What Kind of Church?

What Kind of Church?

Acts 2:42–47

Introduction

Good morning again Church! Welcome back, I am excited to continue in our study of the book Acts.

Before we jump into our passage this morning, I want to set up the message with a question,

“What Kind of Church Would You Like to Have?”

I would like to suggest that you can have any kind of church that you want to have! But we should want to have the type of Church that Jesus wants to have!

As we seek to pursue Christ and live our lives as His people and as we seek to have a church that He would be proud to call His bride, it is important for us to know what He expects of us! The best way I know how to do that is to look at the early church in the book of Acts. Look at how they operated, how they behaved, how they functioned, and even look at mistakes that they made.

Our text this morning finds the early church immediately after the giving of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost and after Peter’s first sermon. Again, I want to say that for his first sermon, Peter sure did knock it out of the park!

In today’s passage, I believe that we are given a pattern on how to be a functioning Church that He would love and be proud of. That is my desire. I want Baptist Fellowship to be the absolute best Church that we can possibly be. I desire that we would be the apple of our Jesus’s eye, that we would please Him with our obedience to His commands and guidance. Let’s look at our text.

Acts 2:42–47 (ESV)

Acts 2:42–47 ESV

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

42And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

43And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

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.

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.

I think from these verses we can ascertain seven things that the early church was and by association, seven things that we as a church and individual Christians should strive to be. What kind of Church are we? What kind of Church do we want to be? The bigger question is, what kind of church does Christ want us to be?

First,

The New Testament Church Was a Christ Centered Church

Christ wants His bride, His Church, to be centered on him.

It was all that a young woman could do to maintain a conversation with a fellow Christian while waiting for her fiancé’s jet to bring him home to her after a three-week separation. Once the plane was at the gate, conversation was impossible as the engaged woman stood watching, eagerly waiting for the moment when she could throw her arms around her loved one at last. As she peered down the passage, the friend with whom she had been talking earlier was heard to say, “What a beautiful picture of the church watching for the return of her bridegroom.”[1]

We must be Christ Centered as a Christians and as a Church. Each Christian in the early Church recognized the church as Christ’s: It was His body, His bride, His Flock. In every figure referring to the church, Christ is at the Center, in charge, in command: We are the sheep, He is the shepherd; the Church is the fold, He is the door; we are His servants, He is our master; we are the bride, He is the Groom.

The church recognized the authority of Jesus: also, the authority of His written Word given by the Holy Spirit by the appointed apostles.

The members appreciated the price with which they were bought—the precious blood of Christ. If we understood the price at which we were bought, we would keep Christ at the center of everything we do. He would be the center of every thought and every action.

I want BFR to be a Christ Centered Church.

Next,

The New Testament Church Was a Big Church

It has never ceased to amaze me when I hear people say to me, “I prefer a small church.” “I don’t like those big ole churches, where no one knows you, where you are lost in the crowd.” I don’t understand that kind of thinking. The first church, the original presentation of what God intended for the church to be was HUGE!

Jesus Loves people. He loves people so much He gave His life for them! Why would we want small churches? “Well people won’t know me if the church gets too big…” Oh, I’m sorry, the church is about you? NO! It is about Jesus! Who if not people do not know you! They need to know Jesus! Church is not about you, not about your ministries, not about your projects, or even about your needs, and especially not your preferences! Sure, if the church is healthy and focused on Jesus, those things will all fall into place. Because if the Church is healthy, that means that you are spiritually healthy too. And that means that you are Centered on Christ! The Church is about Jesus Christ! And He desires worshippers! That is why we were created, that is why He Saved us, so that we could worship Him.

The first Church operated on a large scale. They started with 120 members! Wow! What a head start! In Vermont that is already a mega Church isn’t it! But they didn’t stop there, they didn’t say, well that is about enough. Any bigger and we won’t know everyone. Any bigger and we will have to start a building project. No, they started preaching and the next thing you know after a one-day revival meeting they grew to three thousand members! Then right after that, they grew to five thousand members!

“Well, how did they control and manage all of that?” They didn’t! They made it about Jesus, they stayed focused on His mission and His purpose. “If the church got that big, I would have to find another church, I wouldn’t feel comfortable…” Let me ask you? What in the world are you going to do in Heaven? You will be one of Billions of Christians all worshiping Jesus for eternity! Are you going to ask for a smaller heaven, a small church partition?

