The Worshiping Community

1:12You could have gone out of town to go camping with friends, to pursue a hobby, to take your kids to a tournament or competition. And these days, you could have simply stayed in your pajamas, opened your laptop, and watched any one of the Thousands of online worship services that are now available. So, how would you answer that question? Why are you here today? Two weeks ago, we started a sermon series that we have called Back to the Basics. It's highly unusual for us. For 12 years, we've gone back and forth between the Old Testament and the New Testament, preaching verse by verse through books of the Bible. It's very rare for us to do a topical series of any kind.

2:04But 18 months into a pandemic that has upended our lives, many professing Christians are asking basic questions about what they really believe and how they intend to live their lives. So, we began the series with God and His world. That is, what we learn about God through what He has made, or what theologians call general revelation. And then last week, we talked about God and His Word, or what God has revealed about Himself through what we call special revelation, through the prophets and the Apostles and Jesus Himself.

2:44And today, we're going to take a close look at God's people, the worshiping community. We're going to get back to the basics of the church, because I think for a lot of people in our generation, church is little more. Than a weekly concert and a TED Talk. Thankfully, God gives us a much more compelling vision of the church in His Word: a worshiping community devoted to a handful of practices that transform the lives of believers and attract outsiders to the person and work of Jesus Christ.

3:27So let's take a look at the text this morning, Acts 2, starting in verse 42. This section begins with the word and. And a lot of times you're going to skip over simple things like this, but that connects what we are reading this morning to the previous section. And in the previous section, what we learned is that Jews from all over the world, devout men from holy, from every nation, traveled to Jerusalem in order to celebrate Pentecost. Well, while they were there, the Holy Spirit filled Jesus' followers and they began telling the mighty works of God in languages that they had never learned before. Luke records that everyone who heard it was amazed and perplexed. But some in the crowd accused the disciples of being drunk, and so Peter stood up and preached to them, and he told them that this was a fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. He shared the good news of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, calling them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus.

4:30And so here's what we find in verse 41, the verse right before the section that we're looking at today. Take a look there. So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about 3,000 souls. Now, that's some church growth. Luke tells us in chapter 1 that 40 days after Jesus' resurrection from the dead, when he ascended into heaven, the whole church was about 120 persons. And then in that one day, the church grows from 120 to over 3,000 people. That would be a real challenge for any church, ancient or modern.

5:11So the question is, what now? What is the church going to do? They go from 120 to 3,000 plus. Are they going to start a bunch of programs? They're going to hire some staff, build some facilities. What are they going to do? How are they going to deal with this? They're going to bring in some consultants and do some high-level strategy stuff. Now, take a look at what verse 42 says. And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

5:43So let's start by talking about this word devoted. What does it mean to be devoted? Well, take a look at this definition on the screen behind me. To continue doing something with intense effort, often In spite of difficulty, to continue doing something with intense effort, often in spite of difficulty. So, the Christians at Jerusalem devoted themselves to four things, meaning that they continued doing these four things with intense effort, often in spite of difficulty. Difficulties like working 12 hours a day, six days a week, difficulties like not having access to good medical care or even Tylenol.

6:35Difficulties like living in poverty with many of these folks near destitution. Difficulties like having many more kids per family than most of us have today. But in spite of those difficulties, and surely many more besides those, these believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. They continued doing these things with intense effort despite those difficulties. So let's take a look at each one of those things in turn.

7:11First, the church devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching. Well, this word apostle means messenger or sent one, and that title refers to Jesus' 12 disciples originally. Of course, Judas was replaced by Matthias, and then later on to the Apostle Paul. And all of these apostles were eyewitnesses to Jesus' resurrection, and they had been personally commissioned by him for ministry. So, what were they teaching? Well, very simply, they were teaching the gospel or the good news of Jesus Christ and its implications for our lives. So, what they were doing is they were showing how Jesus fulfilled all of the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. They were telling the truth about his sinless life and miracles and death and resurrection. And then they were showing everyone how to live in light of those truths.

8:09So, friends, all of that ties in perfectly with what we were talking about last week: that we have to get back to the basics of God and his word. So, what this means for us today is that we need to be devoted to the Bible, to the word of God. That's where the apostles' teaching is recorded. We've got to be devoted to reading it and hearing it read, to hearing it preached and taught, to discussing it with others, to praying that God would help us not only to be hearers of the word, but also doers of the word as well.

8:46Remember what it means to be devoted, to continue doing something with intense effort, often in spite of difficulty. And so, ask yourself this morning: are you making an intense effort to read, study, Know, pray through, and apply the Word of God. Or have you allowed the very real difficulties in your life, difficulties with your job, your schoolwork, your health, your kids, and their schedules? Have you allowed those real difficulties to keep you from being devoted to the apostles' teaching?

