Acts 2 All Who Believed Were Together, Part 2

Transcription

1 Acts 2 All Who Believed Were Together, Part 2 Why Community? Why Together in the sense of the Acts 2 believers? Why community in the way Chase preached it last week? Well first, I want to appeal to our Spiritual nature. This is not the common American church practice. Central Focus of the American church: The PLACE where people Gather Where is your church located? Where do you go to church? New Testament focus: The PEOPLE that gathered in VARIOUS places Did they go to a central place? Yes. Early followers gathered at the temple. The church in Corinth was gathering in some type of large assembly that was not just homes. But that was not all... Where did they meet? Everywhere. The temple? Yes. Homes? Yes. Public places? Yes? 1st Century Starbucks? Yes. EVERYWHERE The reason it is impt for us to realize this: As followers of Christ, we are responsible to live by the leading of His Spirit rather than our developed religious traditions. Proverbs 14:12 Theres a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. Expound then apply: Church done the American way or the way of religious tradition, although it draws a crowd, may not be life giving at all. Galatians 5:16 Let the Holy Spirit guide your lives.then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. Our protection from paths leading to death; is the guidance of God s spirit. HE inspired the Bible. He lives in the faithful. So I say to us - who have grown up in the American church tradition - When the picture of Community in Acts 2, challenges our way of church life, our preferences, what we have always known - We cannot just flippantly brush it off. because not every path that seems right to us is a life giving path. And now briefly I want to make an appeal to our flesh about our need for community.

2 And now briefly I want to make an appeal to our flesh about our need for community. It is GOOD for You. We want to hear that, right? Genesis 2. God makes man. Adam in HIS image. The summit of His creation - designed to tend to all of the rest of His creation. The only creation STAMPED with His image. Then God makes a statement in Genesis 2:18: It is not good that the man should be alone This is such an interesting statement: Adam had what NONE of us have ever experienced - perfected relationship with creation; AND with God. Yet the Triune God - who has been in eternal community as Father, Son and Holy Spirit - says this is not Good. This man is alone. This is not best for Him. Even as he is in perfected relationship with God and creation - this was not THE BEST situation God could give him. Some of you biblical scholars are already jumping ahead of me. Because you know what happens in part b of the verse: He creates HIS wife. And so you can rightfully say - God s answer to this problem of man being alone is marriage. And I say yes - that is an answer. But I also say NOT THE answer. Someone else might point out, that after God made Male and Female, Husband and Wife, He BLESSED them and said Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth. A call to have children. Some would say the answer to this problem of man being alone is family. And I say yes that is an answer. But NOT THE answer. So let me defend my point 2 ways. First, if Marriage was THE answer to the problem - It is not GOOD for man to be alone - THEN the bible would command everyone to marriage. But it doesnt. If Having children was THE answer to the problem - THEN God would bless everyone with marriage and children, but He doesn't. Second, if Marriage and Children was THE answer to the problem - THEN God would not point Husbands and Wives, Fathers and Mothers - to be apart of another community, yet He does. So I make the statement in conclusion: Marriage and Family is not the highest or most important community that mankind is given by God.. Immanuel: This may be heresy. Please hear my heart: I believe in the gift of marriage; of children and the importance of them. Alyson and I are BLESSED to join with precious men and women on Thursday nights where we teach on family. And in that class

3 and women on Thursday nights where we teach on family. And in that class I teach: Your family is important, God wants it to be successful and God has a purpose for it. And that is TRUE and I believe that with all of my heart. But culturally, there is a temptation because marriage is being redefined; we feel our children are in danger; families are marginalized - that we make marriage and family the 4th member of the trinity. We put it on too high of a pedestal. That rather than being seen as a precious tool that He uses, that we make it an entity that we worship. Marriage and Family is not the highest or most important community. Think of your children - what are you doing? You are called to raise them in the teaching of the Lord, to do what? Release them. Release them to God and His purposes for them. Think of your marriage - it is not eternal. It is beautiful. It should be cherished. But according to Jesus it ends with death and the relationship you have with your earthly spouse will be changed in eternity. It is not good for man to be alone. God designed us, created us and then said - they need each other. They need community. And that is not fulfilled in marriage and family alone. I think General grace of God. All people can enjoy creation: General Grace. Matthew 5 For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike Marriage between a man and a woman - General grace of God. And you see community in secular world. You see people desire it. You see people crave it. You see people live in it. My dad - brotherhood of police officers. Our first neighborhood But there is a higher, specific form of community that God has ordered. That can only be experienced by a group of people who have come to faith in Him. The highest form of community: HIS CHURCH. 1 Peter 2:9-10 You are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD;

