Family and Friends - Acts 2:42-47

Introduction

I have a good friend who grew up without much of a family to speak of. His dad wasn’t around, and his mom didn’t seem to have any time and energy for him. So, he was essentially left to figure life out on his own. He bounced around from peer group to peer group, changing his appearance as often as he changed friends. He was always trying to figure out where he belonged and how he could find some type of happiness. He partied pretty hard in college and early adulthood, and it helped him for a while. He started a family and tried to maintain his social life too. But, he knew it wasn’t working. He always tried to be in the three places at once so that he wouldn’t have to be still where he was because he knew that in the stillness he still felt inadequate, rejected, and alone. But then, a change came in his life that he didn’t expect. Jesus saved him. And, when Jesus saved him, he suddenly found himself surrounded by people that took a real interest in who he was and what was going to happen to him. He was guarded at first, but slowly he became more comfortable sharing the years of burdens that he’d been carrying and allowing himself to be really known. Older men included him in their ministries. Men his age gave him a new group of friends. Younger men began to admire him and look at him as an example for their lives. He had a family for the first time.

When Jesus saves you, part of the hope that He offers to you is a place where you belong in this world, a family that is stronger than flesh and blood. Our discipleship process is connect/disciple/go, and this is what we mean by connect. This is the vision that we have. We don’t want to be a show that you attend or a religious ritual that you take part in. We want to be a family that you belong to. But, here’s the situation: we have a connection deficit. Recently, we did a survey of our membership to see if what we were seeing was lining up with what you were feeling. We found out that it was. Here’s some of the numbers:

Out of 114 who responded, 58% feel very connected or would even say “They’re my family.” We think 80-85% would be healthy when you factor in a constant flow of new folks.

Further, 40% of those who responded said that when they miss church that they miss it, but they aren’t sure that anyone misses them. Heartbreaking!

God’s Word

Our vision is to have a connection-first culture. We believe that your connection (not just your attendance) in the body of Christ is the first step in a vibrant, healthy Christian life. So, we want to build a culture in which all of us share in the responsibility to help others make this connection.

The early church shows that this isn’t just some strategic plan put together by your elders, but this gets to the very DNA of what it means to be a Christian. Church in its purist form — the ideal

What Connection Looks Like (headline)

Connection “begins” with “worship.”

Acts 2:42 (ESV)42And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

“They” = 120 + 3000 new converts - The church is an assembly of Christians, not a collection of people. It’s Christ that brings us together, not our community or culture or heritage or the music or the preacher. You may attend a church prior to conversion, but you are not part of the church until conversion. You are converted to Christ and into the church.

Describes the early life of these Christians by mentioning four devotions.

“the apostles teaching” Their tellings of the teachings of Jesus/their explanations of the fulfillment of the Old Testament/their calls to repentance and obedience.

“the fellowship” - NT word for connection. Means “to have in common”. We use connection because fellowship has come to mean something different in the South. This isn’t talking about eating fried chicken and having a dunking booth. This is talking about having a common birth in the Spirit which unites you in passion and priorities.

“the breaking of bread” - Note the definite article before each. Likely means the Lord’s Supper or possibly Agape meals. Most likely more than just eating. It’s eating together and reflecting together.

“the prayers” - Likely maintained the daily prayer times at the Temple. Continued to go together to seek the Lord.

Intended to understand these devotions as the expression of worship.

Verse 42 summarizes what they did, and verse 43 tells us why they did it.

Acts 2:43 (ESV) 43And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

Acts 2:37 (ESV) 37Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

This church began as a result of awe (v. 37), and now this church lived and continued in this same Spirit of awe (v. 43).

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.

Worship is the response of your heart and the devotion of your life to the awesomeness of God.

Worship fuels devotion.

Why did they devote themselves to study? Why did they devote themselves to connecting with one another? Why did they take the Lord’s Supper and share agape meals? Why did the devote themselves to prayer meetings? Not because they had to. Not because they were supposed to. They did it because it was the impulse of their awe-induced worship. It was because they were moved by. It was because they wanted to express their awe. It was because they wanted to increase their awe.

“fellowship” = “in common” What they had in common was a common awe, a common worship, a common passion. It connected them with one another in a way that music style and preaching style and children’s ministry never could. They weren’t bound by the methodology of their church; they were bound by the awesomeness of their God.

Let’s connect deeper than the style of church we have or the philosophy of ministry we have. Let’s not be bound by how or what we sing but by the awesomeness of who we worship.

Connection is “belonging” to a “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 didn’t sell everything at once and create a giant pot. This isn’t spiritual communism. Imperfect tense of “selling” and “distributing”. They had done this in the past and would do it again “as any (in their fellowship) had need.” 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.

In other words, it was to share their lives and resources with one another the way that families share their lives and resources. It’s to love one another the way that families love one another.

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. This is applying specifically to “the world’s goods”. It’s why people give to their church to the point where they lower their own buying power, lower their own standard of living. It’s so they can contribute and share in what they already have in common with one another. It’s so they can use their worldly goods to minister to their spiritual family. This can also be applied to spiritual needs. Somebody had to open up their homes and clean their homes and provide the meals for them to break bread. They alter their social groups, schedules, and priorities so that they could spend time together daily. THIS IS WHAT FAMILIES DO, Y’ALL.

ILL: When I was sick, Megan/mom/mom-in-law/dad/YOU 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.

The emphasis of the fellowship is on those giving and distributing. That doesn’t mean that those, who were in my position of receiving, are lesser members. But, it does demonstrate that there’s an important principle: To connect to someone, serve them. We often think of: “They didn’t connect with me. They didn’t minister to me. They didn’t help reach out to me.” But, here’s the deal: there’s no way to build a connection than by serving someone else. You gain an awareness that you’re a part of a body. You share a heart with the person you minister to.

Check this out: Our survey showed that we had 58 percent say that they felt connected. Do you know what percentage we had that said they were serving faithfully? 64.9 percent. Almost the exact same. What do we learn? Those who serve with and for others feel a connection with those they serve beside and toward.

Let’s be a family. Let’s take responsibility for each other. Let’s celebrate births together. Let’s see each other in the hospitals. Let’s make sure needs are met. Let’s care for each other’s kids. Let’s go to funerals together. Christ has brought us together!

Connection is “becoming” “friends”.

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. They weren’t just family; they were friends. They didn’t just love each other; they liked each other.

This early church was formal/informal; institutional/organic (“temple/homes; the breaking of bread/breaking bread”).

Both are important:

The army gathered before the general where they can be instructed, inspired, see their collective power.

The squad with whom they live where they can be known, trained, helped, and cared for.

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 were disseminate into homes where they could be known, ministered to, loved on, and helped, where they could demonstrate their spiritual gifts.

One more stat from our survey: Remembering that about 60 percent say they feel connected, guess how many say that their groups are a can’t-miss hour of their week. 62%. There’s a correlation.

My desire is that our groups will be families, not classrooms. A place where you share your life, not a just a lesson.

You see, my friend that I mentioned in my introduction. His story took place here at Iron City. It’s a story to the power of your love toward someone and the effect that it can have. But, it’s a call for us to figure out how to do it again, how to do it more, and how to do it better. Will you join us in building a connection-first culture?