The Church

Introductory Questions:

i.What is church?

a) we all know its not a building but people. Gathering of Christians.

If two Christian strangers met at Starbucks is that a church? “two or three are gathered in my name there I am in the midst of them”. Yes to universal church.

b) But remember (from which that quote comes), when Jesus says if your brother sins against you rebuke him privately, if he doesn’t listen bring two/three witnesses, if he still doesn’t repent then tell the church. And if he doesn’t listen to the church then treat him like an outsider.

-“tell the church”? Are we supposed to go to Starbucks and tell every Christian there? Or Facebook every person who’s stated religion is Christianity?

- Here Jesus can’t be referring to the universal church but a local church (our focus today)

c) Some might say they only care about the universal church and not the local church. But that’s like saying you love KFC chicken but you don’t care about the chicken they serve in your regular KFC branch.

-“tell the church”? Are we supposed to go to Starbucks and tell every Christian there? Or Facebook every person who’s stated religion is Christianity? Here Jesus can’t be referring to the universal church but a local church. -Some might say they only care about the universal church and not the local church. But that’s like saying you love KFC chicken but you don’t care about the chicken they serve in your regular KFC branch.

ii.What are essential marks of a church?

- What kind of activities are believers supposed to do when they gather together?

- The Roman Catholics historically believed there is no true church outside the Roman Catholic Church.

- The Protestant Reformers suggested three i.e. right preaching of the Word, right administration of the two Sacraments, and right use of church discipline. Were they right?

iii.What should churches focus on to grow?

Should it be more contemporary music? More fancy lighting? Nothing wrong with that per se.

- Or how about clowns and circuses? Apparently there is one church that used wrestling matches to attract outsiders.

- I believe the answers to both no.2 and no.3 are the same based on our study of the brand new baby church in .

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

-The result from this was the birth of the church.

-The result from this was the birth of the church.

- Tongues of fire appeared above their heads and they could speak in tongues i.e foreign human languages

- Some in the crowd marvel at this, some make fun e.g “they’re drunk”.

b) – Peter steps up to explain they are not drunk (only 9am), this is the gift of the Holy Spirit promised in the OT and fulfilled because Jesus whom they crucified God has resurrected, proving that Jesus is Lord and Messiah, according to the OT.

c) What was the result of this?- Ultimately it is the end result that is most important.

-Esp true when evaluating the validating supernatural events/gifts

-If you share some testimony that see visions or speak in tongues etc, I’m not gonna question it. If you say it happened then it happened. But for me I want to know what happened after these supernatural experiences. We are to judge a tree by its fruits. By its effect.

-The result from this was the birth of the church.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

-The key word is devoted themselves/not did it once in a while/did when it only when they were in the mood.

The Essentials of Church Life ()

The Apostles’ Teaching

Who were the apostles?

What did the apostles teach? Or do all religions teach the same?

How devoted should we be to the apostles’ teaching?

Who were the apostles?

The apostles were Jesus’ chosen eyewitnesses of His life and ministry

i) in the beginning of his earthly ministry Jesus chose twelve men to be his close followers. One of them, the infamous Judas Iscariot, betrayed him.

-After Jesus returned to heaven, someone had to be chosen to replace Judas. This passage shows us the criteria and significance of being an apostle.

A Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”

-An apostle was someone whom the Lord Jesus had given both the authority and the responsibility to share eyewitness testimony (not myth/legend) of who Jesus was and what He did through His life on earth, especially His death and resurrection.

-Only someone who had been with the Lord during His whole earthly ministry until the time He was taken up to heaven can be qualified to be an apostle.

ii) In this sense Paul doesn’t qualify. Paul himself admits he’s an exception, he’s an apostle born in the wrong time () because he only saw the risen Lord after the Lord had ascended into heaven. But the key thing is the Twelve apostles all recognised Paul’s apostolic calling.

iii) So are there still apostles today? Not apostles like this no. Because firstly no one today was around when Jesus was on earth, and secondly none of the other apostles are alive to validate your apostolic calling.

iv) If the office of the apostles still continued, there would be no need for our NT. We can just rely on the apostles of our day for truth about Jesus.

