The Power of Togetherness

James Watson

Starting with Me • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

Fellowship

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Introduction:

Over the course of the last few weeks, we have looked at our calling from God, the transformation that happens in our new life; we’ve looked at how we need to keep moving forward. Last week, we looked at our part in missions.

Now if you’ve been following along, you might have noticed that while this sermon series has been entitled “Starting with me” that we have been moving from us as individuals to how we interact as a group. Following Jesus is a group activity; a team sport; and it’s not to be done alone.

But it often starts out in a personal encounter with Jesus. But it never stays that way. God has called us to something bigger than ourselves; a bigger story with with a bigger mission that we can’t do on our own.

There are no lone rangers.

It starts with me, but ends with we.

It st

Transition to the Text: Turn with me in your Bibles to

Now this is one of the most imporant passages in all of scripture. But you need some background to this. If you were to just read this it would be like walking in on a friend or spouse watching a tv show in the middle. You are going to have questions. Who’s that guy? What’s happening? Why did He do that? Well that’s weird. Now unlike your spouse or friend, we won’t get annoyed if you ask these questions.

So let me give you the cliffnotes:

: God created the Adam and Eve. Innocence and in perfect relationship with Him. Only one rule and they coulnd’t follow it. They sinned and from then on all of their children all the way down to you and me are burdened by sin.

Yes throughout all of the Old Testament, God promised to send a savior who would save His people from their sins. The Jews looked forward this Messiah. And there are hundreds of prophecies related to that person. Where he would be born, who His parents would be. What he would do. And eventually that he would die and yes that he would rise again.

God talked about a New Covenant

Jeremiah 31:31–34 ESV

31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Mixed with this was the also a prophecy about God dwelling in His people.

Joel 2:28–29 ESV

28 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

So fast forward to beginning of Acts. Jesus died on the cross to save you and me from our sins. He send His disciples to change the world by telling people about Him, but said wait until the Holy Spirit comes. Because they can do nothing on their own. And in , the Holy spirit comes and it is awesome. And through the power of the Holy Spirit the church begins. And on day 1, they go from 120 people to over 3,000. The church began as a group and continues to this day.

Joel 2:28–29 ESV

So as we read , we read it in light of everything that came before it. Otherwise it doesn’t make sense. And it’s not possible apart from the power of the Holy Spirit moving among them.

Read:

Acts 2:42–47 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. 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.

Transition to the Big Idea: There is power in togetherness only where the Holy Spirit is. So when the Holy Spirit comes into your life to give you power, it naturally pushes you and draws you to the church.

Big Idea: It may start with me but it ends with we.

Transition to the Points: A key word in this passage is the word devoted. This is not mere adherence. Its not casual acceptance. This is sitting on the edge of your seat hanging on every word cant get enough.

People are devoted to a lot of things. And far too often, they are devoted to the wrong things or even good things that aren’t the main thing.

We could list them but my guess is that you know there are things in your life of the life of others that are not worth it. What we learn from the early church is that we shouldn’t devote ourselves to just anything...

Point #1: Devote yourself to the right things. (Acts 2:42)

Explanation: This passage tells us that they devoted themselves to 4 things: 1) to the Apostles teaching; 2) to fellowship.; 3) the breaking of bread; and 4) to prayer.

Apostle is a Christian word we sometimes take for granted that it referred to a group of people in the Bible. But literally apostle just means “one who is sent.” But it came to be associated specifically with those who began the church. There were a minimum of 14 Apostles. Jesus sent these 12 guys into the world.

A question worth asking would be, what was the apostles teaching? That’s easy, it was what they learned from Jesus. You think about that for a minute. Many times today, if a pastor or religious leader tells us anything, we might say, “well who says?” “By what standard?” Even today many might get into an argument about spiritual matters might say, “well my pastor says” as if that ends any discussion.

Illustration: You ever get into an argument on the playground about your favorite sports team. In my case it would usually devolve into shouts of, “well my dad says that Roger Craig cost the 49ers their 5th superbowl.” “Well my dad says that one play never decides a game.” Well my dad could beat up your dad!

For the apostles, when they said to do something and people asked, “who says?” They were like, “uh Jesus…Jesus said…we spent 3+ years with him.”

Yeah that’s kind of hard to argue with. It not based on opinion or conjecture. They were literally with Jesus. Which begins to make a whole lot of sense.

So what did Jesus say?

Matthew 19:16–22 ESV

16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Well I remember this one time this Rich guy comes up to Jesus and says, “what must I do to be saved? And Jesus says, you know the commandments, do them. And the guy’s like, I’ve done that. And then Jesus say, you’re missing one thing. …Go and sell all your possessions and give to the poor and come follow me.” and the people are like no way. And the apostles are like Yahweh.

Is it any surprise that a few verses later we will see the early church doing just that?

Now eventually they would write this all down in what we call the New Testament but back then these were just stories. The Apostle’s Teaching became the New Testament.

Now we read all of these passages now and try to figure out how to live it out. And back then they were doing the same. This was brand new and they had a strong desire to get it right. So they hung on every word of the apostles.

Another time they might have asked, tell us that time Jesus gave the new commandment: And John speaks up, it was on the night “he who shall not be named” betrayed Jesus.