9:25One of the best things that you can do in this area, if you haven't done so already, is to join a healthy local church that prioritizes reading and preaching and teaching, discussing and praying through God's Word. That is one of the best things that you can do because who and what we surround ourselves with greatly influences who and what we love. And whoever and whatever we love gets the best of our time and energy and devotion.

9:58Second, we see in verse 42 that the church devoted themselves to what? To the fellowship. And this Greek word here means something like participation or sharing. And I think both of those words are very helpful as we think about what it means to fellowship. So when we think of fellowship as participation, we could reword this phrase, and they devoted themselves to participating, or they continued making intense efforts despite difficulties to participate. Participate with the church. And so, my fellow Christians, I just want to urge you this morning to carefully and soberly evaluate your own participation in the church. Are you devoted to the fellowship?

10:48Do you structure your life around gathering with the church on Sundays to worship and serve and learn and pray? Do you make decisions in your life based on how it's going to impact your ability to disciple others during the week? In short, do you make intense efforts to participate in the life of the church despite difficulty? When we think of fellowship as sharing, you can reword that phrase, they devoted themselves to sharing, or they continued making intense efforts despite difficulties to share with the church.

11:32So, carefully and soberly evaluate your own sharing with the church. Are you devoted to the fellowship in that way? I think when we read this section, we are left with the unmistakable impression that these people shared their lives with each other. They were not casual acquaintances. They spent a lot of time together and they shared their resources so that nobody would be in need. Take a look at verses 44 and 44. 45. 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.

12:17The beautiful thing about this fellowship, this sharing, is that it was voluntary. The rest of the book of Acts makes that very clear. There was no forced giving. These Christians sold their stuff and gave out of love for each other. And that's because they already shared the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ. We have to remember that the apostles didn't plant a church for one type of person. They didn't plant a cowboy church. They didn't plant a church for urban hipsters who really like modern music only. They didn't plant a traditional church that only played older songs that certain people like.

13:01No, these believers came from many different backgrounds, different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, demographic backgrounds, social circles. They had very little in common. But what mattered is that their lives had been transformed by the powerful Holy Spirit when they believed the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that was enough for them to rearrange their entire lives and to sell by their own choice. Many of the things that they owned to participate with the church and to meet needs, so that there was no needy person among them.

13:41You see, Christian fellowship is based on our common union with Christ. That's where we get the word communion from: our common union. There's nothing wrong with meeting up with other Christians to watch a game, to throw the frisbee, to enjoy a meal together. Those are all great things. But if there is not spiritual conversation, if there's not an overwhelming desire to encourage and build each other up, if it's not common to stop and pray for each other, if we're not looking for ways to meet tangible needs among ourselves, then friends, what we're calling fellowship is really no different than what the rest of the world does when they just get together to hang out.

14:36We want it to be different. We want it to be devoted to the fellowship, meaning that we devote ourselves to participating and to sharing with each other. Third, the church devoted themselves to the breaking of bread. And I want you to see here that Luke doesn't record they devoted themselves to breaking bread. He says they devoted themselves to the breaking of bread. The definite article is there. And he seems to be referring not just to eating together, but to taking the Lord's Supper together.

15:12So over the next four weeks, we're going to be talking about Christian worship, how we're devoted to preaching the word and praying the word and singing the word and seeing the word through baptism and the Lord's Supper. And so I'm not going to say too much today about the Lord's Supper, but I think it's important to note that the early church devoted themselves, they continued with intense effort, despite difficulties, the practice of observing the Lord's Supper together.

15:41And I know there are many churches out there that observe the Lord's Supper just a few times a year. And for the first 10 years that we met together as a church, we only observed it once a month. Jesus doesn't command a particular frequency for observing the Lord's Supper in Scripture. But it's very clear from the book of Acts and from church history that when the earliest Christians gathered for worship, one of the things that they devoted themselves to was the breaking of bread, was observing the Lord's Supper together. So for the past almost three years, we have taken the Lord's Supper after the sermon every single Sunday, which is such a beautiful reminder of the gospel. And it's a reminder that we have communion with God and with each other through faith in Jesus Christ. Christ. And I remember when we made that switch, we had several members just very honestly say to us, You know, I'm concerned that it's going to become rote if we do it every week.

16:42And I was sympathetic to that concern, but I think if you talk to people today who have been here for many years, they'll now tell you that observing the Lord's Supper each week is one of their favorite elements of the worship service. Because it's such a great time for us to examine ourselves and to reflect on the perfect and complete work of Jesus Christ. So the church devoted themselves to the breaking of bread. And then, fourth and finally, we see in verse 42, they devoted themselves to the prayers. And just like with the breaking of bread, the definite article is used here too. It's not just prayer, it's the prayers.

