Being Church & Doing Church: Following the Steps of the Early Church
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
There is no doubt that the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way we see the world. This includes our relationship with the church.
Last year, the NBA had to adapt to the "new normal" and come out with a plan to carry on with their regular season. They created the NBA Bubble at Walt Disney World to protect teams from the virus. The games were played in the Bubble behind closed doors with "virtual fans" watching on the jumbo monitors.
Churches had to adapt too since the context has changed. We have had to reevaluate our identity and mission. We have had to answer the pressing questions of "who are we?" and "why do we exist?"
No doubt the context has changed. The limitations are here. But that shouldn't change our identity and purpose. Our being and doing. This will be our theme of study tonight.
Part 1: Acts 2:37-47
The Identity of the Church: It’s Being
The Identity of the Church: It’s Being
Luke tells us that the church was born in unity (1:14) and will always remain in unity (2:44).
All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
And all who believed were together and had all things in common.
“They were together and had all things in common.”
The Early Church, as we see it in Acts 2, was composed of people that had come to Jerusalem from different parts of the world (Italy, Egypt, Libya, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and many other nations).
They all came from different cultural backgrounds. They all have different mindsets. But somehow, they were now ONE. That’s one of the major miracles of Pentecost. Not only the birth of the church but moreover the UNITY of the church.
This was possible due to the finished work of Jesus the Messiah on the cross. Jesus died for the sins of his people. He defeated the powers of sin, evil, Satan and all the spiritual powers and principalities of darkness.
Through his victory, the exclusion from God’s presence originated in Genesis 3 was now reversed. God was now calling his people back to Himself. The cross became the road back to Eden. The church became the new temple where God dwells among his people.
The origin of the problem in Genesis 3-4: Exile and Division
The great problem of humanity that traces back to Genesis 3 was exile. In the Genesis narrative, Adam and Eve disobeyed God (what we call “transgression”) and were forbidden access to God’s presence.
Right after the fall, we find God warning Cain, Adam and Eve’s first son, that humanity was walking on dangerous ground now. They were fighting an invisible but very real enemy: sin. By the way, this is the first mention of sin in the Bible.
If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
Genesis 4:7 (NLT) You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”
Genesis 4:7 (NRS) If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it."
The rest of the story in Genesis 4 shows us that whenever sin takes place and rules over people, division and destruction happens. Sin has always brought exile, separation and calamity.
The solution to the problem: The Gospel
Let us go back now to Acts 2.
In Luke's synopsis of his sermon, Peter takes on this biblical truth and ends his message with a call to repentance to receive the forgiveness of sins.
His sermon was so powerful that it even cut to the heart of the crowd meeting in Jerusalem. He preached the good news, the same good news of salvation and restoration that we find in the mouth of the prophets, including John the Baptist. This was the same message that Jesus preached during his earthly ministry and that now the church was proclaiming.
Peter was announcing: “Listen, there is a way back to God! There is a way out of exile. And this promise of salvation and restoration is not only for you, but it is also for your children and for all who are far off.”
Most of the crowd that listened to Peter were moved to take action. “What shall we do?” That’s the effect of the gospel. When we receive it, it pushes us to take responsibility and take action.
Peter pointed them in the right direction:
Repentance
Rebirth
Receiving
Repentance - Confession of sins: change your thinking, review and grieve for your actions, take responsibility, make the decision of believing in Jesus Christ, forgive others, ask for forgiveness, and work on restoring your damaged relationships.
Rebirth - Be baptized (water baptism): public confession of your faith in Jesus.
Receiving - The gift of the Holy Spirit: receive it, accept it.
Jesus’ victory on the cross is the church’s new exodus, the new covenant in the Spirit. He brought to us the way out of exile: the forgiveness of our sins. We are not under the yoke of sin anymore. Jesus had set us free.
But He has also given us the Holy Spirit to lead us and direct us back to Him. To help us do what Cain failed to do: to have victory over sin, over Satan and over the evil powers. We don’t run with the “crooked generation” anymore. We were blind, but now we see. We were dead, but now we are alive. We were darkness, but now we are light.
So, again, the church was born out of the promise of restoration that Jesus fulfilled on the cross. No more exile: the consequences of Genesis 3 had been reversed. No more division, no more hate against one another: the blood of Jesus speaks a better word than the blood of Abel (Hebrews 12:24).
The Early Church practices are only possible when we build our theology and praxis on the fulfilled promise of restoration and salvation we found in Jesus’ victory on the cross.
The Practices of the Church: It’s Doing
The Practices of the Church: It’s Doing
The Devotion Connection, before and after Pentecost.
All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
“They devoted themselves.”
All church practices rest on our constant and unshakeable devotion to God and to our spiritual practices.
On these accounts, Luke uses the Greek verb proskartereō (to devote oneself to something) that denotes to continue steadfastly in a thing and give unremitting care to it.
Undoubtedly, prayer and worship were held as priorities in the early church. From the apostles to the rest of the church, everybody was called to embrace a collective life of devoted worship to God.
The Five Spiritual Practices of the Church
I believe that Acts 2 could be taken as a snapshot of the Church in its full fervour and love for the Lord. This passage has been the model to follow by the church throughout the centuries. It continues to be so relevant for us today. In summary, Acts chapter 2 gives us a portrait of the biblical church, delineating the church’s main features. Let us read Acts 2:41-47.
So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
I find here five practices or standards from the Early Church that we need to exercise:
1. Prayer and the Study of Scripture
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
We understand “the apostles’ teaching” as the sharing and learning of the Gospel throughout all of the Bible.
