Back to the Basics

37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

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The Church can be a confusing place, especially for those new to the Faith. This is not only the place where we come to gather and worship God by singing and hearing Gods Word preached. We gather to pray together, receive communion together, grow in our faith and understanding by studying Gods word together in community groups and men’s and women's ministries. We practice Baptism, we give generously to both the church and to world missions, we practice membership which is a means of accountability. we have devotional times of private prayer and bible reading, and we view those around us in our local church as true family members. The church is more than a place we come, a building, or a thing we do, singing giving serving and listening...

We are the Church… we are those who make up the church as those who God has called to himself by the preaching of the Gospel and the Power of his Spirit. And we can’t really come to him unless we are willing to Repent of sinfulness and publicly identify with Christ in his death burial and resurrection.

Being a Christian is not a once or twice a week thing… it is not a western religion… Rather it is a wholistic way of life that starts now and continues through eternity. It is based on the finished work of Christ!

Salvation is received by Grace alone, through Faith alone, in Christ alone, to the Glory of God alone and all this is found in Scripture alone! And it can be complex… yet it is truly simple.

Today as we look at the text my desire is to show us that we need to return back to the basics when it gets too complex...

Many have tried to look at the early church found in Acts and have made statements about how we should be now, and they put all the emphasis on Miracles, signs and wonders, or try calling the church to be a home church model, or even use it as a reason why we can’t have material things if we want to be Christians. I would assert to you that all these thoughts are out of balance and not what we truly see happening in the early church.

There are Basics to our beliefs that we must see and continue to practice. May our hearts be prepared to return to the basics of the church in an effort to see it continue until the Lord himself shall come back for her. Lets look at the text!

Acts 2:37–39 ESV

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For those of you who were not here last week and didn’t get to listen to it online yet, what we saw is that Peter preached the Gospel to this large crowd and he preached a Crucified and resurrected Jesus. we shared the the Gospel doesn’t just Grow you, First the Gospel wins you...

It was a reminder to Preach the Gospel and evangelize this world as part of the mission of God.

What we see before us today is what the response to preaching the Gospel brings. the Basics of becoming a Christian. So what are they?

In vs 37 we see that they Hear the Gospel being preached… Let’s not assume the obvious.

The Gospel is not a thing to do, but a Message to be Proclaimed

If we are preaching a gospel that declares we need to DO things, then it isn’t the Gospel. The Gospel is a message that Screams DONE! Christ did for us what we could not do for ourselves… And the reward of HIS work is freely given to those who believe it! And this is because God is good not be cause we are good. In Fact the Bible tells us that we are sinful and we are not good, yet Christ dies for us while we were still sinners! This is Good News and it is the message of the Gospel!

Let us never assume the Gospel… What I mean is lets not pretend that everyone knows this and that we ever need to move on from it, as if it is only the message that saves us but then we move on to deeper things. there are not deeper truths than the God who saves his undeserving people by pure Grace.

Tim Keller says it best this way… “The Gospel is not the A,B,C’s: Rather it is the A-Z’s of our Faith”

We never move away from the Gospel!

So in Vs. 37 we see that they Hear the Gospel and this causes them to be “Cut to the Heart”, meaning they are truly broken over their sin! If you heard the Gospel and were indifferent to it, you probably didn’t receive it, you just agreed with it. Becoming a Christian means first become broken over your sin and seeing that you are in need of a Savior. They were “cut to their hearts” and this caused them to ask, “what must we do”.

When the Gospel is preached people will almost feel hopeless because their need is so great for God’s forgiveness… Yet there is nothing we can do… we cannot do anything to earn a right for our sins to be forgiven… But we must acknowledge that. We need to be honest about our Sin. Sin is the bad news. We are guilty of Sinning against God. Yet the Gospel is good news. So how does this work together???

The Bad news is the backdrop to the Good News

Only Sinners need a Savior… and God has provided one for them in Christ!

We can be forgiven in Christ when we believe on him and in his work on our behalf when he was crucified.

So what must we do? what must you do? what must they do, when they first hear the Gospel being preached?

REPENT! Turn from your sinful ways and turn towards Christ! Forsake your former life and receive a new life in Christ!

Vs 38 say to Repent, meaning publicly acknowledge your sin and need for Christ and by Gods Spirit empowering you, no longer live doing the same sinful things.