17:23So I think what that means is that the church devoted themselves to praying as Jesus taught them to pray, specifically the Lord's Prayer, as we call it. But I think in context, and when you look at the rest of the book of Acts, it seems to suggest that the church simply devoted themselves to praying together often. They prayed together with intense effort despite difficulty. And in the next couple of chapters in Acts, you see this very clearly. This would be a great thing to look at the rest of this week. In Acts chapter 3, Peter and John are on their way to the temple, and there's this paralyzed man sitting outside, and he's begging. And Peter and John turn to him, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, this man is healed. He's able to walk again.

18:09But the religious authorities are upset. They arrest Peter and John. They put them in jail overnight. They try them, and then they threaten them and release them. And what is significant is that as soon as they're released, they go back to the church and report everything that happened to them, and then the entire church goes to the Lord in prayer. Their first inclination isn't to come up with a strategy to make sure that doesn't happen again. Their first inclination is not to file a lawsuit against the government. Their first inclination is to get on their knees together as the church and go to the Lord in prayer. They were devoted.

18:52And I think 12 years after we started New Life, we're still working to become a praying church. I think most churches would say that. We're not there yet, but by God's grace, we're taking small steps in that direction. And so you've noticed, or you will notice, in our worship services, we devote a significant amount of time to praying in the way that the Lord commanded and for the things that the Lord commanded. We close our discipleship classes on Sunday morning with a time of prayer in groups that we would not just be hearers of the word, always learning things, but that we would be doers of the word as well.

19:31We provide all of our life group leaders with a prayer guide each week so that we can pray together for the same things as a church. Our ladies recently started a monthly prayer circle where they're gathering on Thursdays to pray together for the church. I already mentioned the next step cards. If you have a prayer request at any time, you can fill this out and drop it in the offering basket. These are all ways that we are trying to devote ourselves to praying together because, friends, we know that we need God to move. We can do all of these things on Sundays and throughout the week together, but if God, the Holy Spirit, does not move in and through us, then we will not see lives transformed. We will not see people come to faith in Christ. We will not see growth and holiness. We need the Lord to move, and so we need to, like the early church, be devoted to the prayers.

20:24So the church devoted themselves to these four things. The question is, what were the results? Let's take a look at verse 43. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. Now skip down to verse 46. 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.

21:07Well, the first result is that awe came upon every soul. Awe came upon every soul. I take every soul to mean all of the believers in the church, but also the outsiders who were witnessing and seeing and hearing about all that God was doing in the church as well. And I want you to look closely at verse 43. You notice here that awe came upon every soul. That doesn't follow the statement about wonders and signs that the apostles were performing, it comes before that. He says the church was devoted to the apostles' teaching, the breaking of bread, the fellowship, and the prayers, and then he says, and awe came upon every soul. It follows the description of the church's life together.

21:54But, friends, let's be honest here. It's hard to imagine that a group of people devoted to learning and intentionally gathering together and eating and praying left anybody, inside or outside the church, in awe. Right? I mean, that just doesn't seem like the right word. When is the last time that you heard somebody inside or outside the church saying, I was in awe of what God was doing in and through the church? Kyle Field is five minutes from here.

22:34A hundred thousand people cram themselves in there seven times a year. Pilots fly some of the most advanced technology ever devised right over the stadium just before the game begins. Our team walks down a smoke-filled tunnel to a Kanye song. Each of our modern gladiators clad in $1,000 worth of battle armor, they run out onto the field to do hand-to-hand combat with other boys from less prestigious institutions. Nobody forgets their first trip to Kyle Field. Humanly speaking, it's awesome.

23:22And we think that by devoting ourselves to teaching and gathering, to eating and praying, that we're somehow going to compete with that? Actually, yes. Because, friends, we have something that the world doesn't have. Something that you can't find at a stadium or a concert venue or even at a presidential inauguration. You see, we could try to compete with the world. A lot of churches do. We could invest a lot of money into the lights and the smoke machines, into the AV equipment, into video production.

24:10We could put celebrities up here. We could try in vain to make me one. But that's not what people are looking for. They can find that stuff any day of the week. Church, what they're looking for is the words of life. What they're looking for is people sharing their lives and their food and their possessions. What they're looking for is people humbling themselves before God to pray about things over which they have no control whatsoever. Friends, we can experience, and our non-Christian friends can experience the same awe that we read about right here in Acts chapter 2.