- It was only because the original apostles were irreplaceable that their testimony and teachings had to be preserved in writings of the NT for the churches to read long after they were gone.

What did the apostles teach?

We move from who are the apostles to what did they teach?

-people think all religions are the same-all religions teach people to do good works. So all religions are same.

- Lets challenge that claim by examining what exactly did the apostles teach/emphasize?

-The book of Acts recorded some sermons by the apostles and here we shall look like at Peter’s very first sermon on the day of Pentecost in .

-In short it is very Christ-centered.

- Even at such a Spirit-filled event as Pentecost, with speaking in tongues etc, Peter doesn’t really draw people’s attention to the Holy Spirit directly but instead preaches about Christ. The Holy Spirit is sent because of who Jesus is and what He did as Messiah (God’s anointed one).

-But we don’t have time to study the whole sermon so we can only look at parts of it.

This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him

36 Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” 37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 Peter replied, “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.

We can summarise the core teaching of the apostles in three points.

Jesus was crucified by sinners according to God’s sovereign plan

- Christ’s death was no accident. It was not plan B. It was not as if plan A was Christ comes and do something else, and the people love Him with their whole hearts.

- it was the will of God to crush Him but not by an invisible hand but by the hands of wicked men.

- its written that “Herod, Pilate, the Romans and the Jews all did to Christ what God’s hand and plan had predestined to take place”.

-This is where we face the tension between God’s absolute sovereignty over sin and suffering, and human responsibility over their own sin.

- A tension that the Bible never tries to explain or resolve. It just assumes. So must we.

- If we deny human responsibility over our sins, the people who crucified Christ wasn’t wicked and they/we don’t need forgiveness from God.

- If we deny human responsibility over our sins, then we don’t need forgiveness or salvation from God

-Jesus’ death was only an unfortunate accident and cannot offer us salvation from sin. So we must believe both.

- but if we deny God’s absolute sovereignty over human sin (even the sin of crucifying Jesus) then we the Cross was not a saving act of God. We can’t say “God so loved us that He gave us His only Son”Jesus’ death was only an unfortunate accident

-So we must believe both.

God raised up Jesus, proving that Jesus whom you crucified is Lord and Messiah

2. – Of course it wasn’t God’s sovereign plan for Jesus to just die but for Him to also be resurrected bodily, and bodily ascended into heaven. The apostles emphasized not only Christ’s death but even more so His resurrection and ascension – because this proved Jesus is Lord and Messiah in fulfilment of the OT Scriptures.

- The man they crucified was their Lord and Messiah

3. a) “You murdered God’s Messiah!” Peter tells the crowd.

- We weren’t there 2000 years ago at Calvary, we didn’t betray Jesus and condemn Him to torture and death on the Cross. And yet in some sense we did.

-The Lord who gave you life and every good blessing, you rebelled against. You wanted to be your Lord, your own God. You despised God’s commandments and did whatever you wanted. -It was your sins that nailed Jesus to the cross. -If it wasn’t for us, Christ would not have needed to suffer and die like that.

-c) That’s the bad news. But if the bad news breaks your heart till the point where you want to cry out “oh no! what must I do to be saved?”, there’s good news for you. -Its when the crowd is broken and cut to their hearts that Peter replies: “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” (). - The good news is if we repent and believe in Jesus, we will be forgiven for our all sins. We will be saved from the holy wrath of God. -Some people like to emphasize that Jesus came to save us from physical sickness. Or that Jesus came to save us from mundane and meaningless life. -That’s all partly true. Yes walking with God means our life has purpose and meaning. One day we will be given resurrection bodies free from pain and sickness and sometimes God gives us a foretaste by allowing us to experience some healing even now. -But all this flows from the fact that we who were once enemies of God, deserving of the punishment of hell, are now forgiven, reconciled children of God. Never forget that. -Sum: Yes all religions teach people to do good works, but not all religions teach about the good news of Jesus Christ that there is forgiveness. And that it is exactly this forgiveness that motivates us to do good works -the apostles taught other things as well. They taught how we are to relate to one another, marriage, helping the poor but these are always in response to the good news of Jesus.

e.g forgive one another just as Christ forgave you, husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church, remember the Lord Jesus although He was rich became poor for your sakes etc.

