So Acts chapter 2, verses 42 to 47, the fellowship of the
believers. They devoted themselves to the
apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of
bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at
the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.
All the believers were together and held everything in common.
They sold property and possessions to give to anyone
who had needs. Every day they continued to meet
together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes
and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and
enjoying the favour of all the people.
And the Lord added to their number daily those who are being
saved. So yeah, we are carrying on in
this series in the book of Acts this morning.
And for those of you who haven't been around the last few weeks,
and especially for those of you in Sunday club who've been doing
different things in Sunday club, let me just remind us all of the
big idea of this series in the opening chapters of Acts.
So according to the book of Acts, including the passage
we're looking at today, Our Calling as Christians, our
mission, our purpose in life as a church family is that we are
witnesses for Jesus in the real world, in the power of the Holy
Spirit. So our purpose, Our Calling, our
mission, according to Acts, is that followers of Jesus are
witnesses for Jesus in the real world, in the power of the Holy
Spirit. And again, if you weren't here
last week, last week we looked at the first bit of Acts chapter
2, which was the day of Pentecost.
On that day in the city of Jerusalem 2000 years ago, there
was a sound like the blowing of a violent wind.
There was what seemed to be tongues of fire that appeared
over the heads of the disciples, and we're told all of them were
filled with the Holy Spirit we saw last week.
That was the day when God by his Spirit came to dwell with his
people. Jesus promised his Holy Spirit
would come. And last week we saw Jesus kept
his promise. He poured out the Spirit on his
people so his people could live as witnesses for him in the
world in the power of the Holy Spirit.
And so we come to our bit this morning.
It's the last little bit of Acts too.
Quite short passage. And the writer of Acts is a man
called Luke, and he wants us to ask for a question when we get
to the end of Pentecost. And it's this, What does a
spirit filled church look like? So the spirits come at
Pentecost, but what does a spirit filled church look like?
What should we expect when the Holy Spirit is dwelling with his
people? Because after Peter's sermon
last week, the church in Jerusalem is pretty massive.
Now we're told it's over 3000 people are now in it.
That's verse 41 from last week. So what evidence do we see of
the presence, presence of the Spirit and the power of the
Spirit in this early church? Because I see, I mean, someone
might think well, Pentecost, we could see the presence and power
of the Spirit. There was this violent wind
blowing. There were tongues of fire over
the believers heads. Maybe that is how, you know, if
the Spirit is present, we should expect to see those things all
the time. So if you come to Ave. on a
Sunday, you'd expect to see little flames of fire above the
heads of believers and a violent wind blowing, not just because
the doors are open, it's because the power of God is blowing
through the place. Is that what a spirit filled
church looks like? But actually I want to say we
get a slightly different picture in this bit in Acts 2.
Now Luke does mention wonders and signs here verse 43.
If you look down at that, everyone was filled with awe of
the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.
But he doesn't mention tongues of fire or a violent winds.
Actually, Luke wants to see that the evidence of a Spirit filled
church, it's maybe a bit less dramatic than the day of
Pentecost, but actually in many ways it's a lot deeper.
It's a deeper move of the Spirit that changes people in community
together. So we're going to see that a
spirit filled church in Acts 2 might not have all those amazing
signs that Pentecost did. That was sort of a unique
moment. But actually Luke wants to see
there's lots of evidence we can see in a believing church that
the Spirit is present and he is at work in that church.
And these are signs we want to see and pray for in our church
family at Ave. Because when it comes to the
Holy Spirit, it's very easy to get obsessed as Christians with
like the so-called supernatural signs, the spirit that is you,
tongues of fire, signs and wonders speaking in, in tongues
and also with the spirit can be very easy to get very
individualistic. Well, well, what gift of the
Spirit given me? What, what can I, what bit of
the spirit do I get? How come I don't have the gift
that that person has? But actually what Luke wants us
to see in this bit of Acts 2 is the power of the spirit in
community. It's not about just individual
believers having the spirit. It's about the whole people of
God having the Spirit dwelling among them and he's changing
them and making them more like Jesus as he lives with us.
So as Kate says, we're going to break up this passage a bit
across a few bits. But what does a spirit filled
church look like? We're going to see that it looks
like a learning church. That's verse 42.