25:03But that will not happen because we've tried in vain to copy what the world does. We cannot compete with the world on its own terms. It will only come because of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit through the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ moving in and through us as we devote ourselves to these simple things. Practices. So, the first result of the church's devotion is that awe came upon every soul. Let's take a look at the second result. It's in verse 47.

25:42And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. What an amazing description. Every single day, men, women, and children were coming to faith in Jesus Christ. And it wasn't because anything extraordinary was happening. They simply devoted themselves to those four things and to each other. And I want you to remember the words of Jesus in John chapter 13. Take a look. By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.

26:26Our love for one another is what points outsiders to the person and work of Jesus Christ. It's not our facilities or our programs. It's not our specific lifestyle choices. It's not even our ability to articulate what we believe and why. It is simply our love for each other that tells everyone outside of the church that we are Jesus' disciples. But how often do we even allow our unbelieving friends? Friends and co-workers and classmates and family members to even experience, to personally witness the love that we have for each other.

27:11Most of our evangelism, if it's done at all, is done alone. But take a look at this quote from the Compelling Community, the book that we studied this summer on Sunday mornings. Deborah and Dunlop say this: Without introducing non-Christians to the local church, evangelism ignores the greatest evidence we have for the truth of the gospel. See, the reality is, most people aren't going to be ready to listen to the message of Jesus Christ until they have had time to observe the fruit that the person and work of Jesus Christ has produced in our own lives through the love that we have for each other.

27:55They want to know if Christianity makes any difference at all to our day-to-day life or if it's just one more philosophy that's out of touch with life in the real world. Unbelievers were attracted to what they saw in the early church, and that sparked curiosity about what they believed. That led to evangelistic opportunities for the church, which led to daily conversions to Christ, all because they devoted themselves to a few simple Practices. I began the sermon today by asking you a very simple question: Why are you here today?

28:45Maybe it's because you're looking for something that you haven't found anywhere else. You might know some Christians here, or maybe you came here this morning in spite of the fact that you don't know any Christians here, but you were hoping to find some answers in the church. If that's you, I have bad news and good news. The bad news is, Christians don't have all the answers. Life is hard to understand, and there are some things in life that we will never understand on this side of eternity.

29:25But we do know this: the God who knows every one of your doubts, all of your fears, the answers to every one of your questions, all of your sins and the ways that you have been sinned against, the God who knows all of those things about you, He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to live a sinless and miraculous life to prove that He was the promised Savior that you need. didn't come to answer every question.

30:03Instead, he came to show that he is perfectly trustworthy. And the way he did that most clearly was by saying many times that he would go to Jerusalem to be crucified, that he would die and be buried, and that on the third day he would rise from the dead victorious over sin and death. God sent his only begotten Son for you. Not so that you would know the answer to every question that you may have in this life, but so that you would know no matter what, God is for you.

30:41He can be trusted. His Son is perfect, and his Son is the Savior of the world. That's why I encourage you this morning. If you're lost and looking for answers, I encourage you, I urge you to turn to Jesus Christ. He can save you from your sin, and he promises to save anyone who turns to him in repentance and faith. But maybe you're here because you're already a follower of Jesus, and you've just had a big transition in your life.

31:22You moved here for college or for grad school, or maybe you got a new job in the community. And if you're being honest, you really weren't. Sure, at this point, what role the church was going to have in your life. You came today kind of unsure if this is something that you would continue to do, to gather with other Christians for encouragement, for worship. And if you're in that spot today, we have a book out in the lobby. It's free. It's called Why Should I Join a Church?

31:53I would encourage you to pick one of these up as you think through that question. What role is the church going to play in my life, if any, going forward? I think he lays out a compelling case for why you, as a professing believer in Jesus Christ, need the church and why the church needs you. And if you're already a member here at New Life, I hope that getting back to the basics of the church in Acts chapter 2 was a great blessing to you this morning.

32:27That you've been encouraged to rededicate yourself to these simple practices, practices that transform our lives as believers, and practices that attract outsiders to the person and work of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Let's pray. Father, you know that we so desperately need to get back to the basics with respect to the church. I really believe that most professing Christians in our country cannot really articulate why anyone should be a part of a church who is a believer.

33:41We have just a vague conception that it's something that we should be doing, but we can't really say why. And in an age of online services, if all church is is songs and a talk, it's just hard to see why we can't do that in front of a computer screen alone in our rooms. And so my prayer today, Lord, is that you would give us a biblical vision for what the church can and should be. That we would devote ourselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

34:30And that as we humble ourselves and do those simple things, we pray that you would transform us and that you would attract outsiders, our friends and neighbors, our classmates and co-workers, to the perfect person and perfect work of Jesus Christ. It's in his name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.