The Early Church: Lessons In Healthy Church Membership

COVID-19 has forced most of us to become familiar with a lot of things that we could have done without. We now more about viruses than most of us knew before. We know more about how vaccines work than most generations that came before us. We hear more about hospital capacities than we really ever needed to know. We hear way more about anti-viral meds and social distancing and the CDC and the FDA than we ever wanted to know. These are things we never had to give much thought to before, but now we almost can’t afford not to consider them.

There’s something else that we’ve heard a lot about over the last two years: crowds. Gatherings. There are so many questions and such heated debate: When we gather, should we gather inside or outside? Do we wear masks or do we not? Do we require vaccines or do we not?

Then, we ask, what kinds of gatherings are okay? Can college students go back to their dorms? Should families gather over the holidays? What about sports arenas and college dorms? Can we gather there? There are questions about fairness too: can protestors gather by the hundreds? If so, why can’t churches that are far smaller gather together? There are so many distinctions being made and much debate being had about what gatherings are allowed.

But as Christians, we know that there is one type of gathering that is a cut above the rest. There is one assembly that is set apart from all the others. And that gathering, that assembly, is the local church. Not because of who we are, but because of who we’re here for. Because we believe, and the Bible teaches, that the Creator, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He is here in our midst in the presence of His Son. “Where two or three have gathered together in my name”, Jesus said, “I am there in their midst” (Matt. 18:20 NASB).

It’s because of Him - who He is and what He’s doing in our midst - that’s why our gathering is set apart. That’s why we can expect greater things when a true church gathers than in any other type of gathering. He is in our midst as Lord and Savior. It is Him whom we worship. It is His word we hear preached. It is His love we receive from Him through our fellow church members. We encounter Him in a special way here, and when that happens, we cannot go away unchanged.

Two questions answered from Acts 2:40-47

1) what happens when I get saved?

2) what are the habits of a healthy church member?

So the sermon this morning is about two things:

1. The change that happens in us when we are saved, when I am born again

2. And, how a healthy church member behaves.

And it might seem like those two are unrelated, but they are, and I hope you’ll see that. So we’ll get at these two things this morning by asking two question of our text. The first is, what happens when I get saved?

#1: What happens when I get saved?

Joel covered for me last week, but the week before we looked at the first sermon of the apostle Peter which is most of chapter two. Peter’s first sermon, and the first recorded sermon from the early church, took place on Pentecost. The Holy Spirit in fulfillment of prophecy descended upon the 120 disciples in Jerusalem and the effect was a dramatic change in those 120 disciples.

The crowds in Jerusalem, which are Jews mainly who live outside of Jerusalem from different nations, these crowds who are here for the celebration of Pentecost, they hear and see the change. They ask, What is this that has happened? Peter’s sermon answers that question: what has happened, Peter says, is that the Lord Jesus has poured out His Spirit in the last days just as God said He would through the prophet Joel hundreds of years before.

Luke tells us that three thousand ethnic Jews became Christians, believers in Christ, and were saved. And there were three things they did on that occasion. We see those three things in verse 41.

The word of God gathers and creates the people of God

A. Receive the gospel with gladness

What is the first thing they did? Look with me at verse 41: they were baptized but that wasn’t even the first step. “Those who accepted his message...”

The first thing they did was they gladly received the gospel message that He had preached. What is the gospel? God is holy, Peter said. You and me, we are all sinners, Peter said. Nevertheless the holy God is also the God of love and He has made a way for sinners to be forgiven through the sin-bearing death of Jesus of Nazareth, crucified in our place. “Repent and be baptized,” Peter had commanded them. “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation”, Peter had warned them.

“Receive the gospel gladly” - ?

Believe that it is true

Live like it is true

See 1 Thess. 2:13

Now Peter tells us three thousand of them received that message gladly. What does it mean to receive the gospel message? How can you know if you have received the gospel?

To receive the gospel is, first, to believe that it is true and, second, live like it is true. Trust the God’s promise of forgiveness of all your sin through Christ crucified, and then live like you’re forgiven. Bring your life into conformity with the will of God, not in order to make God love and forgive you, but because He already has. And you receive the gospel with gladness because it is such good news.

