ACTS: TO ALL THE WORLD
(The Marks of the Christ Centered Church - November 12, 2023)
Series Big Idea: "The Church is God’s witness, on mission for God’s Kingdom"
Sermon Big Idea: “Healthy churches pay careful attention to teaching, fellowship, prayer, and witness“
Key Scripture (Acts 2:41-47)
Church planting, health, and growth books are popular among Christian leaders in our modern day. Many pastors and leaders attend church seminars to learn from successful pastors and fast-growing congregations hoping to learn how to build their local congregations. But what should the Church really look like? Our passage in the book of Acts today gives us a glimpse into the booming early Church when it was only a few days old. These verses give us a concise summary of what was happening among this growing group of believers.
(Acts 2:41-47)
So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about 3,000 people were added to them. 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers. 43 Then fear came over everyone, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. 44 Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. 45 They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need. 46 Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved.
Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke, continues here in Acts where he left off in his gospel (1:1-3) by focusing his attention on Jesus’ post-resurrection promise of the Holy Spirit (1:4-5). Jesus promised them His Holy Spirit power would come in just a few days (1:6-8). He then ascends back to heaven visibly (1:9-11) and His disciples return to Jerusalem to wait and pray (1:12-14).
On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit fell on the 120 who were waiting in the upper room. As they began to speak in other languages (2:1-4), the crowd was stunned because they heard in their own tongue (2:5-13). Peter explained this phenomenon by quoting the OT prophet Joel (Joel 2:28-32) concerning the day God would pour out His Spirit (2:14-21). He preaches Christ as God’s Messiah (2:22-37) and 3000 people are saved! (2:38-41). This brings us to our passage today.
Three thousand people took the step of faith in trusting Christ and were baptized! Luke says they were added to the church. This means they instantly joined the fellowship of the believers. They were of like mind and faith. They “devoted themselves” to regular and persistent engagement in the activities of the new Church. But it wasn’t just any old activities. They were taught and studied the Apostle’s teaching. The Apostles were eyewitnesses of Christ and His salvation. They were the ones whom the Holy Spirit would remind daily about the truths that would guide and lead the Church for centuries to come (John 14:17; 25-26; 16:13). The fellowship or (koinonia) they enjoyed was much more than just getting together and having a religious service. They were sharing, eating, and praying together.
Signs and wonders were being performed by the Apostles which authenticated their message about Jesus. This pointed toward God as the divine source and not the Apostles. Because some of these people had been in Jerusalem for over fifty days (a lot longer than they intended to stay) they were probably running low on resources, so they were sharing their possessions with anyone in need. Verses 46-47 close this great chapter with their daily lives and a picture of what it would have looked like. They were gathering in the Temple probably for large gatherings, in their homes to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, fellowship, and sharing in needs and prayer.
One thing we must remember is that these people that were being saved were Jews. They didn’t reject the Jewish religion; they saw it as the fulfillment of everything they knew and believed about the OT. At first, they probably still went to the Temple and synagogues for worship and teaching. But soon what they believed about Jesus caused friction between those who believed and those who didn’t. Sadly, close to the end of the first century most Jews who believed in Christ were forced to meet in their homes.
Conclusion:
The early Church was marked by something we have been talking about for the last month, joy. The early Church was marked by joy. A victorious church is a joyful church. The outcome of this joy is found in the last few statements of (2:47). They were finding favor with all people. This means the onlooking community was impressed. But this is the exception, not the rule. There will be times of persecution. Also, the Lord added to their group, of people who were being saved. The community was so impressed they were coming to faith in Christ.
This is the measure of whether a church is alive and growing in God’s eyes. Is Main Street seeing the things we have talked about in this passage? Are we teaching and following the Apostles teaching? Do we have that true Christian fellowship? Is prayer central in everything we do? Are we a sharing church? Are we a praising church? Is He adding to our congregation those that are being saved? Did you get that? The Lord added to the Church! None of the credit for salvation was given to Peter’s preaching, the apostle’s miracles, or the manifestations of the Spirit. The Lord added to their number daily! It is all about Christ! What happens to believers who worship, work, and witness for the Lord? The Lord grows the Church!
Pastor Beaver's thoughts and ideas are inspired by:
Holman Christian Standard Bible
English Standard Version Bible
King James Version Bible
Christian Standard Bible
Barton, Bruce et al. Life Application New Testament Commentary. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 2001. Print.
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Cole, Steven J. Acts. Dallas: Galaxie Software, 2017. Print. Steven J. Cole Commentary Series.
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Richards, Lawrence O. The Bible Reader’s Companion. electronic ed. Wheaton: Victor Books, 1991. Print.
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