“The Lord Added” – Acts 2:42-44

It’s not easy getting something off the ground. Rockets take an enormous amount of energy to launch and successfully leave the earth’s orbit. Airplanes also need a rapid speed in order to take off.

Businesses also need time and energy to build and grow.

It’s very rare for something to become a true overnight hit.

One of those exceptions was the early church. It began with a houseful of waiting people. Then, as the Holy Spirit descended upon the house, the power of the Spirit moved out into the streets, and the result of 3000 more people becoming a part of the fellowship.

The next part of Acts gives us a summary of what happened to that suddenly explosive church. It’s important that we look at this early snapshot of the church because it shows us the elements of a successful church. The same elements present at the Jerusalem church can be applied to our church today.

Central Truth: The Holy Spirit strengthens the church.

The church was:

Devoted (42)

Devotion is an important part of humankind. People are devoted to their spouses, their children, even their pets and their old schools. This devotion is seen in the way we pay special attention to the things to which we are devoted. If I get a phone call, I check the ID—if it’s Kim or one of the children, I’ll answer it if at all possible.

Devotion is important, and the first thing said about the early church in the days immediately after the coming of the Holy Spirit is that the members were devoted. Specifically, the Bible says, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

This verse alone could fill a sermon. In it we see the cornerstones of a church with Jesus as Lord.

As the 3000 entered into the fellowship, there was a lot they didn’t know. It’s possible some of them had never heard of Jesus and had to learn the very basics of who He was and what He did and said. It’s no surprise that they devoted themselves to the teaching of the Gospel. Education is an important part of the church. We need to know what the Bible says, and we need to know what God expects of us, and what we can expect from God. We can only gain that understanding as we study Scripture and pray and worship.

As important to the learning, though, is the fellowship. To this they were also devoted. I’ve often teased you about not wanting to leave church after it’s over. I stand at the door and no one comes out. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Numerous times, you’ve told me the reason you stay afterward and talk is because you usually don’t get to see one another outside of church. The fact that you want to see each other and share with one another is a mark of a strong fellowship. A church that doesn’t like each other is a poor advertisement for the Gospel of God’s love.

The church also devoted itself to the breaking of bread. They had a lot of meals as a church. There are some churches that insist this is a reference to the Lord’s Supper, but I don’t see it that way. I see it as what it says—breaking bread together, eating together. A mealtime is a great time to get to know people and to share what’s going on in our lives and our families. It’s a relaxing time to enjoy each other’s company. Oddly enough, I’m not a big fan of working lunches, though. It’s hard to relax and enjoy food if one is stressing about work and work-related things. The church devoted itself to this time as a time to get to know one another.

And they devoted themselves to prayer. It was important in that early church that they know how to talk with and to God. It was an important ingredient in discerning God’s will as they prayed together. There is power in group prayer, and this church was devoted to that practice of praying. It is another way of showing our fellowship with God. It is through prayer that we learn His will, and it is through prayer that we yield to His will.

When the Holy Spirit brought the first church together, He strengthened them through their devotion to God and to each other. It is a practice that is still seen in successful churches today.

In awe (43)

Imagine what it must be like to witness miraculous events on a daily basis. We know from reading the book of Acts that God did some incredibly remarkable things through the apostles. He healed the lame, raised the dead, brought harsh judgment and freed prisoners. The only real way to respond to a miracle is with awe, and that was a part of the Jerusalem church. “Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.”

I think a note is needed here. When God gifts His church, He gives some people more spectacular gifts. The gifts of healing and evangelism can appear glamorous to many. And it’s important to realize that God doesn’t limit His more spectacular gifts to such people as apostles or ministers. God gifts us as He sees fit, and the less spectacular gifts are just as necessary as the glamorous ones. Read through 1 Corinthians 12 and see the importance of all the gifts to the body of Christ.

When the verse says they were in awe, the awe was not directed to the apostles, but to the Spirit that moved through the apostles to create the wonders and signs. It is the same Spirit that indwells us that enabled Peter to heal the lame man and give Paul the power to raise someone from the dead. It was the Spirit of God that opened the prison doors and allowed Peter to escape. It was the Spirit that gave Peter, James and John the courage and strength to stand up to the Sanhedrin. The awe was directed at the enabling power of the Holy Spirit, not the vessels through which the Spirit worked.

