An Example of a Healthy Church
Notes
Transcript
ME: Devoted (vs. 42-43)
ME: Devoted (vs. 42-43)
They say that you should go the the doctor for a physical once a year.
The idea is that the doctor has an example of what good health looks like,
And they assess your health against this example.
After their assessment they make some suggestions or changes to bring your health closer to this example of health.
I have to confess, it has been a couple years since I have had a physical done.
But if you are like me,
You tend to think that you are pretty healthy and you probably don’t need to change much if anything at all.
But what happens when you go the physical is you are surprised to find out that you are not as healthy as you think you are.
My last physical, my doctor did blood work and found that my cholesterol was high.
I was telling my dad about it after the fact and found out he was on medicine because he has a naturally elevated cholesterol.
So, I ask the doctor what she suggests and she says I could make some minor diet changes and probably be okay.
She begins listing off foods that can contribute to high cholesterol that I should cut down on.
At first it is a bunch of foods that I hardly ever eat,
Then she gets to egg yolks.
Eggs are my favorite food.
So, I tell her I eat at least two large eggs a day,
Sometimes I will even eat eggs for all 3 meals.
So, she suggested eating egg whites as a replacement,
Or just not eating so many eggs.
At first, I started getting those containers of the liquid egg whites,
And it wasn’t the same!
So, after doing that for a while,
I went back to my eggs and just tried to eat less of them.
But the unexpected results is a reminder of why it is important to regularly get a physical.
This is true for our physical body,
But it is an even greater importance that we do this for our spiritual self.
Our passage this morning holds up an example of the healthy Spirit-filled early church,
That we can assess our health as a church against.
It is a physical for our spiritual body, the church.
Our passage tells us what made the early church healthy, dynamic, and alive.
From it, we learn a spiritual diet and exercise regimen for a healthy body of Christ.
Just before our passage,
Last week, we talked about how the early church was born,
After Peter preached this Christ-centric sermon,
The Spirit and the Word worked in the hearts of three thousand people,
Bringing them to repentance and faith.
The passage taught us how God builds His church.
It was His Word and His Spirit that brought this new creation,
A community of believers,
Into existence.
The church is God’s plan.
It is bigger than a bunch of random individuals.
Christianity is personal but not individualistic,
It is a corporate faith.
This fact is made plain in Acts 2:42-47,
Where we see an example of a healthy church connect with God and one another.
The communal nature of the church is reiterated all throughout the NT.
Slide
So, because the health of the church is so important,
It is imperative we understand what the church is supposed to be.
We see four general categories exemplified by the early church:
Devoted (vs. 42-43)
Generous (vs. 44-45)
Connected (vs. 46)
Worshipful (vs. 47)
A healthy church connects with God and others, is devoted to God’s Word, worships God, and joyfully puts the needs of others first.
You can hopefully hear the similarity of our own mission statement from this example:
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We exist to love God and others, grow as Christ-followers devoted to serving one another, and multiply disciples.
The mission of the early church still defines our mission today.
And it is not as if the early church did not have obstacles.
In this brief historical narrative,
The church had just rapidly grown from just over 100 people to thousands.
The opportunity for confusion, chaos, disorganization, and mistreatment was great.
Slide
So, vs. 42 tells us they simply devoted themselves to four things:
The apostles’ teaching,
Fellowship,
The breaking of bread,
And prayer.
This devotion expresses a sense of perseverance for a cause.
These 4 things are the essential elements of being a disciple of Christ.
If we follow Jesus,
We must devote ourselves to these things.
These were the priorities of the early church.
Therefore, they must be the priorities for us as the church today.
First is the apostles’ teaching.
The apostles’ teaching is what they learned from Jesus.
It is teaching about the person and work of Jesus Christ,
And their responsibilities as His followers.
If you need an example of this teaching,
Just look at Peter’s sermon earlier in this chapter.
The focus of their teaching is to make Christ known!
A true spiritual awakening demands biblical teaching.
The gospel message is central to our lives.
There is no substitute for God’s Word.
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Titus 2:1 commands...
But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.
A healthy church consumes a healthy diet of sound teaching,
This is a humbling reminder for me as a pastor.
I must always crucify any desire I may have to preach my opinion,
I must forsake any temptation to be a comedian,
Or stir your emotions with a rousing speech.
My role, and the role of any person who is teaching God’s Word, is to be a mouthpiece for God.
The Apostles demonstrated this.
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Vs. 43 also supports this.
It says all of the disciples are filled with awe as the Apostles were performing wonders and signs.
