The Little Church that Could

Acts 2:40–47 ESV

And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 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.

Introduction: You may remember the classic children’s book, The Little Engine that could. The story goes that and train engine was pulling a trainload of toys and good things to eat to the village where the little girls and boys would get them and enjoy. But that train engine broke down and could not complete the job. Three other engines came by but refused to help. But the fourth little blue engine came along and the toys convinced it to help them go over the mountain.

This engine had never even gone over the mountain before but was being used to switch cars in the rail yard. But the engine said, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. What seemed impossible became a reality when the engine brought the trainload of toys over the mountain and delivered them to the village.

The early church in Acts 2 consisted of about 120 people. Looking at their size and strength, one might be tempted to think that it never would have accomplished the mission that God had called it to do. But with divine empowerment, the church not only took off, it thrived!

I believe there were some key ingredients that this church had that enabled them to thrive and grow in the midst of a hostile environment.

I believe if the church today will focus on these key ingredients, it too can thrive and grow. Let’s look at 7 key ingredients that enabled the early church to impact their generation, and will help us too.

Regenerate Membership - (vv. 40-41)

We don’t talk about this principle much today - that the membership of the church ought to be composed of born-again, baptized believers only. But, it’s the the scriptural pattern seen throughout the book of Acts.

We call this the doctrine of regenerate church membership. It is a Baptist Distinctive.

The membership of the church ought to be made up of those who have repented and placed their faith in Jesus alone for their salvation. Listen to what Peter told the crowd that was listening to him on that day:

Acts 2:38 ESV

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Baptist Faith and Message, which is the statement of faith that Southern Baptists subscribe to says, “A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth.

This doesn’t mean that a person who is not saved can’t attend a church service. Attending church is not the same as membership in the church. We will always welcome them. But, if you haven’t trusted Christ, you should not be considered for membership until you do.

One of the reasons why many churches struggle and are plagued with members who never serve, never give, don’t grow in their faith, and attend only occasionally is because we have been negligent to enforce this principle. And unfortunately there are times we give these people positions of leadership in the church!

If your church is going to thrive and grow, it must carefully guard and the requirement of regenerate church membership

Devoted Discipleship - (v. 42)

This is another evidence of regenerate membership in the church - devoted discipleship.

These 3000 brand new believers devoted themselves to the teaching of the Apostles. Sound doctrine was important to them.

In our day, people seek out churches for the emotional experience more than they do for doctrinal teaching.

Illus. I see this a lot on Facebook. At least once a week, someone will post in a community group looking for recommendations for a “non-denominational church” with great worship and activities for their kids. I saw one the other day that was looking for an LGBTQ+ friendly church.

I never see, “I’m looking for a church that teaches and preaches the Bible and keeps me accountable.”

When it says that they continued steadfastly, it means that they had a steadfast and single-minded loyalty to a certain course of action. In other words, they were devoted to being discipled by the leadership.

This discipleship was more than just learning information. It’s learning how to live the Christian life.

They were also devoted to fellowship with one another. That means more than a covered dish meal at church!

It’s is about doing life together. They shared the same Lord Jesus and so they shared the same struggles and victories!

Reverent Worship (v. 43)

Let’s look at this verse in a different translation.

Acts 2:43 CSB

Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles.

They were all filled with awe over what God was doing in their midst. I believe this included non-believers also. Why would I say that. Because signs and wonders accompanied the preaching. Signs and wonders were meant to confirm the Word that the Apostles preached.

Their worship included the Lord’s Supper - the breaking of bread

Their worship included prayer

Their worship was joyful (v. 46)

Their worship caused them to praise the Lord. (v. 47)

When God is in the midst of his people, they cannot help but stand back in awe and amazement. And the people who are outside of the church will take notice too.

