A Devoted Church

Bible Passage: Acts 2:42-48

This series on God’s vision for the church now pivots from looking at some biblical images of the church to two New Testament example churches. These churches are both found in Acts, in different ways they provide a blueprint for what the church is meant to be. The first of these is the Jerusalem church that was formed on the day of Pentecost and is described in Acts 2. In this sermon we explore some of the features of that church.

A Devoted Church: The first thing we are told about this church is that they were devoted (verse 42). The picture is a community of people who were committed to following Jesus and doing so together, and made it a big priority in their lives. This devotion included four aspects. Firstly was the apostles teaching, which for us would correspond to the Scriptures, and showed a commitment to hear, understand and build their lives around what God has revealed in the word. Secondly was the fellowship. They made gathering together something they were committed to, and this included both public gatherings (meeting together in the temple courts) as well as more informal social time with one another (breaking bread in their homes). Thirdly, they committed to the breaking of bread, a phrase that points both to the more formal practice of the Lord’s Supper and remembrance of the cross, as well as the more informal practice of simply sharing meals with one another. Finally they devoted themselves to prayer. By building their lives around these pillars, God used this devoted church powerfully in seeing his purposes done in Jerusalem.

A Sharing Church: We have already seen that this church prioritised fellowship with one another, but we also learn that they were generous with their possessions. Verse 45 explains how they would sell possessions and give the proceeds to anyone who had need (there is a great case study of this in Acts 4:36-37 where we read of Barnabas selling a field and laying the money at the feet of the apostles), This generosity was promptd by the needs the believers saw in their community rather than any compulsion, and the result was that there were no needy people among them (Acts 4:34). Part of what it means to be church is to be generous and open-handed with what we have, to see the needs that others in the community have and be generous in using what we have to meet those needs.

A Supernatural Church: Another noteworthy feature of this church was the sense of awe they experienced and the signs and wonders that were done in their midst. God is still powerful and active today, and still works supernaturally. As we think about the kind of church we want to be, it has to be more than simply working through a checklist of ‘good things’, but we need to see the power of God at work. As the Spirit ministers we expect to see people healed, prophetic words given, miraculous provision and other answers to prayer. We seek after the work of the Spirit, trusting that he is still pleased to work in these supernatural ways, and we long to see a people filled with awe and expressing it through how they praise God.

A Growing Church: The final point we see about the Jerusalem church in these verses is that the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. This links back to the previous sermon in the series about being fishers of men. The church was effective in evangelism, as well as attractive in their community life, such that new people were added on a very regular basis and the Lord continued to add people to his church. As a church we want to be outward looking as we share the gospel, welcoming to newcomers and seeing people added to our number on a regular basis.

Potential Applications

• Challenge people to think about what their own involvement in church life looks like. Would ‘devotion’ be a word they would use here, and if not what might be one step they could take towards this?
• Are there needs in those around us that we could meet? And are we giving financially to support the church? These verses challenge us on both points to show generosity.
• Do we have faith to see God work both in signs and wonders and in salvations? Are there ways we can step out in faith and for these things and pray boldly for them?