Slide
The Apostles regularly did signs and wonders throughout Acts.
This is part of the unique authority given to the Apostles to validate their teaching,
Because the purpose of these signs and wonders is not to draw awe toward themselves.
Rather, the awe is in response to the works of God through the Apostles.
This is not saying that any teacher needs to perform miracles to validate their teaching.
Yes, miracles are still possible,
But the Bible does not say they are required.
In fact, the sad truth is people have done fake miracles claiming they are doing it in the name of God,
We know these are fake because the focus is not on God,
But on the person claiming to do the miracle.
This has been very damaging to people who have been deceived,
But it has also been damaging to the name of God.
That is not what we see demonstrated by the apostles and the early church here.
The early church gathered around the Apostles’ teaching of Christ,
God performed miracles through these men,
So, the early church was both in awe of Him and obedient to His Word.
Slide
Going back to vs. 42.
The second element of devotion is fellowship.
Acts shows how the early church shared a common way of life.
There was a spiritual unity that manifested itself in practical acts of love and support.
At the most basic level, they were devoted to being together.
The Greek word for fellowship here is a unique word.
The word is koinonia.
It expresses an active sense of sharing intimate connectedness.
In fact, the only two types of human relationships this is used to describe in the NT,
Is in marriage and in the church.
This fellowship is something Jesus had with His disciples.
It is not the same as an ordinary human relationship,
Christian fellowship requires Christ to set the relationship apart from an other relationship.
Therefore, we enjoy fellowship with others as an overflow of our fellowship with God through Christ.
Jesus demonstrates and teaches this in John 13,
Where Jesus and the disciples are having supper together,
Then He gets up and washes His disciples feet,
Telling the disciples that they ought to wash one another’s feet.
He said He had given this as an example that His followers should also do just as He did.
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He concludes this lesson by saying what sets Christian fellowship apart in John 13:34-35,
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Slide
Jesus is teaching that fellowship is edifying!
It builds us up.
And it starts with Him.
If we are out of fellowship with Jesus,
We will be out of fellowship with the church.
In fact, being out of fellowship with Jesus’s people may be a clue that a person is out of fellowship with Jesus,
That is how strong the Bible presents the union is between Christ and His church.
The NT is filled with “one-another” passages,
That define what Christian fellowship must look like.
So, when you are reading through the NT,
Every time you come across a “one another” passage,
Pause to consider the command,
Then pray for the Spirit to deepen your devotion to fellowship in this specific way.
God does not give these “one another” commands to be a burden.
He gives us fellowship to be an amazing blessing.
Yet our human nature draws us away from this blessing,
Making it difficult to cultivate and maintain this thing God gives us for our own good.
So, deepen your fellowship with Christ,
Empowering you to fellowship with His people,
To be a blessing and to be blessed yourself.
Slide
The third element of devotion in Acts 2:42 is the breaking of bread.
Later, vs. 46 says the disciples devoted themselves to breaking bread,
Which is the idea of sharing a meal together.
Here, it says they devoted themselves to THE breaking of bread.
This is talking about taking a piece of bread and literally breaking into smaller pieces.
Why would the disciples be devoted to this?
Because this talking about the Lord’s Supper.
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Jesus instituted this ordinance for His disciples to continue to do.
Here in the early church, they were devoted to reflecting on the broken body and shed blood of Christ.
This shows the Christ-centered nature of this community.
A healthy church has an affection for Jesus.
Everything a healthy church does is about Jesus.
Otherwise, it is a church in name only.
The Lord’s Supper is not only an act of obedience,
It is a way we show affection for Christ as a body.
Therefore, we must devote ourselves to the breaking of bread.
Slide
The fourth element of devotion is prayer.
The disciples have already shown to be devoted to prayer back in Acts 1:14.
In fact, all throughout Acts the early church demonstrates a vibrant prayer life.
Slide
They would gather together to pray.
They would pray in the temple,
In their homes,
As they walked along the road,
When they encountered sick or afflicted people,
Before speaking God’s Word,
Before listening to God’s Word,
While they were persecuted,
During planned times of prayer,
As they offered thanks for food,
When they gave thanks for the forgiveness of sins,
When they praised God for His many blessings,
And as they offered petitions for daily needs.
They make it abundantly clear,
A healthy church is a praying church.
They did not have many earthly resources,
But they shook up the entire world for Christ because they had heavenly resources,
Which they experienced through prayer.
So, we see in vs. 42 that a healthy church is devoted to:
Teaching, fellowship, the Lord’s Supper, and prayer,
Our church today must be devoted to these things as well.
