Who Are We?

Verses

Acts 2:42–47 NIV

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 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, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

I should confess that I cheated a little. When Antonie and I discussed the sermon this week, the passage selected started with verse 43, but I decided to include verse 42 in my sermon.

Introduction

I wonder what those days were like? I can imagine there was a sense of excitement, fear, and hope. And such a sense of community. Such a sense of unity and purpose. Later in Acts we will see conflict come about and struggles with honesty and mission. Paul and Barnabas have a falling our of significance down the road. There are issues about widows being treated equally.

But in these verses we see the best of the church. We see the best of the community. And I would argue, we see the true heart of the church. In looking at these verses we get a quick profile of the key characteristics of the early church. Characteristics that I think we should look at as a template of the characteristics that we, as the body of Christ, should strive towards.

Let me be clear. These characteristics are not some idealized fantasy. They are characteristics that the early church truly had and that are well within our reach. The same Holy Spirit that powered those believers also power us. If we are faithful and seek the divine.

There are eight (8) characteristics of the early church that I want to look at today. In seminary they teach you to focus on just three, or maybe four, main points in a sermon, so I have a few too many today. But I think that each characteristic is important so I am going to go with all eight.

It was a Learning church

This was why I included verse 42.

Acts 2:42 NIV

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

The church was not content to just be together or even to be on mission together. They wanted to learn. The believers had a hunger and thirst for knowledge. They wanted to be learning every day. I won’t belabor the point because we have talked about this in recent weeks, but it is critical to understand that our faith is not without structure. There are specific things that the church believes.

The Apostle’s Creed was formulated from these early teachings of the apostles that the believers devoted themselves to. Say it with me:

We believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

We believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son,

our Lord.

He was conceived by the power

of the Holy Spirit

and born of the Virgin Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again.

He ascended into heaven,

and is seated at the right hand of the

Father.

He will come again to judge the living and

the dead.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy Catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. Amen.

How do we know these things? Because the early church devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles.

It was a church of Fellowship

One of my favorite shows is HBO’s “Band of Brothers.” It is the story of a single paratrooper company led by Dick Winters fighting across Europe in the last year of the war. It is based on the book “Band of Brothers” by Stephen Ambrose. The story is compelling in a large part because of the tight bonds that develop as the company works together, faces adversity, experiences success together and shares horrible loss and grief.

The verses today reflect a similar experience for the early church. The believers were truly a band of brothers and sisters! They shared a common mission. They shared common risks. They shared common losses. They shared belongings and they met each other’s needs without discrimination. They were truly in this thing together.

If Benjamin Franklin had been there he might have said, as he did at the signing of the declaration of independence, "We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." They were in it together.

It was a Praying church.

Prayer has been on my mind lately and I spent some time talking about prayer last week and during the Tuesday Remix. I mentioned then that I am trying to build a more effective, meditative prayer habit and I invited people to join me in that to have a corporate experience. I have had some response to that and want to make that invitation again. If you are interested in being part of that please let me know.

The New Testament church was constantly praying, not just as individuals, but together! The early believers had a clear awareness that they were dependent on God. They went to God before they went out into the community. And these prayers were not perfunctory in nature. They weren’t part of a structured program, but they were part of an intentional process. Prayer was woven into every act of the church.

It was a Referent church.

Verse 43 says that “Everyone was filled with awe ...” Some translations use the word fear, but the Greek word is something of a combination of awe and fear. The believers understood that the events taking place in their lives and in the community were the acts of God. They understood that Spirit of God was in action within them individually and within the body of believers. They were in awe of the power of God being displayed. Verse 43 also references “…wonders and signs...” They brought their faith to God and He honored their faith by demonstrating his power. The believers understood that whatever was done was done in God’s name and all glory went to Him.

It was a church where Things Were Happening.

Chuck Girard founded a band in the 70’s named Love Song. They were one of the first Christian rock bands. They were part of the Jesus Music movement and I just love them. They had a song called “Little Country Church.” The lyrics went like this...

Little country church on the edge of town People comin' everyday from miles around For meetin's and for Sunday school And it's very plain to see It's not the way it used to be

Preacher isn't talkin' 'bout religion no more He just wants to praise the Lord People aren't as stuffy as they were before They just want to praise the Lord And it's very plain to see It's not the way it used to be

They're talkin' 'bout revival and the need for love That little church has come alive Workin' with each other for the common good Puttin' all the past aside Long hair, short hair, some coats and ties People finally comin' around And it's very plain to see It's not the way it used to be

When things are happening, it draws attention and creates energy. The believers started as a small group. But people could see that things were not the way they used to be. The strength of their faith and power of the Holy Spirit created those “signs and wonders.” The power of God was revealed in the daily lives of the believers. They welcomed everyone - rich and poor, educated and uneducated, respectable and villainous, clean and dirty - and worked together in common with each other. There was transformation. There was change. There was healing.

It was plain to see that things were not the way they used to be!

It was a Sharing church.

One of the most compelling things about Jesus was his compassion. He truly saw people and their needs. Jesus was frequently moved to compassion and took action based on that. People were real to him and he cared about them regardless of how polished or how repulsive they were. I mean, the man touched lepers. That’s pretty crazy.

But the early church was the same way. They saw each other’s needs and they met them. They held things in common and did not hoard or selfishly demand. Verse 45 says, “They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.” They not only saw the need - they felt the need as if it were there own and met the need as if it was their own. They sold property to give to those in need. This is serious community. This is not just generous. This is the assumption of each others needs as their own. How powerful is that? It is much like Jesus assumed our sins as his own. It’s compelling!

It was a Worshiping church.

“Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.”

Keep in mind that the temple courts were a dangerous place for them to be. Granted, it was the place they worshiped and where they had seen miracles and conversations. But it was also the place where the religious leaders could be found. The same religious leaders that had Jesus murdered and arrested Peter and John. But the church wanted to worship in God’s house. They continued to go to the temple - daily - to worship God. There was significance in being there. The believers could be found in the presence of God in the temple courts. Much as Jesus had been! Despite the risk, they gathered at the temple to worship.

It was a Happy church.

Verse 46 says that the believers “...ate together with glad and sincere hearts...” They enjoyed each other’s company, the activities they were engaged in, and they were happy.

I don’t know if you know this, but not all churches are happy. Occasionally there are committee meetings that are not enjoyable or happy events. And that’s ok. Not every event is joyous. I will note that in verse 46 they are eating and drinking together, so that helps with the joy. But the verse doesn’t say that every event or activity was fun and enjoyable. It says they had glad and sincere hearts. They were filled with gratitude and joy in the presence of God. Being a happy church doesn’t mean that everything is fun, or comfortable, or enjoyable. It doesn’t mean that we don’t disagree or get frustrated. It means that we do all those things with glad and genuine hearts. That we act out of a spirit of compassion and gratitude. That we find joy in the presence of God and the company of other believers.

Conclusion

So, Who Are We? And Who Should We Be?

The church described in these verses had no building. They had very little structure. The early church had no real committees and no Book of Discipline. Those are all good things, but we forget that none of them are really necessary. The early church changed the world by being a Learning church, a church of Fellowship, a Praying church, a Reverent church, a church where Things Happened, a Sharing church, a Worshiping church, and a Happy church.

Are there any of those things we can’t do? Are there any limits to what the Spirit of God can achieve? The only limit is us. If we chose to build those characteristics and we surrendered to God’s Spirit people will see things aren’t the way they used to be. We will be …

“That little church has come alive

Workin' with each other for the common good

Puttin' all the past aside”

The church in the 2nd Chapter of Acts is us. We just have to believe it and act on that belief.