4 light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; By the end of this day there were 3,000 more people that declared themselves Christians. AND it is those people the bible describes this way acts 2:42-47: they devoted Peter says this to people that were in families, people that were in secular communities - YET he says you were NOT a PEOPLE, not in the highest and truest community - until you became apart of the church. THE ONLY eternal community. WITH a purpose to proclaim HIS excellencies. No other community carries these 2 distinctives It is not good for us to be alone. It is good for us to be in community. And in God s wisdom, every community you find yourself in is a shadow of the highest and truest community: The Church. Not the place where Christians gather - but the Christians that gather in various places. And I believe one of the greatest gifts you can give your kids is to raise them inside of that community. Let us remind ourselves of some characteristics of this community, that we see in Acts 2. Acts 2 opens with what we believe was about 120 Christians - followers of Jesus Christ. They are ALL (?) perhaps all 120 gathered in one place, when the Holy Spirit - God s spirit comes upon them as He has promised. We are told that this happens in Jerusalem at a time of a great festival where there were gathered in the city from every nation. Keep that in mind - people of all ethnicities, cultures, languages, professionals, laborers, rich, poor, blind, healthy, married, single, old, young, every walk of life. Peter is moved by the Spirit, preaches the Gospel (That we are all separated from God by our wrongdoing, disobedience, sin. That we can do nothing to make things right with God - but God in His love chose to make things right with us. That His son Jesus Christ, came to earth, lived a perfect life yet in his early 30 s was murdered on a cross as a criminal. God laid all the iniquity of humanity at his feet - and he was punished. He died, rose again from the grave - Acts 2:24 But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip And so now for all who place their faith in Him by calling out to Him to be rescued from their sin - He will save them. And give them new life, that ends in eternity with God. People heard this and called out WHAT DO WE DO - Peter says 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.

5 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. By the end of this day there were 3,000 more people that declared themselves Christians. AND it is those people the bible describes this way acts 2:42-47: they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers...all who believed were together and had all things in common...day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes..glad and generous hearts, praising God. Community built by the Gospel. Not preferences and similarities. (EVEN today the church tries to develop and engineer community by people s similarities). THIS GOSPEL Community shows JESUS as the common bond among uncommon people. Do you have that in your life? This was the FRUIT of their salvation. This desire to be in this community PROVED their salvation. They gathered frequently, constantly, wherever they could. They were not bound to just 1 day a week. Or even 1 day a week plus 2 special small groups a month. They could not be. They had to be together. It was constant. WHEN they gathered - they were devoted to the word (they studied it, discussed it, applied it), they took the Lord s Supper THE breaking of bread, and they PRAYED. This was a praying community. This was a community that honored and remembered Christ in communion and looked to HIS word for direction and encouragement. And they were DEVOTED to each other. They loved each other. They sought after each other s good. They had intimacy. They beared each others burden. They did not see someone in trouble and say Man, hope that works out. They helped where they could. They sold their own goods to help each other. They also bore each other s Spiritual burdens. Confessing sin to one another. And all this they did with GLAD and GENEROUS hearts that Praised God. Remember? A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the light They praised God together.and this is not a characteristic we should overlook. Tim Keller says that it is this dynamic that will help us to love each other, forgive each other and unite with people who we would otherwise have

6 light They praised God together.and this is not a characteristic we should overlook. Tim Keller says that it is this dynamic that will help us to love each other, forgive each other and unite with people who we would otherwise have nothing to do with - "Oh, you may know he died on the cross, but that s not what we re talking about. What creates fellowship is praising him for doing it, rejoicing in it, focusing on it. You see? If you have bitterness in your heart toward any other believer In fact, if you have bitterness in your heart toward anybody else, it s because you are not praising him for his death on the cross for you. What if he hadn t done that? What if he hadn t forgiven you? You can t look at his forgiveness of you and withhold forgiveness from somebody else at the same time. You have to look at one and forget the other. Look at him, and we will break all the barriers of culture. We will break all the barriers of race. We will break all the barriers of temperament. We will break all the barriers of your history, no matter what they did to you. Indifference, sensitivity, hurt feelings, anger, passivity all of them go away because we ve praised the one who was broken for you. Do that. Be devoted to fellowship. Stir up this sign of new life in you and in this church. Stir this up! Engage. Open your homes. Make this possible. Husbands and wives help each other. Prioritize community. Go to homes that are open. Increase in frequency your gatherings. Bear each others burdens. Labor together in the word, prayer and fellowship. Forgive each other. Love each other. Be devoted to fellowship. You only have room for so much devotion so in realize this call. But the bible compels us toward it. Later: this community compels us toward mission. Today: focus on the savior of this community.