Sum: It is this good news which sets Christianity apart. The Lord Jesus was so devoted to us, it makes sense His story is what the apostles and us as the church should devote ourselves to

Optional: if a Muslim/Jew likes your message, you didn’t share a Christian message.

– Of course it wasn’t God’s sovereign plan for Jesus to just die but for Him to also be resurrected bodily, and bodily ascended into heaven.

God raised up Jesus, proving that Jesus is Lord and Messiah

- The apostles emphasized not only Christ’s death but even more so His resurrection and ascension

– because this proved Jesus is Lord and Messiah in fulfillment of the OT Scriptures.

- So this is the crux of the matter: the man they crucified was the Lord of life and the Messiah God had promised them

- “You murdered God’s Messiah!” Peter tells the crowd.

- We weren’t there 2000 years ago at Calvary, we didn’t betray Jesus and condemn Him to torture and death on the Cross. And yet in some sense we did.

-The Lord who gave you life and every good blessing, you rebelled against. You wanted to be your Lord, your own God. You despised God’s commandments and did whatever you wanted.

-It was your sins that nailed Jesus to the cross.

-if we were there we would have either denied Christ like Peter or joined the mob to shout “Crucify Him!” because that is exactly what we do everytime we choose to despise God’s commandments and sin against Him

-If it wasn’t for us, Christ would not have needed to suffer and die like that.

-If it wasn’t for us, Christ would not have needed to suffer and die like that.

- That’s the bad news. But if the bad news breaks your heart till the point where you want to cry out “oh no! what must I do to be saved?”, there’s good news for you.

Forgiveness of sins is available only to those who repent and believe in the name of Jesus Christ

-

- The man they crucified was their Lord and Messiah

3. a) “You murdered God’s Messiah!” Peter tells the crowd.

- We weren’t there 2000 years ago at Calvary, we didn’t betray Jesus and condemn Him to torture and death on the Cross. And yet in some sense we did.

-The Lord who gave you life and every good blessing, you rebelled against. You wanted to be your Lord, your own God. You despised God’s commandments and did whatever you wanted. -It was your sins that nailed Jesus to the cross. -If it wasn’t for us, Christ would not have needed to suffer and die like that.

-Its when the crowd is broken and cut to their hearts that Peter replies: “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” ().

- The good news is if we repent and believe in Jesus, we will be forgiven for our all sins. We will be saved from the holy wrath of God.

-Some people like to emphasize that Jesus came to save us from physical sickness. Or that Jesus came to save us from mundane and meaningless life.

-That’s all partly true. Yes walking with God means our life has purpose and meaning. One day we will be given resurrection bodies free from pain and sickness and sometimes God gives us a foretaste by allowing us to experience some healing even now.

-But all this flows from the fact that we who were once enemies of God, deserving of the punishment of hell, are now forgiven, reconciled children of God. Never forget that.

All religions teach you to do good works but not all religions teach about the good news of Jesus

-there is forgiveness available. And that it is exactly this forgiveness that motivates us to do good works

The apostles taught not only about the grace of God in Christ but also how good works is a proper response to His grace

-Sum: Yes all religions teach people to do good works, but not all religions teach about the good news of Jesus Christ that there is forgiveness. And that it is exactly this forgiveness that motivates us to do good works

-the apostles also taught how we are to relate to one another, marriage, helping the poor but these are always in response to the good news of Jesus.

e.g forgive one another just as Christ forgave you, husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church, remember the Lord Jesus although He was rich became poor for your sakes etc.

This teaching is what sets us apart

- It is this good news which sets Christianity apart.