WE: Generous (vs. 44-45)
WE: Generous (vs. 44-45)
Slide
A natural outflow of the early churches devotion to fellowship is generosity.
Vs. 44-45 is an example of a generous church.
Before teaching on their example,
I want to address the concerning reality of how these verses have misguided people over the years.
Essentially, some have held up these verses as a prescribed pattern for Christian socialism.
At first glance, that seems to make sense,
This passage sounds awfully close to communism.
So, I want to warn against these misinterpretations first,
Then we will end with the lessons we can learn from these verses.
Slide
First, we must understand that the believers were voluntarily generous.
Notice there is no command for them to sell everything they owned to be a part of the community.
The main misapplication of this text has been used by cults to coerce people into selling all their stuff to be a part of the community.
When this happens, it is because people are abusing the trust others have in the Bible to create a sense of dependency on them.
If someone believes the Bible,
And someone tells them the Bible says sell everything you have for the greater good,
Then you are forced to depend on that person.
The other misapplication is the idea that the believers were giving up everything.
None of these verses say they sold everything.
In fact, we know many still owned property because vs. 46 says they were breaking bread in their homes.
Also, later in Acts and other NT letters like Romans, 1 Corinthians, and Colossians,
Make it clear that the early church did not sell everything to move into communes or compounds together.
Slide
Another misused passage comes a couple chapters later, Acts 4:32 says,
Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.
This communal-like gathering in Acts 2 and Acts 4,
Is describing a unique scenario for the early church in Jerusalem.
It is not prescribing Christian socialism where we all sell everything and live together in a commune.
The possible reasons for this unique scenario are not known.
Many people have made educated guesses,
But that is all they are because Acts does not tell us why the early church did this.
Nor does it command us to live this way, either.
There is not even an implied command here.
In fact, as the narrative continues,
We see that this practice did not last long.
The misuse of this lifestyle began happening as early as chapters 5-6.
So, don’t worry,
The Bible is not teaching us to embrace communism.
It is teaching us to embrace generosity.
I emphasize the fact that no one said any of their belongings was his own,
Not because they no longer had any personal belongings,
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But because the disciples held onto their physical possessions loosely,
Being attuned to the physical needs of one another,
They voluntarily sold possessions or property to meet those needs.
They basically said, “We do not need our stuff.
We need to love one another.
So, if we can share our stuff, or even sell our stuff, to serve one another, we are happy to do it!”
The way this passage has been misused often causes us to overlook an incredible example of generosity!
What happened as a result of this generosity?
Acts 4:34 says there was not a needy person among them.
Over 3 thousand people and not one of them was needy,
This generosity is miraculous!
Because generosity is a clear manifestation of the Spirit in believers.
As we grow in the Spirit, we begin to live for the sake of others and not for ourselves.
Others-centeredness is a fundamental principle of Christianity.
It is ultimately a manifestation of the second greatest commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves.
This same type of generosity would not work outside of the Spirit’s intervention.
Imagine getting a letter from the IRS that says,
Just think about what you probably ought to give for taxes this year and give that amount.
What would happen?
Most people would give very little,
If anything at all,
Or would ask for a big fat refund!
And it would grind our nation to a halt.
Not so for Spirit-filled believers.
The Bible says we are to give freely, voluntarily, sacrificially, and generously.
Because we are fundamentally changed by the Spirit.
The early church demonstrates this change through their extraordinary generosity and concern for others.
This pattern of extraordinary generosity was first demonstrated by Jesus.
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As 2 Cor. 8:9 says,
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
The best and most sustainable model for generosity is a deep understanding and appreciation of Christ’s generous grace toward you.
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So, don’t become become so guarded against cults and communism that you miss the example of the early church in Acts 2.
There are 3 very clear and simple applications we can apply to our individual lives,
And our mission as a church.
Embrace generosity that is fueled by God’s grace,
Hold your possessions lightly,
And put the needs of others first.
We do not need to embrace communism or join a cult to apply this pattern of generosity.
GOD: Connected (vs. 46)
GOD: Connected (vs. 46)
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Next, vs. 46 shows how connected the lives of believers were in the early church.
They were involved in one another’s lives,
While maintaining their mission to those outside the church.
A healthy church connects with one another regularly.
The early church connected with one another by gathering both in the temple as a large group,
And in the homes of one another in smaller groups.
They were devoted to attending both.
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Similarly, Hebrews 10:24-25 says,
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Slide
Half of the job of being a healthy church member is showing up.
I call this the ministry of presence.
As a kid, I hated the rule my parents had that I could only go to a friends house every other weekend.