The New Testament Church Was a Growing Church

Obviously, it was growing in numbers, it was a multiplying church. But they were growing in other ways too. Luke tells us in our text that they grew in favor in their community. The early church, with the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit, began to meet the needs of the community around them. They didn’t compromise their God given mission. They shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ while meeting the known needs of their community. Look at what Luke says about the church and their relationship to their community in Acts 5.

Acts 5:12–14 (ESV)

Acts 5:12–14 ESV

12 Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. 13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,

12Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico.

13None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem.

14And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,

While functioning as a healthy church, guided by the instructions of Jesus Christ, and operating with the power of the Holy Spirit, the early Church made an impact on their neighbors. Not everyone was saved. The majority were not saved. But the Church’s impact was great. Even those who rejected the message held the members of the Church in high esteem. They respected them.

I wonder, does the community surrounding Randolph respect The Baptist Fellowship of Randolph? Are we held in high esteem? Why or why not? What have we done recently to gain our communities respect? What have we done to lose their respect?

I must note that respect is not the same thing as popularity! My sixth-grade teacher was not very popular with the kids! But she was respected by all. Our community should be given cause to respect us because we stand strong on our beliefs and convictions without compromise, while simultaneously living out those beliefs and convictions by loving and serving our community and meeting their known needs with the Love of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.

I want BFR to be a Growing Church.

Now our next point, we need to camp here a while.

The New Testament Church Was a Steadfast Church

What does than mean? The Early Church was unwavering in their commitment to Christ and to each other. They had certain priorities that they were unwilling to compromise. They knew that Jesus had demonstrated certain activities and were resolute to be obedient to follow His commands. They loved God will all their heart, soul, and mind. They loved their neighbor as themselves. They were faithful to continue doing all that Christ had shown them.

First, they continued in the teachings of the apostles. Today we would say, “They were in their Bibles.” They were learning from Peter and John, and James, learning from those who sat at the feet of Jesus and learned directly from the master. They listened to what was taught and practiced it. They were faithful to their study of the things of God. Are you faithful to studying your Bible? Do you read it regularly? Are you faithful in attending Bible studies through out the week? If you were counted among those in the early church, those we are reading about in Acts chapter 2, those who were devoted to Bible Study, what would your fellow Christians say about your commitment level?

They were also faithful in fellowship. They were persistent in meeting together. They did not neglect the gathering together of believers. They spent time with one another. They studied together, they talked with each other, they worship in the Temple together, they shared communion, they prayed together, will talk more about that in a bit… They laughed together, they cried together. They visited each other in their homes. The shared meals in their homes together.

We are starting a new program in a few weeks to help you do some of these things. Joy will be explaining more about a program called Supper 8 immediately after the service. In this program, those who choose to participate, will meet and share a meal together in each other’s homes, modeling after the behavior of the first century church. I will let her explain the details in a little while, but for now. Let us commit to modeling ourselves after the early church. Let’s commit to being faithful and steadfast to behave like a true body of believers. Let’s be the Church together!

I want BFR to be a Steadfast Church.

The next thing I want you to see about the first Church is:

The New Testament Church Was a Praying Church

The NT Church was born in prayer. While in that upper room waiting for the Holy Spirit, they were praying! They were unwavering in their prayer lives. They were completely devoted to having a constant and Holy Spirit power driven prayer life.

As we continue in the book of Acts, we are going to see that prayer was a natural instinct for the early Christians, especially in times of trouble. Eventually Peter is going to be arrested for preaching the Gospel. What does the church do? Do they picket? Do they protest? Do they file a lawsuit? No. They Pray.

Paul and Silas are eventually arrested and imprisoned for preaching the Gospel. Well, surely the church was proactive and wrote letters to their senators and congressmen….? No, they prayed. And while they prayed do you know what Paul and Silas did? They sang and worshiped God and Prayed!

As you read the New Testament you see some things about the early Christians and their prayer life. Their instinct was to prayer before grumbling. Their prayers were often short and concise. They were reverent and definite.

I want BFR to be a Praying church.