They were devoted to the apostles teaching to look like a
loving church. Verse 42, they were devoted to
fellowship. It looks like a thankful church.
They were devoted to the breaking of bread and it looks
like a praying church. They were devoted to prayer.
So I want to see that the evidence of the Spirit.
We can see it in the ordinary daily life of a local church
made-up of ordinary men, women and children who are trusting in
Jesus and who by his Spirit Jesus is changing us to be more
like him in the way we listen to him, learn from him, love each
other, give praise to Him, and then trust in Him for our life
together. So let's look at that first
heading. Now that spirit filled church is
a learning church. That's what we see first of all,
in verse 42. They devoted themselves to the
apostles teaching. So the early church in Jerusalem
says, look, they were a church absolutely committed.
They wanted to learn everything they could about the living God,
about Jesus, about what Jesus had done for them and what it
means to live for Jesus in this world.
So the apostles mentioned there at this point in Acts, the
apostles were the 12 apostles. They were Jesus closest friends
when he was here on earth. They were the eyewitnesses of
his life, death and resurrection.
They were given unique authority by Jesus to proclaim the gospel
and protect the gospel. And they were given unique
authority by Jesus to do that. And that's what we learn in the
way that Luke describes them. Verse 43, if you look down, it
says Luke tells us people were filled with awe at the many
wonders and signs performed by the apostles.
And next week, if you're here, we're going to look at one of
those wonders and signs in Acts chapter 3, when when Peter the
apostle heals a lame beggar in the temple.
So at this point in the story of Acts, it's the apostles who are
performing wonders and signs here.
So back in verse 22 and when Peter's talking about Jesus, he
says Jesus was empowered by God to do miracles, wonders and
signs. And now after the coming of the
Spirit, the apostles have got that same power of God at work
in them. And at this point, it seems
those signs and wonders are performed by the 12 as God's way
of showing these people have my authority.
Listen to them as if you were listening to me.
That is the unique authority the apostles had at this point in
the book of Acts. Now, later in Acts, signs and
wonders are performed by people other than the apostles.
We learn about Stephen and Philip, two other leaders who
weren't apostles, who performed miracles.
We learn about Paul of Tarsus when he becomes an apostle.
He's called by Jesus and he performs miracles and signs.
But at this point in the church's life, it's the church
needs to see the apostles, the 12 are the ones with authority.
They need to listen to when the apostles speak about Jesus.
And what's all that got to say to us today?
We're not living 2000 years ago, but actually as a church family
at Ave. we want to learn from the apostles.
We will learn everything we can about God, about Jesus, about
the Holy Spirit, about what it means to follow Jesus in this
world, about the message we have for the people around us.
We're committed to learning from the New Testament.
That's the second bit of the Bible the Acts is in.
That is what the apostles wrote down about what they had seen
and heard about Jesus. And we're committed to learning
from the Old Testament, the first part of the Bible, because
Jesus told the apostles. The Old Testament points to me.
It's all about Jesus too, and we need to see that actually this
eagerness to learn from God's Word is actually a work of the
Holy Spirit. It's not natural.
It's what the Spirit does in us when we follow Jesus.
There's a bit in one of the gospels where Jesus is getting
ready to go to the cross. It's the night before He goes to
the cross, and that night He tells us that was a lot about
his life, death, resurrection, and about the Spirit who's going
to come. And in John 16, he says this
Jesus speaking, I have much more to say to you disciples, more
than you can now bear. But when He, the Spirit of truth
comes, He will guide you into all the truth.
He'll not speak on His own. He'll speak only what He hears.
See the Holy Spirit, he is the author of the Bible.
The Spirit is the one who inspires and speaks through the
human authors so that we can see Jesus in the Bible, So we know
the Bible is reliable and living and it's for us.
The Holy Spirit speaks to us through the scriptures.
He opens our hearts to the truth of the scriptures.
He helps us understand the scriptures.
He is the Spirit of truth says Jesus.
And I see that's an amazing thing for any Christian.
I mean, just I don't know if you people have got a favorite book
here, but I mean sort of books that I, I love when I was, I
loved reading the Harry Potter books and they were right.
Lord of the Rings, Narnia, I dabble in a bit of Jane Austen
sometimes Pride and Prejudice quite good.