Because many of the times I stayed home, we never even did anything.
But all they would ever say is that they just wanted me home.
I have come to realize their love for me created a desire for just my presence.
The same is true for healthy church members.
We get so caught up in the business of doing things together,
We overlook or neglect the blessings and purpose of simply being together.
We cannot deepen relationships if we are not being together.
This place serves as a large, formal, corporate gathering,
Similar to the way the early church gathered in the temple.
But the early church also gathered in one another’s homes.
The same is true today.
Our homes make for a wonderful place for informal and intimate gatherings.
A place where we can be together.
Connect Groups are a structured way for us to do this as a church.
What tends to happen is each of us will emphasize one but not the other.
Some of us will show up to Sunday morning services,
But tend to not meet with others throughout the week.
Others will spend time with one another throughout the week,
But are inconsistent when it comes to showing up for Sunday services.
This was not the pattern for the early church, they were devoted to both.
Slide
Vs. 46 says they would break bread in one another’s homes.
We talked earlier that this is not referring to the Lord’s Supper.
Because it does not say THE breaking of bread.
Rather, it is talking about sharing meals together.
This was the norm for the early church.
They received food from one another with joyful and sincere hearts, it says.
Sharing meals together brought joy to their hearts.
And the idea of sincere hearts expresses a oneness, a unity, or a singleness of heart.
So, sharing a meal is a natural way for us to connect with one another.
But at the very least,
Let us endeavor to be connected by simply being together,
Both in this large gathering,
And in smaller gatherings throughout the week.
YOU: Worshipful (vs. 47)
YOU: Worshipful (vs. 47)
Slide
The final quality we see exemplified by the early church in vs. 47 is worshipful.
It feels like it is easy to say,
“Well of course they were worshipful here,
They just had 3000 people get saved!
How worshipful are they when things are not going so well?”
The Bible does not shy away from the reality that life is hard.
And Lord willing, as we go through Acts, we will see examples of this as well.
But whether life is good or not,
It is always much worse without God.
Because without God, life in this world is all there is.
But the Bible teaches that this world is not all there is,
There is something worse and something better after this world,
It says that if you trust in Jesus, you are redeemed into the better way,
Which in turn, gives hope in this world,
And proves God is worth worshiping regardless of circumstances.
While in this world, God’s Spirit is with you.
So, pray for a spirit of awe and gladness.
Pray that God would renew your heart into a heart of worship.
Pray this for our hearts collectively as a church.
Vs. 47 shows the initial favor the early church had with all the people.
So, they leveraged that favor evangelistically.
Their Christ-like behavior was evident to the community.
In AD 125, a man named Aristides wrote to Emperor Hadrian about the evidence of the early church,
Slide
Referring to Christians, he said:
“They do not worship strange gods, and they go their way in all modesty and cheerfulness. Falsehood is not found among them; and they love one another, and from widows they do not turn away their esteem; and they deliver the orphan from him who treats him harshly. And he, who has, gives to him who has not, without boasting. And when they see a stranger, they take him into their homes and rejoice over him as a very brother…And whenever one of their poor passes from the world, each one of them according to his ability gives heed to him and carefully sees to his burial. And if they hear that one of their number is imprisoned or afflicted on account of the name of their Messiah, all of them anxiously minister to his necessity, and if it is possible to redeem him they set him free. And if there is among them any that is poor and needy, and if they have no spare food, they fast two or three days in order to supply to the needy their lack of food.”
Our world is broken,
It needs compassion, like the compassion Christ had when looking upon the lost world.
The broken world needs to see Christ’s people demonstrating this compassion.
History testifies to how many are then attracted to the faith.
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As vs. 47 shows for the early church, more people were seeing this compassion and were being saved every day.
But ultimately, it was the Lord adding to their number, it says.
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Once again, the emphasis is on God’s sovereignty.
And this is such a relief.
Saving people is not dependent on us.
The church belongs to God,
He is the One who builds His church.
He converts people.
The worshipful nature of the early church seems to manifest itself evangelistically.
A worshipful church will have a burden for the world because God has a burden for the world.
Therefore, we must compassionately be Christ’s witnesses to friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers.
And God can work mightily through our witness,
Like He did in the early church.
WE: Checking our Vital Signs
WE: Checking our Vital Signs
Slide
The early church is an example of a healthy body for us.
Coming to this passage as a church,
Is a physical for us as a spiritual body.
This is the standard of health we assess ourselves against.
A church that God is renewing by His Spirit will be increasing in health.
