What Now? week 10

The First Family Of Faith

Acts 2:42–47 ESV

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.

A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the masters house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his masters house.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. “I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you.”

“Why?” asked the bearer. “What are you ashamed of?”

“I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your masters house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don’t get full value from your efforts.” The pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, “As we return to the masters house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.”

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again the Pot apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, “Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pots side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you’ve watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my masters table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house.”

Each of us has our own unique flaws. We re all cracked pots. But if we will allow it, the Lord will use our flaws to grace His Fathers table. In Gods great economy, nothing goes to waste. Don’t be afraid of your flaws. Acknowledge them, and you too can be the cause of beauty. Know that in our weakness we find our strength

Source: unknown

The new church has seen an influx of three thousand people in a single day. Many of them are from other countries (Acts 2:9–11). They have temporary lodging for Pentecost, but that may just be a bit of grass on the Mount of Olives. Jerusalem is used to seeing hundreds of thousands of people enter the city and increase its population to over a million—it happens three times a year at Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. But, eventually, the visitors go home. This time, many of them stay, and the city is unprepared to handle their need of housing and food. The people have theological needs, too. Those from Judea, Samaria, and Galilee know something about Jesus and His teaching. It isn't so big of a leap to understand that this miracle-working teacher is the Jews' Messiah. They may even have heard the rumors that His grave is empty. But others are from as far away as Rome to the west, Mesopotamia to the east, Egypt to the south, and Cappadocia, on the shore of the Black Sea, to the north. Even if they had seen Jesus or John the Baptist in their occasional trips back to Jerusalem, they still don't understand who Jesus is or what He came to do. The Israelites did not enjoy their four hundred years of slavery in Egypt. But God protected them in that time, provided for them, and allowed their numbers to grow to 600,000 men, not to mention women and children (Exodus 12:37). Now, He is doing something similar for the church. Within a few years, Jewish leadership in Jerusalem will persecute the Jesus-followers, driving them from the city (Acts 8:1–3). When that happens, the church will be numerous enough to survive in exile and the people will be trained enough to spread the gospel (Acts 8:4–8, 26–40; 11:19–21). In less than forty years, the Romans will attack, destroying Jerusalem and burning the temple. By that time, Christianity will have spread all over the Roman Empire. The four tasks listed here create a special unity in the group. They are being unified in their beliefs, as they all receive teaching from the apostles Jesus trained. They spend their spare time and meals together, sharing everything they own (Acts 4:32–37). And their prayer unites them before God as they present their needs. The minute details of the early church in Jerusalem are unique to this time and place. God's call for churches to be unified is not. We receive different spiritual gifts, but we are called to serve each other in the church (Ephesians 4:1–16) "with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:2–3). Whatever the church looks like today, it is still called to have the same heart as the first church in Jerusalem.

Let’s look at the 4 things the early church concentrated on.

And they continued steadfastly: On the day of Pentecost the sound of the rushing wind, the tongues of fire, and the conversion of 3,000 were all remarkable events. But the things described in Acts 2:42 were the abiding legacy of God’s work.

Continued steadfastly uses a Greek verb communicating “a steadfast and single-minded fidelity to a certain course of action.” There was to be no departure from the apostles’ doctrinebecause it was the truth of God.

Thankfully, God allows us to sit under the apostles’ doctrine – the New Testament record. Every pastor should seek to be unoriginal in the sense that we don’t have our own doctrine, but the apostles’ doctrine.

1. They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine: They relied on the apostles to communicate to them who Jesus was and what He had done. They just trusted in Jesus; now they wanted to know more.

2. They continued steadfastly in…fellowship: The ancient Greek word koinonia (translated here as fellowship) has the idea of association, communion, fellowship, and participation; it means to share in something.

The Christian life is meant to be full of fellowship, of sharing one with another.

· We share the same Lord Jesus.

· We share the same guide for life.

· We share the same love for God

· We share the same desire to worship Him.

· We share the same struggles.

· We share the same victories

· We share the same job of living for Him.

· We share the same joy of communicating the gospel.

3. They continued steadfastly…in the breaking of bread: Even living so close to the time when Jesus was crucified, they still never wanted to forget what He did on the cross. How much more important is it for us to never forget?

4. They continued steadfastly… in prayers. Whenever God’s work is done, God’s people gather for prayer and worship.

In the Greek the definite article occurs before the word ‘prayer.’ The text actually says, ‘to the prayers.’ They devoted themselves ‘to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.’ Obviously, that is a reference to something formal – to worship in which the people got together and praised God.

Scholars debate as to whether "the breaking of bread" refers to the Lord's Supper or to communal meals—specifically, the first loaf of bread that is broken and shared at the beginning of a Jewish meal. Acts 2:46 suggests full meals were included. In the same way, it's unclear if "the prayers" means the fellowship prayed regularly, as in Acts 1:14, or the more formal schedule of Jewish prayers, as in Acts 3:1. Considering the early church members lived together and shared everything in common, it's reasonable to assume the verse refers to all of the above.

The apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers: Everything else we read about the power and glory of the early church flows from this foundation of the word, fellowship, remembrance of Jesus’ work on the cross, and prayer.

From Luke’s description of the early Christian community, “The educated reader would have got the impression here that the Greek ideal of society had been realized.” (Dictionary of New Testament Theology)

“It is presented as a model church, but this does not mean that it was perfect. A few chapters further on, we are going to find that it was far from perfect.”