01.18.2009 Acts 2 - Becoming a Biblical Community without Becoming a Commune

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Acts 2: 41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 42 And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. 44 And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common; 45 and they [began] selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. 46 And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Lord, as we look at Your word at a passage we have looked at many times – may it not be familiar – You have new things for us – things You want to move in our hearts. Needs – we don’t know are there. Open our lives and hearts that You might teach us – we look to Your grace. In Jesus Name – Amen

Back when I went to The Ohio State University – a long long time ago – back when they won bowl games… – we tried to live out this passage. As close to forming a commune as possible - We had about 75 of us living within a few blocks of one another.
We would pack anywhere from 6 to a dozen people in these old 3 bedroom homes. Every night we would gather together to eat together. We would pool our money – and everyone would pitch in $30/month – and that would cover the food for the month (and half the people never paid). This was the 70’s – so you could almost live like that. They wouldn’t buy real milk – but powdered milk – and no one drank that – so that saved a lot of money. We formed this group and tried to live this out. We would meet just about every night of the week - We would have worship meetings and Bible Studies and tried to do everything together. It worked well for the time – and it was great when we were 20 years old. But after time – that wore off. It was much more difficult to live that lifestyle.

Today I’d like to talk about Church Becoming a Biblical Community without Becoming a Commune.

God wants us to live out this Acts lifestyle. It is a mistake to think that the Book of Acts is a blueprint for a church to follow – but there are a lot of principles there.

When the church becomes a Biblical community – that church will experience the power of the Holy Spirit. In general, a church fails to experience God’s power because they are not living in community. I feel like we are really moving in the right direction and this doesn’t apply to us as much.

Jerusalem would swell during the course of five weeks during these festivals. Peter goes out – and had his first sermon -
41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

So the church went from, in one day, 120, to 3120. We are about 140 people here. Imagine if next Sunday 3000 more show up. This is a side note – but the Jews – the teaching took place in the courtyard of the Temple. Around the Temple Mount – there were pools for cleansing ceremonies – they would walk in one end and walk out the other. The disciples probably divided up and were able to baptize 3000 that day. Most of these were not from Jerusalem – so there was tremendous need – in light of this new experience – to be together. There were people without jobs and homes – they never intended to start a commune – but they were responding in love to the needs of others. The need came up because of the circumstances – and then, as followers of Christ, they gave what they could to meet the needs. If something tremendous happens here in the Falls – God will call on the church to meet the needs that are before us.

What we will look at – requirements that we have to become a biblical community.

1) The first priority - In order to become a Biblical people – we must first have a commitment to The Great Commission. They were outwardly focused. The 120 were on mission. In order to become a Biblical community – we need to be on mission. Biblical Community is created when the church is committed to the mission God has given it. The natural result is to form a community.
The opposite is also true – when people focus on being a community without having a mission from God – they create a club with cliques. We look at this passage and think it would be great to have community – but the community was created because of the mission. This is especially dangerous in small churches. I could take you to pastor after pastor and have them talk to you about how their church turned inward and opposed to change. It is critical to understand – this is the natural tendency – but for us – I don’t think this has happened because we have an outward focus. This is a good thing – but we need to be cautious – because it is the natural tendency of humans to focus inward
2) Acts2:42 And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
We need to follow the practices of the New Testament church – these four are what they did. This is not a detailed blueprint or recipe for how to do church. But these are the essential ingredients necessary to build a biblical community – but how you apply it is up to the style and community of each individual church. There is not a right or wrong way to do communion. Ok—there may be some wrong ways – but as long as you have bread and the cup – you can break bread in each others’ homes.
Worship, Fellowship, prayer – what do you think of when you think of church? We tend to put the cart before the horse and think of the programs of the church. What is church? Sunday morning services, youth group, music ministry? But it is the teaching of the word, fellowship, worship, prayer. We set the programs up to best accomplish those four practices. The living it out may change, but the four practices remain constant.