Awe encourages us to share. I remember coming home from work one day, witnessing one of the most beautiful sunsets I had seen in a long time. I drove into the driveway, hurried into the house and called out to anyone home to come see what I had been witnessing. To my chagrin, no one was at home. I was there alone. I had an old cell phone that could take a video, but the video was only 10 seconds or so. I got my phone and quickly scanned the sky with the phone. When I looked at the video, though, it really didn’t capture the grandeur of what I was seeing.

When we come to the realization that we serve an awesome God—not awesome in the way we use the word today, but a God who fills us with awe and respect and reverence—then we are much more likely to want to tell others about Him. As we watch His hand move across our world and our lives, we are filled with a gratitude and a wonder at the work He does. That God, the Creator of the Universe and the Lord of all, takes the time not only to notice us but take an active part in our living should fill us with such an awe.

The same Spirit that inspired awe in the early church at Jerusalem can still inspire awe in us today.

United in a common bond (44-45)

“All the believers were together and had everything in common.”

Remember how this church got started? Initially, it was a small group of people who had lived in Galilee and Jerusalem, a group that had watched and learned from Jesus from early in His earthly ministry. They were devoted to Him and obedient to Him.

Then came Pentecost, and suddenly 3000 people from across the Roman Empire and beyond were now part of this same fellowship. On the surface, it would seem that this suddenly exploding church would have very little, if anything, in common. And yet the Bible says they were together and had everything in common. What united them?

It was the common bond of the Holy Spirit living within each of them. Each member of that church had an awareness of God’ saving power through Jesus Christ and each one had an awareness of their relationship with one another as children of the same God, brother of the same Christ and filled with the same Spirit.

The unity and bond were not superficial, either. The next verse says, “They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.” I’m guessing there was a lot of need in that early church. The talk is that Waco is growing by leaps and bounds. I’ve heard figures of how many people are moving to the area that, if true, make my head spin. I’ve been told that Texas’ population will double in the next 30 years. Not everyone of these people will have jobs immediately lined up, and it could be a crisis in the making if our economy doesn’t keep up.

When the 3000 came to know Christ, these men and women and children from across the Roman Empire stayed in Jerusalem. Each of these people had come to Jerusalem on a religious pilgrimage; they all intended to return home. But now they had all moved to Jerusalem, and I imagine work and jobs were at a premium. Its’ certain that many of the new converts had money with them initially, but money has a habit of running out, particularly when there is no source of new income.

How did the church handle it? They recognized that all they had was a gift from God. They took what they had and sold it. They took that money and brought it to the church, where it was distributed as needed to meet the needs of the fellowship. Why? Because they were united in a common bond—these in need were my brothers and sisters in Christ. If I could help, I helped, was the thinking.

The same Spirit that gives a spirit of unity and common bond does the same in our world and our church today. God sees fit to lay the needs of others on our hearts, and we generally respond as He leads us.

Glad and sincere (46-47)

The last element of the Spirit’s power working in this summary of the early church is a return to the fellowship present in the church. “They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of the people.”

When I was a little boy, it was not uncommon for Mom and Dad to invite others over to the house after evening worship on Sundays. I can remember a lot of fellowshipping with other people at that time. The adults would play card games or 42 while we children would play together.

I imagine it was similar to that in the early church. People would be worshipping together at the temple court every day. After they met and worshipped, no doubt someone would say to others, “Let’s get something to eat. We can do that at our house.” And a small group of friends would wind up at someone’s house for a meal. It wouldn’t surprise me if others who were not a part of the church but may have expressed a curiosity about it were invited over, too.

It’s sad to see when people are going through the motions. An insincere heart is one that soon reveals its true nature. The fake smile and the faux enjoyment gives way to sneers and pettiness. People can discern who is sincere and who isn’t, and we tend to fade away from the insincere. Such was not the case in the early church. The joy of sharing and fellowship with a glad and sincere heart would win over others. The Bible says the church enjoyed the favor of all the people. As a result, God was adding to their numbers daily, people being saved and growing the fellowship even more.

The same Spirit that encourages a glad and sincere heart in the early church can do the same in our church today.

Conclusion

There’s a lot to be said for changes and for keeping up with the times. After all, if we stay in one place, we wind up in a hole or a rut, and we become irrelevant.

At the same time, there is a lot to be said about the tried and true methods. We can learn from the past, and we can find security in that past.

The Bible gives us a model for creating a successful church, and it’s found in these verses we looked at today. A church led by the Spirit is one that is devoted, filled with awe, united in a common bond and are glad and sincere in our faith in God. Without these things, we are a shell, a group of people playing at something that looks like a church, but isn’t.

Let us commit ourselves this day to letting the same Spirit of the early church lay the same foundation in us today.