Repent and be Baptized. Baptism is a command for believers that signifies Several things

Baptism signifies a cleansing and remission of sins, it signifies us being made new or regenerated by the Holy Spirit, it signifies us publicly identifying with Christs death, burial, and resurrection, being adopted into the family of God, and being sanctified by the Holy Spirit. In Short Baptism is one of the Signs of the New Covenant God has made with us through the work of Christ. We are commanded to be baptized by scripture and this is an act of obedience by people who profess Faith in Christ.

Baptism itself does not save, Only Jesus saves… But Baptism is a sign of us accepting this salvation and identifying publicly with Christ.

“We do not need to be baptized to be saved, but if we are saved, then we will get baptized.” Al Mohler

Now for some in this room there is some tension because you come from a background or tradition that baptizes babies or young children. I would first say to you that you are very welcome in this church even though we practice what is called Credo-Baptism is the practice of Baptizing only those who are able to make a credible profession of Faith. It is also called believers Baptism.

While Living water is a church that practices CredoBaptism you are welcome here and even into membership if you are PaedoBaptist, as long as you have been baptized or are willing to get baptized.

Living water is a Credo Baptist church but we are paedo-baptist friendly… meaning we do not teach or practice paedo baptism...but we will not place someone under discipline [for holding that view]. It’s a significant doctrinal issue, but secondary. And though we view it as a secondary matter, some brothers and sisters might be very uncomfortable sitting under teaching that is decidedly believers-baptism-only and where their church leaders refuse to baptize infants.

So they they were instructed to Repent, Be Baptized. The understanding they are given is that they should do this because Jesus is God and he forgives sin, and when sin is forgiven and we are made new, the Holy Spirit dwells in us… This is a promise given all through scripture that is now fulfilled and this is for all that God would call to himself.

I would also be quick to point out that while you can see some of the doctrines of Grace here, things like the doctrine of election - all those who God calls to himself, Limited atonement - the forgiveness of sins, etc...

there is no need to push these to forefront of our evangelizing. These teachings can come later in discipleship as one is made new and starts to understand HOW God saves us and keeps. The important thing to see is that the Gospel call goes out and those God saves will have a response.

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Acts 2:40 ESV

40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”

Notice that Luke, the writer of Acts, is telling us that Peter’s sermon was longer than what we have before us here in scripture but this is exactly what we need to know about what he said. All of what we have is important to the Gospel message and one other thing...

Save yourself from this crooked generation… Now to be sure Peter was not saying that there is something we can do to Save ourselves outside of repenting and believing in Christ. What he is saying here is that there is a difference from God’s children he saves and this world that is a crooked generation. This becomes a common phrase meant to show contrast between gods people and those who reject Gods grace. It was first seen in the OT when moses is giving his final address to the children of Israel in

Deuteronomy 32:5 ESV

5 They have dealt corruptly with him; they are no longer his children because they are blemished; they are a crooked and twisted generation.

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Moses says people Gods creation is now corrupt and twisted, they are blemished by sin and now crooked.

this is a sentiment that Paul repeats in his teaching to the Philippians about being different from the rest of the people in the world.

Philippians 2:14–15 ESV

14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

So when Peter is saying they save themselves from this crooked generation, he is appealing to them to cry out to Jesus in making them different from the rest of this broken world. Peter is simply pointing out the sinfulness of all of humanity and the hope they can have to be saved!

Acts 2:41 ESV

41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

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Now we have no indication that everyone who was there believed and was baptized, but rather only those who recieved his words.

And of those who were there… 3,000 believed and were baptized.

Gods church is now being established as it expands from 120 to 3,000 in just 10 days and an instant.

What should these new believers now do? what will be the norm for the church, and what are the basics that must be started for this newly founded body of believers???

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Acts 2:42 ESV

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

From this one verse we can see 4 ways that the church can be healthy and stable. these are foundations and basics to Christianity and the Church. What do we see here?

Teaching God’s word

Fellowship of the believers

Partaking of Communion

Prayer

Al Mohler said, “If any of these components are missing, there is a critical problem with the church’s health”

We would affirm that these are the basics a church should be familiar with in all of its gatherings.

But lets look at each of these a little closer...

A Healthy Church Teaches the Word of God

To say they were devoted to the Apostles teaching means they were committed to knowing God more through what the Apostels taught them. These men had spent 3 yrs with Jesus and had much to teach others about what it meant to be made new in Christ. And while we do not have Apostles nowadays, what we do have is exactly what these apostles taught people… We have Scripture which is a collection of letters that the Apostles wrote to teach people.