Matthew 19:16–23 ESV

John 13:33–35 ESV

33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Matthew 19:16-23

The apostles teaching let them to embrace fellowship. This is so important. Too often we embrace the doctrines of a group because we want to be a part of that group. For thse early believers, they devoted themselves to each other because of Jesus and what he taught.

Breaking of Bread refers to the Lord Supper. Prayers is pretty self explanatory.

Application: Do you know your Bible? If I were up here spouting heresy, would you even know it? This is where the Holy Spirit comes in. The Holy Spirit leads us to the truth as we devote ourselves to these right things.

Point #2: Consider how you relate one another. ()

Explanation: Really, this whole passage is about how we related to God and other Christians. These people have experienced the life changing power of Jesus and they are looking to the sky and living daily in light of His return. This changed everything about their lives. This wasn’t a Sunday thing for these people, it was a day-to-day living out of their faith and devotion to Jesus and His church.

Now some controversy lies in these passages. Should we sell all of our possessions and share with one another. Maybe, but we have to remember that these people thought Jesus was coming back on Tuesday at 5. They were living with their eyes to the skies. What did they need with their stuff if Jesus was coming quickly.

But let’s not forget that they were not coerced into giving away anything. They did this willingly out of love for their fellow believers. Remember they were devoted to one another. They would not live a life of luxury while anyone lived in poverty.

It seems extreme that the early church people would sell their possessions and share everything in common. And all too often when we read this passage we focus on that part. And we ask, does the Bible teach communism? But the reality is look at all the things in this passage that they did that didn’t cost anything:

They were devoted to the apostles teaching. It was a priority.

They were devoted to fellowship. It was a priority.

They were in awe of God. Notice that the awe of God came before the signs and not because of the signs.

Miracles were happening everywhere.

Attended worship together publically

Broke bread in their homes privately

They experienced joy in the community of others.

One thing I want to point to is that they had 2 different types of worship. A lot of people talk about the early church as house churches which is only partly true. There was a public part of worship as they attended temple together and then there was a private part of worship as they worshipped together in their homes. Both are important.

Illustration: What’s funny is that this is not out communism or socialism works. This is how a family works. Everyone playing their part, doing their part and sharing in what the family has. But is there room for more?

Growing up in the Watson household, there was always room at the table for anyone who wanted to come. And I can scarcely remember a night where a friend wasn’t around that table with us. That’s a family with room for more.

That’s what the church can and should be?

Application: I know that we love people we actually know and like. But in this church, is there room for new people. And not just empty seats, is there room for people in your heart?

Point #3: Remember that God is in Control. ()

Explanation: There are a lot of ways that people try to build a church or in some cases get in the way of church growth. But one thing we know from this passage is that they didn’t have a whole lot to say about growth. By devoting themselves to the right things, growth was automatic. No church growth strategies work as good as what this early church did. Devote yourself to the Bible, fellowship, Worship, and prayer and people will want to be a part of that. Why? Because God is in the business of growing His Church! A church so powerful and relentless that Jesus said, even the gates of hell can not stand against it.

Verse 47 is so important here.

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.

They worshipped God.

They had favor with all the people. You might say well the culture hates the church more today than it did back then. No it doesn’t. You could be killed for following Jesus. I don’t want to diminish the nature of secular hostility, but if that church could thrive in the shadow of the Roman empire, God’s church will be just find today. People were in awe of what the church was doing. And the more people that died for the name of Jesus, the more the church grew.

By simply being faithful to Jesus, it is God who adds the increase. Not us. But that doesn’t mean that we are able to do nothing. We have to do our part. And you have to wonder if the number would have increased if they hadn’t have been doing all the other stuff.

It is God who adds the increase. Not us. But that doesn’t mean that we are able to do nothing. We have to do our part. And you have to wonder if the number would have increased if they hadn’t have been doing all the other stuff.

God was building a group of world changers in the shadow of Rome. God doesn’t care who is emperor. God is God.

Do not be afraid of people or governments or groups of people bent on destroying the church. God is in control. So what does God ask of us?

Again, devote yourself to the right things.

Now can you devote yourself to the right things and not be a part of the church. No. If you are devoted to the Apostles Teaching, you cannot be a lone ranger, because that would go against the apostles teaching.

But what if you’ve been hurt by a church or a pastor. Remember that God is in control. And pastors will be held accountable. People will be held accountable.

Pour yourself into a church and trust that God will reward you for your faithfulness.

Illustration: Throughout church history there have been great times of revival that seem to be fashioned after . But they weren’t any big event that was promoted or marketed. It usually started with a few people praying. And then God took over.

No revival started with man. But no revival ever started without prayer.

Application: If we were to go back to verse 42 and see the things that they were devoted to. Many of us would readily affirm all 4. But if we were to dig a little deeper, we’d probably be lacking most in prayer.

We have to figure out a way to also be devoted to prayer.

Reflection/Application: What one way will you promote fellowship in the church this week?

Conclusion: We are in the heart of the greatest time of the year, football season. But anyone who has ever been a part of a team or a band or a choir or the debate club knows that a great team is about more than just having great team members. You have to have chemistry in the lockeroom, the classroom, the band room. What happens behind the scenes affects what happens in the game.

Trust me, Sunday morning is not out game. It’s our practice where we are equipped to handle our business when we walk out these doors.

Because out those doors is the mission field and only together can we individually change the world!