Loving God! Loving People! Loving Life! Message Notes Dive In Part Four Life Church Smyrna Sunday, July 9, 2017 10:30am Pastor Shell Osbon Acts 2:41-47 41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day - about 3,000 in all. 42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord s Supper), and to prayer. 43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity - 47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. (NLT) 1. Dive In To Fellowship a) Food Is Important Matthew 9:9-11 9 As Jesus was walking along, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector s booth. Follow me and be my disciple, Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed Him. 10 Later, Matthew invited Jesus and His disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. 11 But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, Why does your Teacher eat with such scum? (NLT) Matthew 14:15-21 15 That evening the disciples came to Him and said, This is a remote place, and it s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves. 16 But Jesus said, That isn t necessary - you feed them. 17 But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish! they answered. 18 Bring them here, He said. 19 Then He told the people to sit down on the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, He gave the bread to the disciples, who distributed it to the people. 20 They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers. 21 About 5,000 men were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children! (NLT) b) Communion Is Important Matthew 26:26-28 26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then He broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, Take this and eat it, for this is My body. 27 And He took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is My blood, which confirms the covenant between God and His people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. (NLT) 1 Corinthians 11:26-30 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord s death until He comes again. 27 So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. 29 For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God s judgment upon yourself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died. (NLT) c) _Prayer Is Important Luke 11:1 Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As He finished, one of His disciples came to Him and said, Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples. (NLT) Matthew 6:5-8 5 When you pray, don t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. 6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. 7 When you pray, don t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. 8 Don t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him! (NLT) The big idea: Dive in to fellowship!
part four Acts 2:41-47 41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day - about 3,000 in all. 42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord s Supper), and to prayer. 43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. (cont d) 1
45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity - 47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. (NLT) part four 2
1. Dive In To Fellowship Fellowship comes from the Greek word κοινωνια which means association, community, communion, joint participation. 3
Acts 2:42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord s Supper), and to prayer. (NLT) More than 3,000 Christ followers were devoted to sharing fellowship with each other because they knew they were better together than by themselves. Acts 2:42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord s Supper), and to prayer. (NLT) More than 3,000 Christ followers were devoted to sharing fellowship with each other because they knew they were better together than by themselves. They included three primary things in their fellowship: 1. food, 2. communion and 3. prayer 4
a) Food Is Important Acts 2:42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals... (NLT) The early Christ followers knew the value of sharing meals with each other on a regular basis. Matthew 9:9-11 9 As Jesus was walking along, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector s booth. Follow me and be my disciple, Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed Him. 10 Later, Matthew invited Jesus and His disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (cont d) 5
11 But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, Why does your Teacher eat with such scum? (NLT) Jesus shared a meal with His disciples and with sinners as a way of illustrating that He loved everyone. Dr. Barry Jones: In the fastpaced, tech-saturated, attention-deficit-disordered culture in which we find ourselves, Christians need to recover the art of a slow meal around a table with people we care about. We need a recovery of the spiritual significance of what we eat, where we eat and with whom we eat. 6
Matthew 14:15-21 15 That evening the disciples came to Him and said, This is a remote place, and it s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves. 16 But Jesus said, That isn t necessary - you feed them. 17 But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish! they answered. 18 Bring them here, He said. 19 Then He told the people to sit down on the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. (cont d) Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, He gave the bread to the disciples, who distributed it to the people. 20 They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers. 21 About 5,000 men were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children! (NLT) Jesus shared a meal with about 10,000 people to show He could turn not nearly enough into more than enough! 7
b) Communion Is Important Acts 2:42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord s Supper)... (NLT) The early Christ followers knew the value of sharing the communion together on a regular basis. Matthew 26:26-28 26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then He broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, Take this and eat it, for this is My body. 27 And He took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is My blood, which confirms the covenant between God and His people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. (NLT) 8
Jesus used communion to teach about the power of His broken body and His shed blood which provide healing and forgiveness. Buzz Aldrin: The very first liquid ever poured on the Moon and the first food eaten there were communion elements. 9
1 Corinthians 11:26-30 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord s death until He comes again. 27 So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. 29 For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God s judgment upon yourself. (cont d) 30 That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died. (NLT) Communion reminds us that Jesus is coming back and to change how we are living so we will be ready for His return. 10
c) Prayer Is Important Acts 2:42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord s Supper), and to prayer. (NLT) The early Christ followers knew the value of praying together on a regular basis. Luke 11:1 Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As He finished, one of His disciples came to Him and said, Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples. (NLT) A disciple realizes they have to learn how to pray because prayer doesn t come naturally. 11
Matthew 6:5-8 5 When you pray, don t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. 6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. (cont d) 7 When you pray, don t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. 8 Don t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him! (NLT) Jesus said three times when you pray and He never said if you pray because prayer isn t supposed to be optional for His followers. 12
Martin Luther King, Jr: To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing. the big idea Dive in to fellowship 13
we re all about Loving God! Loving People! Loving Life! part four 14