A Healthy Church Acts 2
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I would like to ask you two questions this morning. The first one is “what is worship?” or should I say, “what is true worship?” What does it mean to worship God. The Second question builds off this first questions because without a proper understanding of the first you will not have a proper understanding of the second. The second question is “What makes a church healthy?”
Well this morning we will learn the meaning of worship and as we learn the meaning of worship we will see how true worship effects the church. As we learn about worship we will see it involves at four key elements which also make for a healthy church. We want to examine these through God’s word. We will find this truth in our study of Acts this morning. We will be pausing on one verse today and breaking down the four elements in this verse.
Let’s go ahead and open to Acts 2 and we will actually read verses 37-42 but our focus will be on verse 42.
Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”
Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
“For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!”
So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.
They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Peter has just finished with his sermon that points to the coming of the Holy Spirit who has just indwelt the 120 disciples which includes the 12 apostles. Once Peter finishes with the sermon we find the guilt of the people and their involvement in Jesus’ crucifixion. God convicts those there and God moves them to repent and God called the people to Himself. We find in verse 40, three thousand souls were added to the Kingdom of God that day. The church had in one fell swoop gone from 120 to 3120. Now in verse 42 we find “they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” These are the four elements of the church, these are elements which any healthy church should have. Now we need to take these four elements and we really do need to break them down and take a better look at what these elements entail.
So let’s take a look at the four essential elements for a healthy church.
Four Essential Elements of Worship in a Healthy Church
Four Essential Elements of Worship in a Healthy Church
Worship is Dedicated Lives
Worship is Dedicated Lives
Luke tells us they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching. We need to understand what has just transpired here. The people Peter was giving his sermon to were Jews, Israelites who had a very specific law and culture. They have also been awaiting God’s Messiah. God’s Chosen King who was to come and deliver the nation out of oppression from under Roman rule. These people were not illiterate and they weren’t stupid. In fact they were raised from the time they were children memorizing the Hebrew Scripture and they knew about God’s plans and what He had done. In fact God had set up feasts and festivals for the purpose of having object lesson for the nation to be reminded of what God has done and how He has delivered them from Egypt and brought them into the promised land. The psalms that we have today were actually set to rhythm and they were and are able to be sung. The people knew how to worship and serve their God and they believed God would deliver them from the Roman oppression.
The problem is they were to focused on the here and now. The temporal not the eternal. Peter’s sermon put things into perspective and now their focus is on how to live in the temporal in light of the eternal. There is more to this life then just living for rules and these people have heard a message about God’s chosen King and how they are guilty of putting their Chosen King on a cross and how they are culpable for His death and now that they have been called by God to be Delivered from sin and so since they have heard truth from Peter now they continue to listen to Peter and follow after Peter and the other apostles teaching.
These people were now bound together with one common bond and that bond is Jesus Christ and the fulfillment of God’s plan so they have devoted themselves to worship God. Worship true worship involves every part of the person worshipping and it is always pointed toward the object being worshipped. True worship in the church is always pointed to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Look at this definition of worship:
Perspectives on Christian Worship What Worship is (and is Not)
worship is declaring—with our lips and lives—that God is more important than anything else to us, that He is our deepest desire, that His inherent worth is beyond everything else we hold dear
This is true in the church and this is true within our personal lives. True worship within the church is much, much more then just singing songs. The singing of songs is an outworking of everything of our deepest desire to attribute to God the worth He is do. The thing is as we see in this verse there is more to true worship then just singing. The first element these people devoted themselves to, the first element that is necessary for true worship is, Doctrinal Priority
The first Element: Doctrinal Priority
The first Element: Doctrinal Priority
There is now a commonality between these people. As we looked at Peter’s sermon, Peter addressed the crowd three times. He addressed them as Men of Judea and then Men of Israel and lastly Brethren. The Israelites saw themselves as covenant people, they are the descendants of Abraham and they identify with the Abrahamic promise through circumcision. Now they are more then just Israelites bound by this promise and heritage but more then that they are now bound by the blood of Jesus Christ. They now have more in common then they ever thought possible. Because of this they now devote themselves to the teaching of the apostles. It is doctrinal priority. Well if these people already knew the Hebrew Scripture and if they weren’t Biblically illiterate then what would be the apostles teaching.