Roald Dahl books, Matilda BFG. Now someone said to me, I want
to say, imagine you're sitting reading your favorite book and
actually the author of that book sitting next to you.
Some of those authors you might want to spend time with, some of
you might not, but still imagine the authors that you go, What
did you mean when you said that? What about this bit CS Lewis
with with the lion and Aslan? What about this bit JK Rowling
with horcruxes? What about this bit, Jane
Austen, about marriage and stuff?
What, what did you mean? What did you mean?
And actually, the author can tell you what he or she meant.
And it's exactly the same for Christians.
There's something we do every Sunday.
So Kate and I in that little corridor and we were praying
that that God by a spirit would speak to us through his word.
It wouldn't just be, oh, that's some interesting facts that the
Holy Spirit would speak to us through his word.
We do that every Sunday because we know we need the Spirit, the
Spirit of truth, to open our eyes to what God is telling us.
And we do that when we're on our own.
We should do that on our own. Somebody's maybe if people read
the Bible on their own, somebody's you can just go, I've
got like 5 minutes, quick, quick, quick.
But actually we should always stop for just a real moment and
go, Lord, by your Spirit, would you speak to me through your
word? Please show me Jesus today.
Amen. And then we read.
So actually we want to be a learning church in the power of
the Spirit. Jesus has sent us, poured out
his Spirit so we'll understand more about who God is, who Jesus
is, who the Spirit is, what the gospel is, what it means to live
as Jesus witnesses. We want to do that on Sunday
mornings and Sunday club in our home groups, on Tuesday morning
Bible study in young adults groups.
Wherever we are, we want the Holy Spirit to speak to us
through his word so we can learn more what it means to live for
Jesus and be like Jesus in this world.
My disciples, if you love one another.
So actually a really key part of a church's life is we share life
together. We actually invite the people
outside of the church to come home to the God who loves them
and who made them and to join a community of people who are
seeking to follow that living God in this world in the power
of the Spirit. So our message for people
outside the church in a lonely and suffering world is you are
not alone. God has come near to us through
his Son Jesus and thy through the Spirit.
And there is a community waiting to welcome you made-up of
brothers and sisters in Christ who are very different in lots
of details, but who have everything in common because
they trust in the same Jesus. And actually, that's our message
to one another in the church as well.
You are not alone. We always know times when when
things are hard, when we feel like we're alone but actually
look as challenging and encouraging.
Churches like Ave. Be family together, walk towards
each other and walk with one another in this world.
Pray for one another, open your homes to one another, share life
together. When we don't do that, we begin
to think I am on my own and no one else is struggling like me.
No one else is like me. Everyone else is so different to
me. But but Luke assures us here we
have more in common as followers of Jesus than we do those
divisions. Those divisions are real.
Those distinctions are real. But actually we have everything
in common because Jesus came and lived and died and rose again to
welcome us home and so that we then are in a place to welcome
others home to God. And a really practical way they
did that. Luke tells us verse 45 is the
early church gave generously to one another.
So they shared life together. They were in each other's homes,
but also we're told they sold property and possessions to give
to anyone who had need. And we're going to see in the
opening chapters of Acts that when when the believers did
this, they weren't compelled to, that there wasn't a command.
It wasn't like a a commune idea. You have to sell everything.
People would sell things and they'd be then free to do what
they wanted with that money. In chapter 5, we're going to
learn about a couple that tried to lie to the rest of the church
and claim they were giving more than they actually were with
pretty disastrous consequences. But here it's people willingly
going. I have got things that other
people could use. I've got ways of helping that I
want to use to help other people.
As the believer shared life there, they thought, well, I can
maybe help with that. I could.
I've got a bit of advice on that.
Or I can actually come over and give you a hand with that.
They sell property and possessions.
They give to anyone in need. They were generous with what
they had. And why are they generous?
Because in the gospel, God is so generous to us.
These believers knew that God owed them nothing.
They used to live as enemies of God, but God in his grace
welcomed them home to himself, and now together they could use
the gifts and skills and possessions they had to bless
other people the way God had first blessed them in Jesus.
It's worth thinking, who were the people in need in verse 45
primarily? Probably they were other
believers. Again, this is a big church.