Optional: if a Muslim/Jew likes your message, you didn’t share a Christian message.

How devoted should we be to the apostles’ teaching?

Even social work should not take priority over the ministry of the Word

The context of this passage () is that the early church distributed food to widows everyday but some widows didn’t get any food. This passage is the response of the apostles.

The Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, “It would not be right for us to give up preaching the word of God to wait on tables…[they then tell the church to choose deacons to handle this] 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 This proposal pleased the whole company.

Even social work should not take priority over the ministry of the Word

- Now imagine there are poor and the sick in church that need attention but your pastor says: “Sorry that’s not my job. I must focus on preaching the Word and praying. Someone else go help them”. How pleased would you be at your pastor?

- The Lord Jesus was so devoted to us, it makes sense His gospel is what the church should devote ourselves to

-Of course there are hypocrites who only love to preach and not practice. They love books more than people.

-But it is also true that pastors and even apostles are only human and can’t do everything. Different people have different gifts/roles. That is why the apostles tell the church to select deacons to focus on social work while they continue to focus on the ministry of the Word.

-Notice how the church was pleased with this arrangement. They knew that it was important to help these widows but they also knew that preaching and prayer could not be sacrificed either.

- Once a church focuses on other things, even social work, at the expense of the ministry of the Word, it is no longer a church but a social organisation.

Implications for Bible and Interpretation

The apostles are no longer alive but their teaching is preserved for us in the New Testament

-Helping the poor and sick is good and necessary, but it is not enough. Only God’s word can save humans from ultimate pain and suffering.

-The early church was so devoted to the teaching of the apostles that if a book wasn’t written by an apostle or someone the apostles recognised then that book was not accepted as part of our Bible.

-The apostles are no longer alive but their teaching is preserved for us in our NT. The early church was so devoted to the teaching of the apostles that if a book wasn’t written by an apostle or someone the apostles recognised then that book was not accepted as part of our Bible.

- But it’s a mistake to think that now that we have the NT we can forget about the OT.

The apostles also interpreted the Old Testament in a Christ-centered way

-Some churches end up only focusing on teaching and nothing else and that isn’t right either. But the solution isn’t to cut down on teaching but for members to rise up and practice what is taught.

- Remember when the apostles were teaching, there wasn’t any NT, so when they preached about Jesus they were preaching from OT.

-To be devoted to the apostles’ teaching is to not only study our NT, but to also study our OT in a Christ-centered way.

e.g. David’s experiences were interpreted as prophecies about Christ

-Some must devote themselves to study God’s word and publicly share it. But all members should be devoted to private ministry of the word (discipleship/1 on 1 etc) and especially practice it in acts of love.

Peter’s sermon at Pentecost

- See how is quoted in in Peter’s sermon at Pentecost.

Fellowship

i. What is fellowship?

ii. How did the early church devote themselves to fellowship?

iii. How should we?

What is fellowship?

It is not a program but partnership. People of every race, age, gender, social class are one because we have one Lord and Saviour ().

- First and foremost, fellowship is not about food. That’s later in “breaking of bread”

- Its not about programs of events but partnerships of people. People who come together because they have something in common.

E.g Fellowship of the Ring, where Hobbits, Dwarves, Elves, men, warriors and wizards all coming together to accomplish the mission of destroying the Ring of Sauron.

-In this case the church is a fellowship because believers of all stripes, Chinese and Indian, male and female, young and old, rich and poor are bonded together through what God has done for us in Christ

-All of us now have the same mission to serve and glorify God

- Because of this, Christian fellowship is not optional.

-There are some people who say they are Christians but they are not part of the church. -But there is no such thing as a private Christian or a churchless Christian. -When Jesus saves you, He adds you to the church. says that God added to their number (the church) those who were being saved. -The church is His body. In when Paul persecuted Christians, Jesus didn’t ask him, “Why are you persecuting the church? He said why are you persecuting me?” The church is Jesus’ body. You can’t be connected to Jesus and disconnected from His body the church. -If you are a believer then you are automatically bonded together with other believers. -Fellowship is not optional. -That’s the theory, now the practical.

