This evening we are looking at Acts 2:42-47.
In churches we can spend a lot of time doing a lot of good things, without doing the right things. And if our church is going to be a strong church we have to make sure that we have our priorities right.
When we looked at how to do church, the best model is that early church of the Bible. They were the example of a strong church. So we’ll put a Bibles to Acts 2:42, and we see what their priorities were.
42They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord’s Supper and in prayer. 43A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had. 45They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need. 46They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—47all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.
Let us Pray.
We look at this passage and it shows us a unified body of believers that was effective in ministry. Scanning over that passage we see several priorities come to light.
In order for us to be a strong church, we must be involved in the Bible study.
V42
42They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord’s Supper and in prayer.
They joined with other believers to study the Bible. We must take time to study the Bible. I read a poll yesterday that said 20% of people do not read the Bible because they are simply not interested. We need to be people that are very interested in the word of God. The Bible must be the textbook that we use. As a Christian we are spokesman for Christ. And we must know whom we are speaking for. And to know whom we’re speaking for means we must study his word. Sunday school is very important in learning the Bible. Sunday school is a time for us to learn more about what different passages mean. One of the beauties of Sunday school is that it is a systematic approach to study the word of God. Many times people say that you can go to preaching to learn about the Bible. And I hope you can. But in Sunday school you spend twice as much time in that study. There’s also a time to ask questions and to interact. I’ve heard parents complain that they could not hear the preacher because they were taking care of their children. Sunday school is a time to learn the Bible with your age group. It also helps you to be able to sit with two children through worship and teach them the importance of worship. And Sunday school help the children too. By giving them that personal attention and interaction that they need to learn biblical principles.
We also see that to learn the Bible we must be in church. We must be in church consistently. If you are able, you need to be in church. Vernon Stephens told me once about visiting other churches when he was on vacation. That is an excellent discipline to learn. The Bible is very clear that we are to be in church. And being in church helps us all to become a stronger church, and that we are being obedient to God.
The next priority we see for a strong church is sharing.
v42-45
42They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord’s Supper and in prayer. 43A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had. 45They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need. 46They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—
First of all, they shared Possessions. They shared everything they had. That means they took time to give their possessions to the church for others to use in ministry. It is important that we become a giving church. Not because God needs the money, but because we need to learn to depend on him. We need to understand that he is the source of all of our income.
Second, they shared Fellowship. This is a group of believers that got together for fellowship. They spent time with one another as friends. Like we did last night. They met in homes of each other and shared meals together. As we become a strong church the Bible teaches that fellowship is a necessary ingredient for that growth.
Third, they shared Christ. They constantly participated in the Lord’s supper, which is a time of remembrance of what Christ did on the cross. Each time they shared the story of how Christ gave his body and blood for our sin. And while we don’t participate in the Lord’s supper, we all must be active in sharing our faith with others.
Christ
A third priority for the early church was Worship.
V42
42They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord’s Supper and in prayer.
And also in
V46
46They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—
These were people that understood their place. And they worshiped at every opportunity. They devoted themselves, not only to Bible study and sharing but to prayer. They came together at the temple each day. We don’t have to come to the church each day. But if we are going to be a strong church all of us need to come to the Lord each day in prayer. Spending time worshiping him.
From those three priorities, the early church saw results.
Look at
V43: Prayer were answered and miracles happened.
43A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.
These people saw miracles happen. Do I believe in miracles? Yes I do. That is because it was a miracle that Jesus choose me to save me. He just took my dirty hard made a clean. The Bible clearly teaches that God still performs miracles. But we must always plays her faith in Jesus.
But I also believe that miracles happen because of our prayer. Prayer alone means nothing. You must pray to the heavenly father through Jesus Christ. But this group was so in tune with the holy spirit, that miracles were happening because of their prayers.
And the results a strong church is that God will begin to work through that church to perform miracles to draw others to him.
Another result found in
V47: is that People were reached for Christ.
47all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.
It is result of maintaining the priorities that people will be reached for Christ. If a church is properly declaring God’s glory, people will know where to go to find God. People are constantly looking for God. If a church, is maximizing the priorities, the world will know that that church is different and that is where to find God.
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This sermon was preached at Padgett’s Creek Baptist Church in November 2001.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.