Acts 2:43 And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.

In this, what we have, are the results. When the community came together – God brings in the power. It is not manipulated – it is something that comes upon the church because of the commitment they have because of practicing what God wants them to practice. It is like the wind – comes from and goes wherever it pleases – but we sense it and feel it. You have experienced this in your own life. You walk into a church or ministry and there is this buzz – something is happening that is unique.

From IT –
IT – the working of the spirit.
Some have IT some don’t. When a church has IT, everyone can tell. And not, not.
IT is always unique, powerful, life-changing. IT attracts critics – many misunderstand IT – hard to find, but impossible to miss. If you were ever part of a ministry that had IT, you knew it was something special.

What is happening in the book of Acts – God was at work – in ways that we cannot explain or understand. When God is at work like that, you can’t miss it. That can’t be manipulated. When God’s people commit themselves to living in community, God goes to work and the church gets IT – the experience of the power of God in the church.

That is what makes the church different from a charity organization. The church does charity – but we are to be the light of the world – the salt – and God does IT – there is a sense of awe when the spirit is working. We can’t describe it, but there is an outpouring of the Spirit and God working that God wants everyone to experience. God does not hold back. But sometimes we miss it because we are looking for the wrong things. You see in Acts – the peoples’ lives were being transformed and their needs were being met. That is where you primarily see the working of the spirit.

44 And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common; 45 and they [began] selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. 46 And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,

44 – all together – it shows in here – there was a partnership – they were functioning as a congregation – the word in common – same as in 42 – fellowship – koinos – same meaning as koinonia – a partnership – a family – much more than an organization – it was a family. The church is not an organization, but must function as a family. People volunteered – nothing forced upon them. Because of the transformation – they made great sacrifice to meet the needs – they understood that God was calling them together. It was amazing what God did here. It would be unheard of in America today – how strange it would be – a world crying out to the government – Bail us out! If the Christian community started doing it with one another – they were selling property and giving it as anyone might have need – that was an incredible thing. To say that nothing they had belonged to themselves!
Look at Acts 4: 32 And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one [of them] claimed that anything belonging to him was his own; but all things were common property to them. 33 And with great power the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. 34 For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales, 35 and lay them at the apostles' feet; and they would be distributed to each, as any had need.

Think of what might happen if the Christians were to do this with one another! People were selling their land – taking from their wealth and distributing it to those who had not. This is not communism. But there may come a time to make a financial sacrifice – again, that is what we have in Acts – people sacrificing. There were no preachers saying, if you don’t give to build this building…I won’t eat until… There was none of that. If you have means to meet a need and God points to you to meet that need – there is a tremendous blessing that comes to you. Barnabas is one of the guys who is a star in the Book of Acts – God had blessed him in his earlier life – probably to be a wealthy individual. But when God called on him, he stepped up to the plate and gave.
Another thing we see in this passage – they were a home fellowship – they had an informal relationship building in smaller situations – however that takes place – in a coffee shop – at a church fellowship hall – but the necessity fo rhthe church to be more than Sunday morning – for your relationships to go beyond the church. But in America, we are so individualistic – we’d rather cocoon. But you can see – with Facebook and Myspace – there is a need for community. I am glad I am not on them – but there is nothing wrong with being on them. But – for community – it is a cheap community – you feel like you are community but are not really involved.

Most church communities have cheap community – just enough for me to feel good – but not enough for me to really get involved in what is going on in peoples’ lives – the hurts, the sorrows and allowing myself to be connected to that.

47 praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Just think of what the world would think of a community like this! When a community is focused on the mission and they are committed to the practice – then the power of the Spirit is able to work in that community.

Thank You – that You have given us a taste of this community in this church. We have not arrived yet – we are not perfect – but there is real sharing and partnership –meeting needs – we have a ways to go – but help us to continue moving in that direction. In Your Name we pray, amen.