It is not optional. No such thing as a private Christian. Believers automatically join the church ()

We are one because we have one Lord and Saviour ().

-There are some people who say they are Christians but they are not part of any church.

No such thing as a private Christian. Believers automatically join the church ()

-But there is no such thing as a private Christian or a churchless Christian.

-When Jesus saves you, He adds you to the church. says that God added to their number (the church) those who were being saved.

-The church is His body. In when Paul persecuted Christians, Jesus didn’t ask him, “Why are you persecuting the church? He said why are you persecuting me?” The church is Jesus’ body. You can’t be connected to Jesus and disconnected from His body the church.

-If you are a believer then you are automatically bonded together with other believers.

-Fellowship is not optional. That’s the theory, now the practical.

How did the early church (and our church) devote themselves to fellowship practically?

All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts

Acts 2:44 NIV

All the believers were together and had everything in common.

Regularly share time and resources

-The key word is share.

1.Shared time together

-The key word is share. 1.Shared time together

- Notice (vs 46) they met together every day, both in the temple courts and in their homes.

- The people you spend most of your time with are the people closest to you, the people you identify yourselves with: they are your people/community/family.

2. Shared resources/possessions.

-Notice they sold property and possessions to be able to give to the poor and needy in the fellowship

-This was an expression of their heart.

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.

-Their attitude wasn’t “me or mine” but “us” or “ours” e.g. Its not just my home but our home/the fellowship’s home.

-During this time, people wrote that Christians shared everything with each other except their wives.

-They shared with sincere hearts i.e they don’t keep score of who give more/less.

is descriptive not necessarily prescriptive

-Describing what they did. Not necessary a command for us to do exactly the same.

e.g We’re not sinning if we don’t meet every single day

The selling of property was voluntary and occasional

– that’s why they still had houses to break breads in (vs 46)

-It was voluntarily giving when there was need.

-It was a day and age where you didn’t simply go to the bank and withdraw cash but had to sell things to buy things

-Also the rich were very rich (owning extra houses nobody stayed in) and the poor were very poor (no food/clothes)

2. Nonetheless after we put in all the caveats/qualifications at the end of the day lets not let ourselves off so easy. This passage is meant to challenge us. To what extent do we love each other as a family? How devoted are we to the fellowship of the church?

-Not mandatory to sell of all your property. The Bible is not advocating Communism.

- Its clear from the book of Acts that Christians didn’t sell everything they had. Many of them still owned private properties

- There is no escaping that true fellowship involves regular, voluntary sharing of time and resources

– that’s why they still had houses to break breads in (vs 46)

- We don’t have to meet every single day but two or three times a week isn’t that bad right. Cellgroups/prayer meeting etc.

-It was voluntarily giving when there was need.

-If you don’t want to join care groups just because Bible study is boring or too difficult, well first of all you’re supposed to devote yourself to the teaching of the apostles, and secondly you’re supposed to devote yourselves to the fellowship. -Don’t you yearn to be with fellow minded brothers and sisters in Christ who are on the same journey you are and can encourage you and walk alongside you? -And if you saw your own real brother or sister struggling financially, wouldn’t you do something to help them?

-It was a day and age where you didn’t simply go to the bank and withdraw cash but had to sell things to buy things

3. The heart of the issue is: is church just a club to you or something more?

-A club you just go for one purpose e.g golf club you just play golf. If your golf kaki starts to really get personal with you and requires you to be personal with them then you will tell them: Excuse me I’m just here to play golf right? -Is church like a club to you then? Yes we here to sing songs and listen to talk but thats all. Or are we a real community? A real family? -In a real family you don’t calculate “hey that’s my food or that’s my furniture” but that’s our food, our furniture.

-Also the rich were very rich (owning extra houses nobody stayed in) and the poor were very poor (no food/clothes)

The selling of property was voluntary and occasional

- There is no escaping that true fellowship involves regular, voluntary sharing of time and resources

- We don’t have to meet every single day but two or three times a week isn’t that bad right. Cellgroups/prayer meeting etc.