We get a picture of what this receiving looks like from the church at Thessalonica. Paul had preached the gospel there and they had received it and a church was planted. 1 Thess. 2:13

1 Thessalonians 2:13 NIV

And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.

That’s the first thing the new believers did. They received the gospel. Have you received the gospel message?

The second thing they did was they followed Jesus in believer’s baptism.

B. Follow Jesus in believer’s baptism

Look with me at the second part of verse 41: “Those who accepted his message were baptized.”

Baptism is an external symbol of an internal reality.

We call it believer’s baptism because baptism is only for believers. Look again at verse 41: who was it that was baptized? Was it small children or infants? Was it anyone who just wanted a religious experience? No. Who was it? Who was baptized? “Those who accepted his message were baptized...”

You see, baptism does not save you. Baptism is a picture only. It is a symbol only. Going down into the waters and then coming back out, which is what baptism is as we Baptists believe, that does not itself cleanse you from sin. Look at verse 41 again: Baptism doesn’t save you any more than taking a shower cleanses your heart from sin. Christ’s shed blood cleanses our hearts from sin. That’s an internal reality. Baptism is an external picture of what has happened internally - an external symbol of an internal reality.

But that doesn’t mean it’s not important, being baptized. Being baptized by immersion is the first step in becoming a disciple of Christ. Jesus Himself was baptized. Jesus commands us to be baptized and to baptize new believers.

Matthew 28:19–20 NIV

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Baptism is such an important step for the Christian that the apostle Peter placed it side by side with repentance. “Repent and be baptized”, Peter said, “every one of you.” Baptism is in fact such a fundamental step that if a new disciple completely refuses to be baptized, we might have good reason to question the reality of their discipleship.

Every believer is to be baptized, by immersion and as a believer.

Have you been baptized? Have you been baptized as a believer? You may have been baptized at a young age. But were you saved at that time? Had you been born again? Was there a change in your life?

We receive the gospel message with gladness. Follow Jesus in believer’s baptism. And lastly, from verse 41, get entangled with a specific, Bible-teaching church.

C. Get entangled with a specific, Bible-teaching church

Last thing from verse 41: “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” Man! Three thousand in one day! Jesus didn’t even have more than 500 disciples by the end of his ministry. This is three thousand in one day! [Lenski, Acts, p115] Jesus promised His disciples that they would do greater works than He had done once He was gone and He had sent His Spirit. The Spirit has now come, and His words proved true. Jesus was not afraid to let His students do greater things than He would do. What a good teacher!

Three thousand people received the gospel gladly, were baptized, and became part of the church in Jerusalem. That’s the last step in our three-part examination of verse 41. Get entangled with a specific, Bible-teaching church.

Notice the word I used. “Entangled”. Maybe you’re thinking, “Uh, pastor Dustin, didn’t you mean to use a different word? Wouldn’t ‘involved’ have been better?” Entangled just sounds so unpleasant, doesn’t it? After all, everything that gets tangled has to come untangled at some point, and it’s rarely a fun process. No one likes to sit and untangle cords. If you do, please come to my house. You can untangle anywhere from one to 25 cords. No one likes to brush tangled hair or have their tangled hair brushed. It hurts. Not fun.

But no, I actually chose that word very intentionally. Here’s why: You can become involved at the local gym. You can meet some folks that you might say hi to, but if Planet Fitness offered you a better deal, most of you would pull up stakes and go. I would too.

The point is, you can be involved somewhere without really being a part of it. The relationships you have and the investments you’ve made have not been deep enough to link you to those people on a heart level, so it’s relatively easy to leave. But God wants us to have that kind of a connection with our church family. He wants us to be entangled. He wants us to be so embedded and enmeshed in our church family that leaving feels hard.

When Shannon and I left my first church, it was honestly one of the saddest things we have ever done. We loved that church and they really loved us. They couldn’t pay us much, but man they welcomed us, just like you all have. Don’t ever underestimate how that can bless a pastor and his family!

