A Real Family - Acts 2:42-47

Introduction

I met Jay when he was in the 11th grade because his girlfriend was pregnant. He wasn’t a Christian, but his girlfriend’s mother insisted they go to church in preparation for the baby coming. He didn’t know anything about Jesus or church etiquette, but he kept showing up every week. Interestingly, he showed up to our most intense student discipleship group, and I was able to get to know him well. He came from a terribly broken family. He told me that he could remember watching his dad mercilessly beat his mother as a child and how afraid he was. He witnessed abuse in every sense of the word. He had eight brothers and sister, and he was the oldest. At one point, when his mother decided to run from his dad, the nine of them lived in a small car.

But, something life-changing happened as Jay and his girlfriend came to church. They were loved, not shamed. They were cared for, not rejected. After a few months, Jay and his girlfriend both came to know Jesus as their Savior. Members of the church provided for them clothes, diapers, and toys for their baby. We gathered together in hospital waiting room when that beautiful, little girl came into the world. Every day, a different pastor came and prayed in the hospital room blessings over their new baby. For the first time in his life, Jay was a part of a real family that could provide the care for his he needed, a place where he could be safe. What I want us to see today is that God’s design for the church was always to bring them together through Jesus to form a family.

God’s Word

Read Acts 2:42-47

What kind of family are we supposed to be?

We are a spiritual family.

In Matthew 12, Jesus says something extreme. There’s a scene in which Jesus is teaching, and his mother and brothers came to talk to him. So, they send in a guy to tell Jesus that his mom wants to talk with him, and Jesus asks him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And, then Jesus pointed toward all of his disciples, and He declared: “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” Jesus established a spiritual family. And, it’s a family that Jesus says even supersedes that of our earthly blood. It is a family that is bound together by his blood!

Spiritual family is coming to be in Acts 2:42

“They” That’s who the “they” is.

Brought together by the Spirit

vs. 1-41

v. 37 “They were cut to the heart”

v. 41 “They were brought together”

v. 42 “They were devoted to God together, and each person was devoted to the whole spiritual family.” Do you see that?

Born into a physical family. Born again into a spiritual family.

ILL: Jason and Donna adopting Katy and Mila. Spinal bifida. Helpless + hopeless. Lifelong commitment to love. This is a picture of what Jesus did for us. We were helpless and hopeless. But, God aimed his love at us by sending the Spirit after us to convict us, save us, and transform us. If you really know Jesus, that’s how you came together.

Bound together by worship in the Spirit.

We brought them together held them together.

43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

Verse 42 summarizes what they did. Verse 43 summarizes why they did it.

What do we mean by awe?

Today’s meaning of being moved by the Holy Spirit = “I got goosebumps during the crescendo of powerful vocals. I became emotional during a sermon. I was really impressed with service.” These are not what is meant by awe.

Awe came in verse 37 as the conviction of their sins through the hearing of God’s word. Awesome in verse 43 as a result of bearing witness to the power of God and the continued, obvious presence of God in their midst.

Spirit-filled awe is a growing awareness of the might and glory of God. It’s knowing and feeling and grappling with how sinful you are and how exposed that sin is before the might and glory of God. It’s realizing that God is not to be taken lightly, not to be trifled with. It’s believing with all of your heart that you are in the presence of might and holiness right now. And, it’s knowing and treasuring that in light of your sin and in light of God’s presence you have the hope of Jesus’ grace. Awe is being undone by all of it. Awe is the amazement that God would love you even though He really knows you.

APP: “fellowship” = “in common” What they had in common was a common awe, a common worship, a common passion. When you gather together what are you focusing on? Are you focused on how different people are? Are you focused on how people don’t meet your standards for how they should dress and act and be? Are you focused on what you want to get or who you want to accept and approve of you? Or are you focused on the greatness of Jesus? Are you focused on the kindness of God?

We are a responsible family.

In verses 44 and 45, we see how this fellowship was lived out with one another. If you notice the last word “common”, it has the same root word as the word “fellowship” in verse 42. In other words, we’re seeing how people who have “in common” and are connected by their awe of Jesus relate to one another. We’re expected to make the connection in our mind that this is what fellowship, real connection looks like.

Acts 2:44–45 (ESV) 44And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.

What does it mean that we have Jesus in common? It means that we have everything in common! That doesn’t mean that we all think the same way or that we conform to a single personality or that we view politics the same way. It means that we open our lives to share who we are and what we have with one another.

They said, “You won’t be hungry so long as I have food. You won’t be cold so long as I have clothes. You won’t be homeless so long as I have a home.” It was a willingness to lower their own standard of living so that they could raise the standard of living of someone in their church.

1 John 3:16–17 (ESV) 16By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?

The compulsion of realizing the depth of God’s goodness to you is generosity and responsibility toward one another.

Physical needs “world’s good”

Spiritual needs (Paul often receives world goods and gives spiritual goods)

This is what families do. ILL: When I was sick, Megan/mom/mom-in-law/dad/MY CHURCH cared for me. I never missed a check. You didn’t make me feel guilty. You brought me food. You texted encouragements. You stayed with my kids. You babysat me. Thank you! I love you. I’m forever indebted to you. I’ll never forget it. You’re my family.

APP: If you are filled with love toward God, you will be filled with love toward one another. You’ll take responsibility for each other. What do they need? A friend? To be invited out? Somebody to text with? Someone to sit by? Moved by a love for God, you’ll be moved to take responsibility for each other.

We are a joyful family.

Acts 2:46–47 (ESV) 46And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Notice how it describes their relationships with one another. “day by day” “attending…together” “breaking bread in their homes” “glad and generous hearts”

This wasn’t like a lot of our families where it’s obvious we had no choice. A lot of you with brothers and sisters know what I mean. They weren’t just family; they were friends. They didn’t just love each other; they liked each other.

This was a large church where it was impossible for them to know everyone. They would gather at the Temple and be taught by the apostles, and then they would disseminate into homes where they could be known, ministered to, loved on, and helped, where they could demonstrate their spiritual gifts.

Joyful families spend time together.

Spent time together = “glad and generous hearts”

ILL: Sara = “Is tomorrow a family day?”

Your life with be happier (and harder!) together, than it will be separate.

Jesus is bringing you together to increase your joy and to transform one another more into his image.

I mentioned Jay in the beginning. Do you know what became of him? He married his girlfriend. He worked a job through college to take care of his baby girl, and God called him into the ministry. Today, he serves as the associate pastor of one of the largest churches in my county. And, it all started with a church that committed to be his family. That person that you’re ignoring. That person that you’ve written off. That person that pretend like doesn’t exist. This could be their story too, if they have a family.