So churches today can still be devoted to the Apostles teaching. We call it the Bible and the New Testament… It is God’s Word, and we believe it was written by men who were inspired by the Holy Spirit, so it is God speaking to us.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

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As far as the early church was concerned they were devoted to the Word and they prioritized it in their gatherings.

No Church can be healthy if it is not devoted to the Exposition of the Word of God. The word Exposition means to expose or uncover…

We believe in expository preaching… In Mark Dever’s book the Nine Marks of Healthy church he defines it like this.

“Expositional Preaching is preaching in service to the Word. It presumes a belief in the authority of Scripture - that the Bible is actually God’s Word; but it is something much more than that. A commitment to expositional preaching is a commitment to hearing God’s Word! Not just to affirm that it is God’s Word but to Submit to it!”

The early church held to the teaching of God’s word and so do we...

A Healthy Church is Committed to the Fellowship of Believers

We see they were devoted to the Apostles teaching and Fellowship. Fellowship is important to the life of the church, and it is more than just showing up regularly, though it is at least that...

Fellowship is not a superficial gathering where people do not know anybody else but they come out of a sense of duty or to get fed and refreshed… Although that is a low standard or a starting place.

Fellowship in the church is based on a believers love for God and love for other Believers.

John 13:35 ESV

35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

It was exactly this kind of love that was displayed when they continually fellowshipped with each other and were motivated to sell possessions in order to meet the needs of other believers around them.

Christians should have mutual love and accountability for each other that they don’t share with the world around them who do not believe. this is one of the reason that membership is important because it ensure some sort of a standard in participating with oversight and humility.

Fellowship is born out of Sustained teaching and exposition of Scripture as we learn to Submit to Gods Word.

Mohler said, “Fellowship can only be distinctly Christian if it gathers around God’s Word”

WE are committed to the Fellowship of believers at Living Water!

A Healthy Church is Committed to The Lord’s Supper

The term Breaking of Bread here mean Communion or the Lord’s supper.

The early disciples committed themselves to the Lord’s Supper or the Breaking of Bread. The Lord’s Supper is one of 2 ordinances we have in the church, meaning these are things That Christ Himself told us to continue. Baptism and Communion are both signs of the New Covenant God made with man Thru Christ.

The Lord’s supper is meant for Gathering of God’s people to Visually remind each other and proclaim together the Gospel of Jesu Christ!

We could more about this but for now we will leave it at a healthy church is committed to the Lord’s supper.

A Healthy Church is Committed to Prayer

These early believers not only were taught, and fellowshipped, they not only broke bread together, but they prayed together.

Prayer is essential to the life of a Believer and it is essential to the life of a church!

Christs’ church prays corporately together and always has and always will.

We have pre-service prayer, opening prayer, prayer after singing, prayer before preaching, prayer at the conclusion of the message, and a sending prayer at the end of the gathering.

The truth is, I believe we could use more prayer.

We read lots of scripture and we pray a lot. If we are guilty of being Word heavy and prayer heavy, I am fine with that, because they are earmarks of the Christian church.

If we are going to be an authentic church like the early church was, we will be devoted to teaching God’s word, the fellowship of believers, receiving the Lord’s supper and praying together!

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Acts 2:42–43 ESV

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

Notice that Awe came on them as more signs and wonders are being done. Remember they have no written word as we do, so they need to have their message validated by God through the miracles that were happening. And this caused the church to be in AWE of GOD.

God’s kingdom was truly inaugurated and was constantly being validated to them in assurance.

Acts 2:44 ESV

44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common.

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Now to say they had all things in common did not mean they all liked the same kinds of food, music and style. It means that they had Unity with each other. They shared a common experience because they shared the same God, and the same Savior and the same Holy Spirit.

We, like them should be displaying the same unity with each other because we who are believers share the same God, the same Savior and the same Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:45 ESV

45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.

Unified by the Holy Spirit, the early church was sensitive to the needs of others and voluntarily gave to meet those needs.

Notice that there is no talk of them being coerced into selling possessions, but rather it was an outflow from their unity and common experience. They were compassionate with each other and generous in their giving.