Those relationships there were precious to us then and they still are now. Those people at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Louisburg, NC, in Franklin County, northeast of Raleigh, will always be dear to us. They showered us with gifts and food when we moved into the parsonage before my first Sunday. Several ladies in the church loved on our kids, who were very small then. You could call them at a moment’s notice and they would be at the house if we needed help.

In fact, my first Sunday there, I dislocated my knee. My first ambulance ride. Shannon and I had to go to the hospital, and the kids were only two years and four years old. Four women came over to the parsonage and gave our kids baths, made them a snack, read to them, and put them to bed - and it was only our first Sunday. As long as I live I will never forget that kindness.

So when we left there, it felt painful. It felt like being severed. Honestly, half of my heart was there with those people three years after we left.

We had attended other churches and even been members of other churches before that. We left those churches and went to other churches when we moved before I became a pastor. We missed a few people, but for the most part, our lives continued on as before.

But when we left Mt. Zion, it hurt. And if we had to leave here, it would hurt. And that’s exactly how Jesus wants it. If you can leave a church after a few years and not feel any loss, I question whether you were really a part of that church. God means for us to be entangled in a local church. It should be hard to leave. It should be painful to go somewhere else.

Are you entangled here? Are you embedded and enmeshed here at Buffalo? Would it be hard for you to go somewhere else?

I want you to take a minute and look behind you. Now look to your left. Now look to your right. If you had to leave these people, what would your discomfort level be? Let’s say that when you walk out of these doors in just a few minutes, it’s your last time here. How do you feel when you consider that possibility?

If it feels unnatural and unpleasant, you’re entangled here. Your relationships and commitments and investments are so strong that breaking them off would be painful.

If you think of that possibility and you don’t think it would be difficult, maybe you’re not entangled. No shame or condemnation if that’s the case for you.

But here’s the thing: There are people here who need you. There are spiritual gifts you have that we need here. There are ministries we could not do in our city and our world without you. All hands on deck!

So my question for you is: do you want to be entangled? Do you want deep relationships here? Do you want this to be a place where you grow in the grace of Jesus because of the people around you and not in spite of them? Do you want to experience God’s love here through the imperfect people around you and do you want them to know God’s love through you? Do you want this to be a place where you can share about where you’re at honestly with not even a second look? Do you want this to be a place where you can be transparent about your struggles with sin? Do you want this to be a place where the people around you refuse to condone your sin and yet they also show you God’s love and grace when you confess?

If you do, but you’re not there yet, the rest of the sermon is for you. What are the habits of a church member who is entangled? In other words, what are the habits of healthy church members? The rest of our text shows us three.

You can remember these as the three S’s of healthy church membership. They’re surprisingly simple. Not easy. But they’re simple.

#2: What are the habits of a healthy church member?

A. Show up

The first habit of a healthy church member we see here is the easiest: show up. Just get here. Show up to the regular programming of the church. Look at how we see this in verse 42: “They” - who is they? the baptized believers who received the gospel message gladly and who entangled themselves in their local church in Jerusalem - “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

There’s four things here, and we can’t talk about each one because you would actually like to leave here and go to lunch at some point today. So I’m going to take the first one, which I think is first because it is of first importance. It’s the thing that underlies and informs all the rest. Preaching. Teaching.

There’s a church in Los Angeles called Reality LA. Reality Los Angeles. This church is recent church-plant. It was started in the recent past, I think in 2013. There’s been lots of media attention given to this church and to its pastor. They’ve even been profiled by the media outlet called Vice - not exactly an evangelical Christian publication in the slightest. And yet it’s a trend - alot of secular, non-Christian media outlets are very interested in this very Christian, very evangelical church.

Why? Because their pastor preaches the Bible unashamedly, and the very young and hip Los Angelinos they’re reaching like it. They want it. And it’s not shallow; it’s substantive. It’s not watered-down; it’s unapologeticaly biblical, whether it lines up with our culture or not. And it’s not short and sweet - the pastor preaches 50 minute sermons that go verse by verse through whole books of the Bible. And it’s attracting people.