-If you don’t want to join care groups just because Bible study is boring or too difficult, well first of all you’re supposed to devote yourself to the teaching of the apostles, and secondly you’re supposed to devote yourselves to the fellowship.

- Nonetheless this passage is meant to challenge us. After we put in all the caveats/qualifications

-Don’t you yearn to be with fellow minded brothers and sisters in Christ who are on the same journey you are and can encourage you and walk alongside you?

-And if you saw your own real brother or sister struggling financially, wouldn’t you do something to help them?

3. The heart of the issue is: is church just a club to you or something more?

-A club you just go for one purpose e.g golf club you just play golf. If your golf kaki starts to really get personal with you and requires you to be personal with them then you will tell them: Excuse me I’m just here to play golf right?

-Is church like a club to you then? Yes we here to sing songs and listen to talk but thats all. Or are we a real community? A real family?

-In a real family you don’t calculate “hey that’s my food or that’s my furniture” but that’s our food, our furniture.

But there is no escaping that true fellowship involves regular, voluntary sharing of time and resources

- We don’t have to meet every single day but two or three times a week isn’t that bad right. Cellgroups/lady fellowship/prayer meeting etc.

- We don’t have to meet every single day but two or three times a week isn’t that bad right. Cellgroups/lady fellowship/prayer meeting etc.

-If you don’t want to join care groups/other meetings just because Bible study is boring or too difficult, well first of all you’re supposed to devote yourself to the teaching of the apostles, and secondly you’re supposed to devote yourselves to the fellowship.

-Don’t you yearn to be with fellow minded brothers and sisters in Christ who are on the same journey you are and can encourage you and walk alongside you?

-And if you saw your own real brother or sister struggling financially, wouldn’t you do something to help them?

-A club you just go for one purpose e.g golf club you just play golf. If your golf kaki starts to really get personal with you and requires you to be personal with them then you will tell them: Excuse me I’m just here to play golf right?

-Is church like a club to you then? Yes we here to sing songs and listen to talk but thats all. Or are we a real community? A real family?

-In a real family you don’t calculate “hey that’s my food or that’s my furniture” but that’s our food, our furniture.

The church is a genuine family

The heart of the issue is: is church just a club to you or something more?

-A club you just go for one purpose e.g golf club you just play golf. If your golf kaki starts to really get personal with you and requires you to be personal with them then you will tell them: Excuse me I’m just here to play golf right?

-Is church like a club to you then? Excuse me I’m just here to sing songs to Jesus.

- Or are we a real community? A real family?

-In a real family you don’t calculate “hey that’s my food or that’s my furniture” but that’s our food, our furniture.

- no need spend so much time on this because you know how to treat your own family members.

- You just need to remember that your fellow believers are now your family members too

Breaking of Bread

i.What is breaking of bread?

ii.Why is it so important?

What is breaking of bread?

A simple meal done in remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ

The Lord Himself told us to do so.

The Lord’s Supper was probably initially part of their love feasts

Could refer either to regular fellowship meals i.e. love feasts or to the Lord’s Supper. Probably both as they weren’t separate events in the beginning.

ii.could mean either to regular fellowship means i.e. love feasts or to the Lord’s Supper. Probably both as they weren’t separate events in the beginning.

iii.How often? Daily at first. By the end of the 1st century it was at least every Sunday, the day of the Lord, the day He rose from the dead.

iv.Many churches/denominations observe it only once a month, some even once a year for all kinds of different reasons. But one of the main ones is that they don’t want people to take the Lord’s Supper for granted. Now why?

Practiced daily at first () but eventually every Sunday ()

- How often? Daily at first. By eventually at least every Sunday, the day of the Lord, the day He rose from the dead.

•Many observe it less frequently now so that it won’t be taken for granted

- Many churches/denominations observe it only once a month, some even once a year for all kinds of different reasons.