A Healthy Church is a Generous Church

Why is this important? Because it shows a change of heart that was uncommon before they had been a part of God’s family.

We have no record that says this was common of the time period, for people to gather up and sell stuff to help others, yet once they encounter the Risen Savior and the fellowship of of other believers on a regular basis we see a heart change and a generous church emerges!

All of the sudden these people aren’t just working for themselves to be taken care of, but there is an awareness of other believers needs and they decide that they can help meet the needs of their new family!

As much as we want to be a generous church with blessing those who don’t know the Lord so that they may have a softened heart to hear the Gospel and believe, it starts within the family taking care of each other.

A Church that is generous with each other is an attractive place for those who are truly hurting and in need of saving! Should we give to the Poor? Absolutely! But not if we aren’t willing to help each other.

Listen it is not a suckers choice… it is not one or the other… it is both, and...

The early church was a generous church because they had a changed heart! Do we?

Acts 2:46 ESV

46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,

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If ever there was a great verse for us to show you your need to be in what we call community groups here at Living Water… it is this one.

Notice the early church met day by day… not just once a week. They were in each others lives, they attended church together, and they ate together. that term breaking bread here is different from before where it was talking about the Lord’s Supper. this time it was talking about them inviting each other into their homes to share meals. That is why it says they recieved food...

A Healthy Church meets often and has True Community

they were in the habit of being together. For them they needed each other because they had all left their old religion behind. while there was many of them there was a lot more who disagreed with them, some of whom were responsible for Christs death. So they needed true community because they were not welcome in there old circles.

The more they could meet the better. and look at their attitude when they met in each others homes. they recieved food with Glad and generous hearts!

A Healthy Church is a Hospitable church

they opened their homes to each other and ate together and were generous to each other. They got to know each other and shared their lives and possessions with each other.

This is what we want to see our Community groups grow into.

We are all too busy in our own lives and we need to be in the habit of meeting and eating and sharing with each other. Helping each other and caring for each other. If you are not in a community group, then get in one. if your group doesn’t look like this, then help it become this kind of a place where you can be known and know others.

Acts 2:47 ESV

47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Look at how they did this and how God showed them favor in that...

Acts 2:46–47 ESV

46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Everyone seems to want church growth results and extraordinary experiences in order to sustain and promote the Faith, yet what we see is that God gives the growth as he adds to their number those that are being saved.

This tells me 2 things. First that God is constantly saving people, which means that in order to see that happen God’s people need to be preaching the Gospel constantly.

and Secondly that this is a daily activity and not a one time or once a year things that happens.

As God’s people live out the Gospel and preach it to others around them, God saves people.

As God’s people live in community with each other, the world sees something different than what they don’t have. The church then grows as God’s people preach and the Holy Spirit draws people to hear the Gospel that is being preached.

So God brings the growth!

A Healthy Church is a Growing Church

This is not to say that the more people the better. but it should be a problem if the church never grows. We see that God brings the growth and we believe that God saves people because the Gospel Wins hearts when it is preached. If the church never grows, it may be because the believers that attend do not preach the Gospel and are living out the Gospel in front of others in the world.

Now we can go through season where there isn’t numerical growth and that is fine as long as God’s people are growing in Grace and hospitable with each other. Growing in love for one another and care for one another, but at some point that must have the outgrowth of sharing Christ with the lost around them.

Whenever the Gospel is preached God will add people… Now not every time it is preached, but one thing for sure is that if it is never preached, there will not be opportunity for those to hear and so be saved.

So how do we apply this today?

If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, please know that he died to include you in a family that will love you and stick by you. As you hear of the life he lived and death he died, which was an innocent death. as you hear of his crucifixion of the cross, know that he did that for you and for me. If you believe that then Repent of your Sin, turn from it and come to him today. Be adopted into his family and make yourself known to us so we can receive you with joy!

For those of us who have been in Christ for a while let me ask you a few questions...

What makes a healthy Church? Are we committed to being a healthy church? does an unhealthy church glorify God?

Can we preach better? YES

Can we Fellowship better?YES

Can we participate in the Lord’s Supper more often? YES

Can we more regularly together? YES

Should we be meeting more than once a week? YES

Can we be more generous with each other? YES

Can we be more hospitable with each other? YES

Can we open our homes and lives to each other more? YES

Is it up to us to make the church grow? NO

God does that as we stay committed and devoted to him and each other!

Let’s pray together!

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