear and the seeing eye— the Lord made them both.

It is an aspect of love

A great example of this is when Jesus was dying on the cross and He was concerned with His mother and brothers.

John 19:26–27 CSB

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

This is what we strive for.

This is what we should be devoted to

Devotion to anything else is misplaced and there cannot be any true hope found in it.

When we are devoted to the same things, to the same goal, and the same God then we find ourselves being of the same mind and we have all things in common.

All things in common (verse 44)

There has been a lot said about this verse and verses like it.

There have been some that have called this communism and have therefore said they will not be included.

I assure you that this is in fact not communism.

Communism is forced by a government.

What the early church did was never forced and was done on a volunteer bases.

I have always found it interesting though the knee jerk reaction that is seen in the American church.

Even at the slightest hint of something different, people react and jump and down screaming and hollering, throwing a temper-tantrum about how their rights have been violated.

This concept is about perspective.

Yes, as Americans we have rights and privileges

But don’t ever think for one second that your American rights and privileges will ever be an excuse before God.

If God tells you to sell everything and give it the poor and live like others within the church, don’t call it communism.

Call it Christianity.

Remember that it is all about people, its all about the harvest of souls.

That harvesting will lead to us being in the kind of relationship we have been called to, one where we enjoy the love that is shared through Christ.

Enjoying the people (verse 47)

What happens when believers who learn together, fellowship together, break bread together, and pray together?

They grow, and they enjoy one another, they share life together.

That was the intention from the very beginning.

Conclusion:

After becoming Pastor of this congregation, I started praying for God to show me what a healthy church looks like.

In addition to prayer, I sought out this idea through speaking to other pastors, reading books, and any other means in which I could think of.

But it was not until recently that I found the answer.

A healthy, growing church, will only be found within the four often over looked topics that we just discussed.

It starts with the work of the Holy Spirit working in the lives of those who apart of the church.

It continues on with following the guidance of the Spirit into the devotion that is only found with learning, fellowship, breaking bread, and prayer.

What are you devoted to?

It is something.

We all serve something.

No matter how much you say it is one thing, the choices that you make, the way in which you continue to live your life will always show what is true.

You can only be devoted to one thing.

Jesus made that clear when He told us that we can only serve on master.

What do you serve?