- A main reason is that they don’t want people to take the Lord’s Supper for granted.

- Why?

Why is breaking of bread important?

-obviously more than filling up stomachs

Symbol of the sacrificial death of Christ for us

- The bread represents His body that was broken for us - the wine represents His blood that was poured out for us.

-We are all one because we have only one Lord and Saviour.

iii) Early Christian writings tell us two things about how devoted the early church was to this: every Sunday, no matter where they are from, they will all gather together in one place to break bread together. It was like a CNY family reunion dinner for them.

-Some traditions recite “as surely as I can taste this bread and wine, so surely has Christ died for me.”

iv) What especially touched me was to find out So important was it that deacons made sure no one was left out (even the sick/imprisoned).

- I personally think that this is a practice worth reintroducing to church. But for that you need to have a meaningful membership list etc.

Symbol of Christian unity

- No different bread for different race/gender/social class. All eat from the same bread and drink from the same cup.

Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.

-We are all share in one meal because we have only one Lord and Saviour.

Members committed to attend and portions would be brought to the absent sick or imprisoned members

- Early Christian writings tell us how devoted the early church was to this: every Sunday, no matter where they are from, they will all gather together in one place to break bread together. It was like a CNY family reunion dinner for them.

- What especially touched me was to find out So important was it that deacons made sure no one was left out (even the sick/imprisoned).

- I personally think that this is a practice worth reintroducing to church. But for that you need to have a meaningful membership list etc.

Members were to not eat with the unrepentant under church discipline

…you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister a but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.

- To eat with them is to condone their actions. We can’t.

Prayer

iv) What especially touched me was to find out So important was it that deacons made sure no one was left out (even the sick/imprisoned).

- I personally think that this is a practice worth reintroducing to church. But for that you need to have a meaningful membership list etc.

i.Why should we pray regularly?

ii.What should we pray about?

Why should we pray regularly?

Because as this prayer in acknowledges

our insufficiency

- More than anything else prayer demonstrates the church’s utter dependence on the Lord.

- If we don’t feel that we don’t need God, we won’t pray. If we feel we need God we pray. That simple.

-So we should discipline ourselves to pray. Because we always need God whether we feel like it.

2. When we pray to God, we acknowledge He is Lord over our lives, Lord over studies, our businesses, our country, even our enemies. Sovereign Lord over all because He created all.

- Whenever we need to make decisions, whenever we encounter problems, we ought to turn to Him first

-

the Lordship of Christ

- When we pray, we acknowledge He is Lord over our lives, Lord over studies, our businesses, our country, even our enemies.

- He is Sovereign Lord over all because He created all ()

- Whenever we need to make decisions, whenever we encounter problems, we ought to turn to Him first

(not necessary to read the passage)

-no doubt a healthy church is a praying church

What should we pray about?

-Our usual prayer requests is: healing and protection, good exam results. Nothing wrong with that.

-But if you go through Acts and the rest of the NT, it is worth noting that those weren't the main things early Christians prayed about.

-In is the local authorities had arrested some of the apostles and warned them never to preach in the name of Jesus again. This prayer is their response to this.

- but rather as we go forth and proclaim your Word, accompany it with miracles so that the preaching of Your word outside will be more received.

The early church prayed for:

Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

Boldness to preach

- They do not ask for protection which is what we would usually pray for. But boldness to continue to preach.

- but rather as we go forth and proclaim your Word, accompany it with miracles so that the preaching of Your word outside will be more received.

their mindset wasn’t passive/defensive but active

- their mindset wasn’t passive/defensive but active

The early church prayed for:

Miracles to validate the preaching

- they do pray for healing but in the context its not so much about praying for healing among ourselves for our own personal comfort or so we can save on medical bills

- but rather as we go forth and proclaim your Word, accompany it with miracles so that the preaching of Your word outside will be more received.

- Those are the 4 essentials of church life: apostles teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer.

The Effect of Church Life

Joy

Growth

Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Joy

Church life should not be forced or faked but joyful and authentic

-They devoted themselves to church life because it gave them joy.