So, as we think about FBC Afton,
Let us close by considering some key categories to test ourselves as individuals and as a church.
The first key category to consider is biblical nourishment.
Beginning on the most fundamental level,
Do you understand the gospel?
Do you humbly submit to God’s Word?
Do you repent in light of sins revealed by the Bible?
Are you renewed each day by the gospel?
Do you teach Scripture to others?
The early church loved Christ and His teaching.
We need the Word,
And we need relationships centered on the Word.
We need to be nourished by the Word of God,
And we need to nourish one another with His Word.
Slide
The second category to consider is fellowship.
First and foremost do you have fellowship with God through Christ?
If so, are you intentionally working to build deep relationships with others in the church?
Our struggle is that we love the idea of community,
But we do not love others in our community.
So, we complain about lacking community without asserting ourselves to love or serve others.
On the most basic level, when it comes to this community,
Do you show up?
Even when you come on Sunday morning,
Do you intentionally interact with people?
Or do you sneak in a little after service starts,
Then quietly excuse yourself as service is about to end?
That is great if you are a ninja,
But it is not good if you are a Christian.
Are you involved with others in this community throughout the week?
Are you sensitive to the needs of others?
Are you grateful for others in this community?
Do you express what others mean to you?
Our passage says the early church was devoted to these things.
Devotion to fellowship will not just happen passively.
Devotion implies a sense of effort and intentionality.
Connecting with others involves commitment from both parties.
We have to work at this and we have to be intentional about this.
All while trusting that God can work mightily to make this fellowship happen.
If you are already blessed by a fellow Christian whom you care for and they care for you,
Take time to praise God today!
And let them know!
As the Apostle Paul says in Phil. 1:3,
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote that the physical presence of other Christians is a source of incomparable joy and strength to the believer.
We need fellowship with God first, and with one another.
As we say it here at FBC,
We exist to connect with God and others.
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The third category to consider is worship.
Do you praise God with others both in large and small gatherings?
Do services like this bring out both praise and repentance?
Do you experience a sense of awe and joy in the Lord?
Are you praying with and for others?
Are you grateful for the privilege to gather with others to worship God?
There are many Christians around the world who lack this privilege.
They long for the opportunity to gather with others to worship God!
When we gather like this on a Sunday,
We must remember what a privilege it is to have His Word,
To sing out in praise,
And to enjoy worshiping God together.
Slide
The fourth and final category we will asses this morning is our witness.
How would you assess yourself at living and speaking the gospel to unbelievers in your life?
Are you inviting people to church?
To a connect group?
To your house for a meal?
Are you sharing Christ?
Are you serving others in the community?
Are you practicing a gospel-motivated generosity?
Are you actively loving others both in and outside of the church?
A couple years ago, we asked this question, “Whose your one?”
It was to have you pick one person you wanted to see trust in Christ.
In preparing this message,
I came across some helpful application to combine with that question.
First, come up with at least one specific person and write their name (or names) down somewhere.
Pray for them, at least once a week.
Serve them in some way, at least once a month.
Then give gospel literature to them, invite them to church or connect group, or ask to share the gospel with them at least once this year.
As we continue to go and multiply disciples within Afton,
We need the Spirit to empower us to be more effective in our witness,
As we display the gospel compassionately,
And speak the gospel clearly.
The importance of Acts 2 as a whole is the coming of the Holy Spirit,
When I prepare to speak God’s Word each week,
I spend a good amount of time and effort researching, thinking through how to communicate the text, and how to faithfully apply the truths of the passage.
All of these things are important and necessary.
But I also realize it will never be my personality, my education, or my preparation that brings salvation.
The same is true for you when you witness to others for Christ.
It is the power of the Spirit in and through our witness that convicts and saves.
This means every time we speak the good news of Jesus,
We can do so confident that the power of the Spirit will bring people to Christ.
As our chapter ends by making it clear that it is the Lord who adds to the church all who are saved.
Slide
The early church was remarkably and refreshingly simple.
These believers did the basics well.
This should humble us because it reveals where many of our modern church problems begin.
We get away from these primary activities.
In light of this physical for our spiritual body,
We can return to this spiritual diet and exercise plan exemplified by the early church.
The early church is a beautiful picture of the transforming power of the Spirit through the gospel.
The Spirit empowered community called the church is healthiest when...
We connect with God and others, are devoted to God’s Word, worship God, and joyfully put the needs of others first.
The early church is an example of the priorities and practices of God’s people.
Therefore, we must assess ourselves against this example,
And embrace any changes God reveals that our body needs.
Pray.