Since we’re talking about LA, you might think their church is attracting attention because they’re social justice warriors, or because they’ve sold out to the LGBTQ+ revolution. There’s actually a church next door to them that replaced the Sunday sermon with a Sunday movie and replaced the cross with a pride flag.

But the reality is, that stuff is not news anymore. It’s not new and trendy and brave to do those things now. In a secular world like ours, and in a city like LA, what is newsworthy is finding out that young, otherwise secular, unchurched, largely pagan young people there in LA want and seek out substantive Bible preaching and teaching. [https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/hollywood-really-wants-bible-preaching-churches-unashamed-gospel, accessed November 6, 2021]

(And here we thought that young people were leaving the church in droves. Don’t believe that statistic blindly when you hear it. Do your research. It’s not always true.)

God changes us as we hear, understand, and obey His word.

Why do we preach and teach the Bible? Why is it that in generation after generation, we find that the Bible never gets old and that true believers want substantive Bible preaching? It’s because we know and have experienced that God changes us as we hear, understand and obey His word.

Shawn’s been reminding us lately of the power of the word of God. “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light” (Gen. 1:3 NASB). The Hebrew literally says “God said, ‘Let light be’; and light was”. So incredibly powerful is His word that by merely speaking it He brings worlds into existence.

The word of God also created the church. We wouldn’t be here without the Bible. Peter preached His first sermon, and as he preached the word of God, God, by His word, convicted the hearers of the truth of what Peter was saying; God, by His word, gave his hearers faith and repentance to receive the word of God gladly. And they were added to the church. God’s word is a creative power.

And we’re seeing it in our own lives, too. It’s by hearing and studying and obeying God’s word that we are being recreated. God is remaking us, refashioning us in His own image, making His church holy and pure and radiant. It’s not because of anything we’ve done. He’s done it all.

The early church at Jerusalem, I mean no wonder Acts 2:42 reads the way it does. Just take that first word: devoted. They devoted themselves. They were devoting themselves to the apostle’s teaching. That’s an intense word. It describes a solid commitment, an uncommon consistency. Maybe you’ve seen this hashtag on FB and Twitter that reads hash-tag nodaysoff? It usually refers to an exercise commitment. No days off, I’m working out. Whether I feel like it or not. Whether I want to or not. No days off. I’m not going to miss it. I may regret sleeping in this Sunday morning but I will never regret that I went to church and heard the preaching of the Word of God. That’s kind of the picture here.

Healthy church members show up to the regular activities of the church, primarily the preaching of the Word. Just show up! Eighty percent of the battle is just getting dressed, getting in your car, driving hear, going inside and being part of what’s happening. Just show up. Put yourself at the Lord’s disposal by showing up consistently, no Sundays off, and see how He honors that.

Healthy church members show up. But healthy church members also share.

B. Share

Healthy church members share. Look with me at verses 44-45 and notice what they shared. They shared their belongings and their money.

Acts 2:44–45 NIV

All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.

Talk about countercultural! This is willing, voluntary, joyful, and cheerful wealth redistribution. The world truly cannot understand this. The closest the world can come to this is the broken political system we call communism. Some read this and say, “Look, the Bible supports communism.” That could not be further from the truth. I love this quote I came across this week in a commentary on this verse of Acts: “This was not communism but the product of something that communism does not understand.” [Lenski, p116]

With communism, Karl Marx would say, “Look, your neighbor is poor. You have money. You must therefore, by penalty of law, hand over all your assets to the state. The state will then redistribute your assets, and everyone else’s, as the state sees fit.”

Of course, we know that communism never works, because even as communism demonizes the rich, the purveyors of communism end up pretty wealthy themselves, at the expense of the person who had the money they took - who, by the way, are now poor, because of the government who took money from them to make the poor rich. It just makes your head spin.

Karl Marx says “Your neighbor is poor; you’re rich. Give your money to the state and we will redistribute it to the poor.” Jesus of Nazareth says, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all the he has and buys that field” (Matt. 13:44 NASB). Jesus satisfies us with His own presence and love. Money, then, loses its power over us. Others’ needs become larger than our desires. And we find that the more we give to others, the more joy we somehow have.