-I hope that’s true of you. Although since we are a fellowship of forgiven sinners but sinners its not perfect and there maybe pain, overall it has been a joy to fellowship/break bread/pray/study God’s word together.

-They devoted themselves to church life because it gave them joy. -I hope that’s true of you. Although they maybe pain that overall it has been a joy to fellowship/break bread/pray/study God’s word together.

- Maybe some of you have been in church for so long that all these practices are just a routine for you.

Impossible without supernatural work of the Spirit

-You’re right. That’s why churches turn to other things instead. You know its easy to organise really cool and exciting events/programs. Yes it takes time and effort. But all you need is some talented people (sing well/act well). They don’t even need to be born again.

-This 4 essentials are deceptively simple yet it cannot be faked in the long run. Its humanly impossible apart from the work of the Holy Spirit. Remember this was the result of Pentecost- the pouring out of the Holy Spirit.

-You’ll think that after receiving the Holy Spirit the early church will devote themselves to far more exciting things but this is it. This was the essentials of church life. -So to those who are bored by the routine I’ll say stay faithful. There is no higher calling.

-Maybe some of you have been so badly hurt/disillusioned by the church that you dismiss all this as just an unrealistic dream.

-To the disillusioned I’ll say, believe again, in the Holy Spirit’s supernatural power to transform lives. But it starts with you. If you don’t believe that God can transform the church then, maybe that’s because you have experienced God’s transforming grace either.

-The church isn’t perfect but it is the closest thing to heaven on earth. -It is where the joy of the Lord manifests itself most.

- The early church didn’t need to focus on organising attractive events because it was such an attractive community. That’s how the early church grew.

-You’re right. That’s why churches turn to other things instead.

Impossible without supernatural work of the Spirit

- its easy to organise really cool and exciting events/programs. Yes it takes time and effort. But all you need is some talented people (sing well/act well). They don’t even need to be born again.

-This 4 essentials are deceptively simple yet it cannot be faked in the long run.

- Its humanly impossible apart from the work of the Holy Spirit. Remember this was the result of Pentecost- the pouring out of the Holy Spirit.

-You’ll think that after receiving the Holy Spirit the early church will devote themselves to far more exciting things but this is it. This was the essentials of church life. -So to those who are bored by the routine I’ll say stay faithful. There is no higher calling.

Don’t be dismissive or disillusioned

-To the disillusioned I’ll say, believe again, in the power of the Holy Spirit to transform lives. But it starts with you.

- The early church didn’t need to focus on organising attractive events because it was such an attractive community. That’s how the early church grew.

- If you don’t believe that God can transform the church then, maybe that’s because you haven’t experienced God’s transforming grace either.

More than organisers of attractive events, the church should be an attractive community

-The church is where we celebrate God’s generosity to us by being generous to each other

-It is where the joy of the Lord manifests itself most practically.

-It is where the joy of the Lord is experienced most practically.

-the church isn’t perfect but it is the closest thing to heaven on earth.

- The early church didn’t need to focus on organising attractive events because it was such an attractive community. That’s how the early church grew.

Growth

- The 4 essentials isn’t some magical formula i.e. as long as you practice these things then 100% your church will triple in the next 3 months.

We need not be discouraged or depart from these practices when our church does not grow

-We shouldn’t be discouraged “eh are we doing something wrong” or should we go and do something completely else.

-We shouldn’t be discouraged “eh are we doing something wrong” or should we go and do something completely else.

- Vs 47 says it’s the Lord that added to their number those who being saved

We just need to be faithful and leave the results to the Lord

We cannot be proud in times of growth as it is only granted by the sovereign Lord

-It is not yet wisdom or skill but God. He only gets the glory.

-We focus on being a better church and prayfully God will grant us a bigger church too.

We just need to be faithful and leave the results to the Lord

-We focus on being a better church and prayfully God will grant us a bigger church too.

-But in any case, may the Lord do what is good to Him.