Illus. There was a small town atheist who was not a bad man, he just didn’t believe.  He was not interested in church. There was only 1 in the area.  It was cold and dead—a social club, with no decisions being made. One day the church building caught on fire, and the whole town ran toward it to help extinguish the flames including the atheist! Someone hollered out:  “Hey, this is something new for you, the first time we’ve ever seen you running to church!”  He replied, “This is the first time I’ve ever seen the church on fire!”

Illus. I believe it was Charles Wesley who said, “Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn.

Unmatched Generosity (vv. 44-45)

The early church practiced “Commonism.” Notice that I didn’t say communism.

What they did was voluntary, not forced. These new believers that had come into the church needed the support of their fellow believers. It was also a temporary measure and we have no evidence that this practice lasted very long.

The Jews practiced hospitality especially during feast days like Pentecost. Many visitors would be welcomed into private homes at no cost to them and the host families would feed them and supply their basic need during the feasts. The early church took the hospitality and they made it an everyday thing.

More importantly, Jesus became more important to them that their possessions. They sold their possessions and property and gave to anyone in need.

I’m not totally sure something like that could happen in the American church today because we usually value our possessions more than Jesus - we got it backwards.

Consistent Commitment (v. 46)

First, there was a unity in the early church that I believe made a difference in their commitment to one another.

Acts 2:46 NKJV

So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,

The idea of “one accord” in the original language is a musical image. It means to rush along side in unison. Music is made of individual notes that when put together in rhythm make a song. So, there was harmony. And the source of their unity was supernatural.

A sense of community existed. You were designed by your creator to exist in community with other believers.

It is possible to be united together as a church but still not have Unity. If you don’t believe it, find two stray cats and tie their tails together. You will see union without unity! (Don’t do that.)

They practiced their faith every day rather than once or twice a week. And they were committed to doing life together. They preferred to be together. They were consistently committed.

Evangelistic Growth (v. 47)

Last, but certainly not least we see that God was adding new converts to the church daily.

Some of that had to do with the favor that God had blessed the church with. Most of it however had to do with the one-to-one witnessing that the believers were undoubtedly engaged in.

Now let’s be clear here…it was the Lord that added to the church daily. But,it was a mission that God has called his church to be a part of.

I heard this once. It is not that God has a mission for his church. God has a church for his mission!

We are not able to save a single soul…but we are responsible to sharing the message that does save!

Illus. “The gospel came to you because it was heading to someone else. God never intended for your salvation to be an end, but a beginning. God saved you to be a conduit through whom His glorious, life-changing gospel would flow to others.” ~ Robby Gallaty, Growing Up: Making Disciples Who Make Disciples

I know you are thinking, Bro. Darrel, I don’t have the spiritual gift of evangelism. Well guess what? No one does. It doesn’t exist in scripture. We do see the office of the evangelist in scripture in Ephesians 4:11-12

Ephesians 4:11–12 ESV

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

But that is not the same as a spiritual gift.

Spiritual gifts are given by the Holy Spirit to edify the body of Christ. But evangelism is something that we do to those outside of the church. Therefore, it is not a gift. It is always a command in scripture.

So the church has the responsibility for share the gospel. How well do you think most churches are doing in that area?

Lifeway research found that 55% of protestant church goers had shared their faith with no one in the past 6 months.

Barna Research discovered that 27% of churchgoers actually believe that it is wrong to share your faith.

Lord help us!

Conclusion

Animals of prey will always go for the weaker isolated animal. They tend to cut their victim out from the protection of the herd and then, attack.

The devil is no different.

The fellowship of other believers is so important for your faith. You might hear, “I don’t need to go to church to worship God.” But I say this, “If you don’t go to church, you won’t worship God.”

You ain’t goin to worship him out there on that golf course or in that fishing boat. But, I bet you will take His name in vain if you miss a putt or break your favorite fishing rod. You are just making clever excuses for not attending.

Hebrews 10:25 NLT

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

This was also a problem later on in the early church. It is not possible to have a healthy relationship with God and neglect being in the fellowship of other believers…PERIOD, end of sentence.