So Karl Marx intimidates and shames the rich into abandoning their wealth by coercion. Jesus loves and fills the believer with Himself and motivates us with joy. Which do you think would be more effective?

Buffalo, you are a generous church. The grace of God is evident among us in that regard. I hesitate to even suggest that we could improve, but we know that we always can grow, and God calls us to grow, and God enables us to grow. Thank you for sharing what you have. Do so more and more.

Healthy church members show up. Healthy church members share. And lastly, healthy church members spend time.

C. Spend time

Look with me at verses 46-47a: “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” (Acts 2:46-47a NIV).

The other day I noticed that there’s a phrase I say way too much. That phrase is “we don’t have time.” Ask my family. I am always rushed. I publicly apologize to my wife and kids who have heard me say “I don’t have time” way more than they should have.

Have you ever noticed that that phrase is almost rarely ever true? “I don’t have time”. You always have time! When I say, “I don’t have time to mow the yard because I have to go to the store”, I think I’m speaking the truth. But what I should say is this: “I have time. I’m not going to mow the yard with that time. Instead, I’m going to use the time that I have to go to the store.” That’s a more truthful statement, is it not? We all have time. Turn to the person next to you and say, “I have the time”. Every single person in the room this morning has time - every minute until the minute of your death is time that you have to spend. And you will spend it in one way or another.

Here’s something else I don’t want to consider: What I spend my time on sends a message. It reveals the truth. The truth is that I would rather go to the store than mow my lawn. The truth is that we would rather mow the lawn than do our Bible reading. The truth is that we would rather do our Bible reading than engage meaningfully with our spouse and our children. The truth is that we would rather engage with our spouse and our children than invest time with our church family.

Spend time with your church!

Gather in large groups (“in the temple”

Gather in small groups (“from house to house”)

Gather frequently (“every day”)

So let’s settle it - we always have time. Knowing that, then, frees us up to choose better how spend our time. Notice with me the time the early church spent together, verse 46: “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.” Notice that they met together in large and small groups. They met for worship. This is what we call corporate worship. You’re together as a group, as a body, like we’re doing right now. But they also gathered in small groups - they met in people’s homes. And notice that they did this regularly. Every day, it says.

Why do you need both? Why is it not enough to just come to worship or just come to Sunday Morning Bible Study? You need to come to worship with your whole church family because you and I need to be reminded that this whole Christian thing is not just about me and my problems and my needs. But we need to be in small groups, too, because we need the close, one-on-one fellowship that happens there.

So what are the three habits of healthy church members? Show up. Share. Spend time. If you’re not entangled in our church family, this is how you get there. You will get out of your church membership what you put into it.

Conclusion and call for response

So let’s take those two questions and think through how God might be calling you and I to respond today:

Are you born again? I’m not asking whether you prayed a prayer or walked an aisle or signed a card. I’m not even asking whether you’re baptized. I’m asking, have you trusted in Christ as Savior and submitted your life to Him as Lord?

I remember a lady at my first church. She was about 90 years old when I first visited her. I asked her to tell me a little bit about her relationship with the Lord. This is what she said: “Well, let’s see, my parents took me to church and I was baptized when I was 12. That’s about it.” Later I talked with her daughter. I shared what she had said to me and I asked her daughter if her mother was a Christian. She seemed confused by the very question. She was flustered and irritated and said, “Well, I mean, she’s a woman who lives in the south. So yeah, she’s a Christian.”

Church, there must be something more in your Christian past than merely going to church and being baptized. You can do both of those things and never be born again. Please do not put this question off. Do you belong to Jesus? The question is not so much a commitment you made in the past. The question is are you trusting in Christ. I came across this quote last week. “The only proof of past conversion is present converted-ness.”

Have you received the gospel message gladly? Have you accepted it as true and has your life changed accordingly? Don’t leave here today without getting that question settled. Find me or Pastor Shawn or a deacon and talk with us. Jesus stands ready to today to forgive you and save you. The invitation is there but you must accept it.

Are you entangled in this church? Are there people who have become dear to you here? Are your relationships such that if you left permanently or had to be separated from us, would that impact you?