Next,

The New Testament Church Was a Giving Church

Once the Holy Spirit was given to the Church and once the believers starting living with the Power the Holy Spirit as their motivator for Christian living, you see an amazing thing happen.

The natural human behavior of self-preservation, Silly Lillie and Millie in our VBS skit would call this the Me First Syndrome… The nature tendency to place oneself first, basically disappeared around Spirit Filled believers!

Instead, the Church started doing something that is very unnatural. They started placing others first! Look again at verses 44-45.

Acts 2:44–45 (ESV)

Acts 2:44–45 ESV

44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.

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.

The church started considering themselves as stewards not owners of their possessions. In other words, they viewed their belongings as something on loan from God to be used for the purpose of God’s Kingdom. Do you live like that? What is your relationship with your belongings, your house, your car, your toys, your hobbies, your paycheck? How much of it is God’s?

American Church tradition tells us that 10% is God’s and how many Christians struggle to let God have that? The early Church understood that all of what God gives us, belongs to Him. We are just stewards. He gives good gifts to us so that we can use those gifts for the Glory of His Kingdom. Anything else is theft.

The Early Church got it. They understood that they had to be a giving church. As a result, no one in the church lacked for anything that they needed. There were no ministries that lacked funding. Those who could not provide for themselves were provided for by the church.

What would happen if the modern-day church behaved like this? I have heard these passages in Acts taught as early church communism. I have heard them used to promote socialism. That is simply bad hermeneutics. These verses are not about communism or socialism. They are about living the Christian life 100% sold out for God. It is about saying to God and to His bride, what is mine is yours.

I want BFR to be a Giving Church.

Lastly,

The New Testament Church Was an Evangelistic Church

The Early Church took God’s command to Go into all the Earth teaching and preaching the Good News seriously. Each individual member knew it was their responsibility to share what God had done in their life, to share how God had saved their soul from eternal damnation, how God had delivered them from the evil of sin and restored their soul to have fellowship with God the Father, the Creator of the Universe.

They certainly were not going to keep good news like that a secret. They wanted to share it with the world, with any who would listen. This love of what God had done for them prompted them to Worship and Praise and share with others. Look at Verse 47.

Acts 2:47 (ESV)

Acts 2:47 ESV

47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

47praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Starting with Worship, they shared the Good News with the Power the Holy Spirit and God added to their number. That is a formula for Church growth right there!

Worship God, Serve Others, Share your Faith, See Souls Saved!

Everywhere the Early Church went, they preached the Word of God. They shared the Good News of Jesus Christ. Who was the last person you shared your testimony with? Who was the last person you told that Jesus could save their soul, that Jesus could cancel their sin debt? Who was the last person? When was the last time? If it has been a while, or even if you have NEVER shared Christ before, I ask why? Why haven’t you shared? Are you ashamed of the Gospel? Are you afraid of rejection? Are you embarrassed by Jesus?

Those thoughts were completely foreign to the Early Church. Everywhere they went they preached the Word. They understood the Great Commission. And because they did they Acted upon it. God said go, so they went. God said share so they preached! The young, the old, the men, the women, the children, the sick, the well…. They all shared what God was doing for them and the Church grew. God added to their numbers daily.

I want BFR to be an evangelizing Church.

Conclusion

So, what does that mean for you and me. What kind of Church do you want? What kind of Church do we have? Do we want a better Church? Do we want BFR to be the Church that God has called her to be? Do we want BFR to reach her full potential and be pleasing as a Bride of Christ? Do you want a better church? Then we must heed the call to be better Christians. If the Church is not living up to these Biblical standards, if she isn’t measuring up to these expectations, then the problem is not with the church but with us. We need to be better. For the Church to be better we must each individually commit to the following:

We must be Christ Centered

We must be Continually Growing in our Faith

We must be Steadfast, Studying God’s Word, Spending Time with one another, sharing Communion together, sharing meals together.

We must be spending time in Prayer

We Must be willing to be a Giving people

We must be willing to Evangelize, share our faith with any and all who will listen.

If we want BFR to be a better church, it all begins with me and you.

We must commit to being a Better Christians.

Are You Doing Your Best?

[1] Michael P. Green, 1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), 61.