The book of Luke, chapter 24, reveals that the primary purpose that Jesus had during the 40 days after His resurrection and before His ascension was to show His disciples the Scriptures. His goal was for them to be able to see Him and His redemptive work as a fulfilment of what has been prophesied and foreshadowed in the Old Testament.
Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
On the other hand, “the prayers” may refer to the temple prayers (as in Acts 3:1) or to the spontaneous and collective prayers that were an essential part of the early church worship meetings.
The church in the book of Acts used to pray for one another, especially when facing afflictions and persecution. An example of this is the church praying for the release of Peter from jail in Acts 12 and the church praying for boldness to continue to speak the Gospel to all the people in Acts 4.
As a matter of fact, the church did not do anything without prayer. Every decision had to go through the filter of prayer and fasting first, letting the Holy Spirit take control of the direction of the church.
This principle is observed in the missionary commission of Barnabas and Saul (Paul) in Acts 13 and also in the appointment of leaders for the new churches (Acts 14).
2. Communion
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
Fellowship is one of the most important pillars of the church. In Biblical times, sharing a table was one of the most intimate ways of developing friendship and fellowship.
But, as we can see in Genesis 4, communion between brothers was not easily accomplished due to the effects of sin. Cain killed his brother Abel over a food offering.
As we have mentioned before, salvation must be understood as the restoration of the communion of the individual with God and the restoration of the communion of the individual with others. The cross allows us to have an intimate relationship with God and a healthy relationship with others.
This dual relationship is best seen in the sacrament of Communion or the Lord’s Supper. The breaking of bread was for the Early Church a moment of intimate communion with one another and the Lord Jesus. Therefore, as Pentecostals, we are not only Charismatics and Evangelicals, but also Sacramental.
3. Closeness and Generosity
And all who believed were together and had all things in common.
And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
As we read these two verses, we quickly realize the importance that fellowship had in the newly born community of faith.
For the Early Church, people matter more than possessions or personal agendas.
Closeness and generosity are not impossible anymore. Now we share the same bond (the love of Christ), we have the same background story (redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, forgiven of our sins by the Father), we have the same language (love) and live the same reality (the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives).
When we understand who we are, what unites us, and what we do (our purpose), we develop a strong sense of caring for one another.
This is entirely opposite to the consequences of Cain’s sin. After killing his brother Abel, and when confronted by God, his words showed a total lack of sympathy or empathy for his brother:
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?”
Yes, we are our brother’s keeper! Jesus instructed his disciples to call one another “brother” in Matthew 23:8. We are family, and we need to encourage and support each other.
This passage illustrates what Paul meant when exhorting the church in Rome to offer themselves to God as a living sacrifice. To be a living sacrifice for God means to give everything I am and what I have to the Lord.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
In the Early Church model, we see the church as a true family where love and mutual care were a constant.
Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
4. Unity and Collective Spiritual Growth
So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
The church of Acts 2 is shown as a single front. In this indivisible unit, devotion and service to God and communion with one another was the common denominator.
The believers of the Early Church lived their lives together.
This unity originated by the same Holy Spirit had its beginning in the same experience of baptism, in the breaking of bread and in the developing of a common practice of faith, as it was being taught by the apostles. The church was one, and the Lord added new members every day to the family of faith.
5. Sacrificial Service and Ministry
So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Finally, the last characteristic of the model of the church of Acts 2 has to do with its missionary and evangelistic focus. The church grew from 120 disciples to more than 3,000 people through the evangelistic sermon of Peter. He, filled with the Holy Spirit, called the crowds gathered in Jerusalem during Pentecost to repentance and faith in Christ Jesus.
As recorded in the book of Acts, the first wave of church evangelism begins with Peter’s sermon at Pentecost and continues through chapter 5.
The Early Church's evangelistic efforts went hand in hand with witnessing and the performance of signs, healings, and miracles. The church took the message of the Gospel to each corner of society.
The Early Church had a huge impact on the community and a great manifestation of the Holy Spirit. In other words, the Early Church experienced what we call revival.
The crowds were amazed to see the love, unity and spiritual authority of the church.
This resulted in the church being held in high esteem by some, receiving their favour, but also resulted in persecution and afflictions by those who opposed the Gospel.
Nevertheless, God blessed the evangelistic efforts of the church and the missional efforts that would come later since the church depended entirely on Him to carry them out.
We see this in the following story of Acts 3, where we see Peter and John healing a man lame from birth (Acts 3:1-10).
Conclusion
And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
The Early Church lived their lives together, day by day.
If there is something we learn in the book of Acts is that the church is not about programs, calendars, events, or cool ideas.
The church is about honest, healthy and spiritual relationships. Unity, mutual appreciation, gladness, thankfulness and generosity will come as a result of that.
The Early Church became the model of what a healthy community should look like.
Moreover, the growth of the church was not measured by attendance but by their devotion to God and to one another.
praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
It is the Lord who adds the numbers.
In summary, the Early Church, and our church in that sense, should be Charismatic (heavily relying on the Spirit and its biblical manifestations), Evangelical (Scripture-based and focused, a church that proclaims the message of the Gospel to everyone), and Sacramental (a church that meets regularly for communion, fellowship, mutual encouragement, worship, and prayer).
Charismatic
Evangelical
Sacramental
May the Lord help us to foster and maintain our focus on Him and on one another. We need to be devoted and intentional in our spiritual growth as individuals and as a community.