3000 plus. So they're helping each other as
believers, but I think very quickly in the book of Acts we
see that that generosity overflows the people outside the
church too. Look at verse 47 says the
believers enjoyed the favour of all the people and the Lord
added to their number daily. Those who were being saved the
world around would see the generosity of the Christians to
each other and they'd want a bit of that.
They'd go, I want to know more about that.
Again, in the early Roman world, when Christianity was still
technically illegal and persecuted, lots of Roman
observers notice, see how the Christians love each other.
It was a huge drawing point for people outside the church.
So this is what Luke wants to show us here is that as a local
church here at Ave., we want to be a loving church in the power
of the Spirit because the way we love each other is a reflection
of the love we've received from God.
We are generous and called to be generous because actually God is
even more generous than we ever will be and he wants us to
follow his lead. And that kind of links with the
the third commitment we're going to look at really briefly, which
is that this is a thankful church because we're told they
were devoted to the breaking of bread.
And in a moment, actually, we are going to break bread and
take wine together to celebrate the Lord's Supper.
Now, there's a bit of debate about this.
First, some people think maybe this is another reference to the
breaking of bread in each other's homes.
It just says they were eating together, spending a lot of time
together. That's probably part of it.
Also, Luke does say the breaking of bread.
So he maybe is talking about in particular the Lord's Supper.
And I think he probably is referring to both, actually, in
the early church, that Lord's Supper, taking bread and wine as
we're going to do, would have been part of a larger meal in
people's homes. There weren't church buildings
at that point. But actually here with the
breaking of bread, Luke is showing us the early Christians
regularly remembered, celebrated and received from God the saving
grace of Jesus demonstrated at the cross for them.
Because the Lord's Supper is a really precious gift to
Christians. We take the bread, we break it,
remembering Jesus body broken for us.
We take wine and drink it, reminding ourselves of Jesus
blood shed for us on the cross. The Lord's Supper is a picture
of the gospel, and it's something meant to help us
remember God, but also to thank him, and where God meets with us
and welcomes us afresh with all that he's won for us through
Jesus. And that's a precious thing,
because forgiveness is what we all need.
Think of the 12 apostles in that early church.
Every one of them had sort of run away and abandoned Jesus
when he was arrested. They had no illusions.
They were great, strong people. They knew they needed
forgiveness. Think of the 3000 people who
joined the church in Pentecost. Then a lot of them have been in
the crowd a few weeks earlier shouting crucify him, crucify
him. They had been enemies of Jesus
and now Jesus was welcoming them round his table.
This was a thankful community and you, God didn't owe them
anything, but he lavished his welcome and grace and
forgiveness on them and they wanted to receive that and give
thanks to God for that which is this final sign of a spirit
filled church that Luke tells us.
This was a praying church. Verse 42, he says they devoted
themselves to prayer and we've seen that again and again in
this series. If you've been here at all,
prayer is at the heart of a spirit filled church as follows
of Jesus. We need to learn we can't do
this on our own. It's not about how wise we can
be, how clever we can be. Actually, we need God's Spirit
to help us and lead us as witnesses for Jesus.
And why is prayer so central to your life?
Live for Jesus in the power of the Spirit.
Well, because prayer reminds us that we are connected to God and
we need Him. There's a there's a writer that
that put it a bit like this in a book I was reading recently.
He just wrote this. A life of walking by the Spirit
is a life of prayer, and a life of prayer is a life of walking
by the Spirit. Prayer is a refusal to do life
in our own strength and ingenuity.
It's a plea for help from above and within.
Remember, the Spirit lives in followers of Jesus.
Prayer demonstrates a heart that is hungry for God's presence and
intervention in our world. In the same way, walking by the
Spirit is a lifestyle that depending on God, not ourselves
for life and breath. Prayer is the heart of walking
by the Spirit. You're going to be really
rubbish at the end is if you thought actually we've got to do
all these characters of a church and it's up to us.
We've got to be a learning church, got to really work hard,
be a loving church, work hard actually in all these things,
Jesus wants us to come to him and ask for his spirits help in
them. If we want to be a learning
church, we need the spirit to open our eyes to what God's
telling us in his words. If we want to be a loving
church, we need the spirit to take away our natural heart of
stone and give us a heart of flesh that beats for God and
beats for other people. If we want to be a thankful
church, we need the Spirit to show us just what Jesus has done
for us and how we can praise Him for a spirit filled church is a
church that praise.