I know what your thinking, ‘well they taught the new testament’ they didn’t have the New Testament. The New Testament won’t be written for at least another 15 to 20 years so what is the apostles teaching here. It was Jesus’ teaching and a thorough explanation of the Hebrew Scriptures. They were teaching with authority and with true conviction and they weren’t just spouting their opinion. Remember the apostles spent 3 1/2 years with Jesus and in those 3 1/2 years they learned a lot. One important lesson they learned was how to explain the meaning of the Hebrew Scriptures. Matthew 5-7 is the record of the sermon on the mount and during this sermon Jesus would say, you have heard it said, proceed to quote a commandment and then explain it in such a way they have never heard before.
Just to point one out so you understand what Jesus was doing lets look at Matthew 5:21-26
“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’
“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.
“Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,
leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
“Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.
“Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.
Jesus through this exposition, this explanation of the 6th commandment is something the people have never heard before because the explanation was not adding rules on to what God has already commanded but getting to the heart of the commandment and the heart of the person. The apostles heard this and spent time with Him and now being indwelt by the Holy Spirit they are teaching in the same way and with the same kind of power.
They are not just make up rules to live by but explaining the rules God has already provided. What they are doing is holding fast to the truth of God’s word. What is funny is they really aren’t adding to it just explaining it. That is really what our new testament is, it is the explanation of God’s truth and the fulfillment of God eternal plan of glorifying Himself and the greatest act of His glorifying Himself was the redemption of mankind the salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ.
Take for example grace, people like to think grace, God’s unmerited favor on mankind is a new testament concept. That is inaccurate. It is fulfilled in Jesus Christ but God has always been gracious and merciful. Look at what the Psalmist says in Psalm 30:1-5
God’s Grace realized in the Old Testament
I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O Lord my God, I cried to You for help, and You healed me.
O Lord, You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You have kept me alive, that I would not go down to the pit.
Sing praise to the Lord, you His godly ones, And give thanks to His holy name.
For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.
So grace is an attribute of God that was realized in the Hebrew Scriptures and it is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Paul in instructing his protege Timothy tells him this in 2 Timothy 1:8-11
Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,
who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,
but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher.
The church in its foundation here in Acts 2 is to be the barer of and the guardian of truth. Jesus is the Cornerstone and the apostle’s teaching is the foundation.
Paul tells Timothy in his first letter to him this about the church being a pillar;
For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long;
but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.
By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.
Understand the church is here to teach the truth not to spouse some ridiculous opinion or to just push some agenda it is to safeguard God’s truth. The way the church safeguards the truth is by accurately dividing the Word of Truth. Which Paul also told Timothy to do. It is the number one essential element in worship and in having a healthy church. People do not know how and why they should be worshipping God if they don’t know God and people can’t know God if they are not in His Word and being taught His word correctly. The first century church, the first church devoted herself to the teaching of the apostles who taught God’s word.
Look with me at what Paul teaches the Ephesian church which will lead us right into the second essential element in a healthy church,
Second Element: Common Connection
Second Element: Common Connection
Paul says this in Ephesians 2:19-22
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,
having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,
in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,
in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
Do you see this Paul is talking to Gentiles, that is why he calls them strangers and aliens. They were never seen by the Israelites as being a part of the covenant people of God. They weren’t viewed as being a part of the promises God had given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, even though that was God’s intention all along. Now they are no longer strangers and aliens they are now “fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household.” This is a big deal. And Paul qualifies it more as he continues in verse 20 “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone.” See that Jesus is the Cornerstone which is what holds the foundation together.
When you lay a foundation whether it was in ancient Israel or even in modern day America the corner is the most important part and the Cornerstone is the most important part of the building. The cornerstone is where everything starts from. It provides the stability and the measurement for the rest of the building. In order to make sure the building is square you start from one fixed corner then you can make sure all the other corners are in the right place. That is also were you will begin to find the plumb of the wall, making sure the wall goes straight up. If the cornerstone is not plumb the wall will begin to go either in or out. This will weaken the foundation. The cornerstone is the absolute most important part of the foundation. Everything else goes off of the cornerstone so Jesus is the cornerstone and the teaching of the apostles and the prophets goes off of His teachings. Everything else is build on these truths.
When you follow these truths you have fellowship because you have the common bond which is what fellowship means having in common and for fellowship to truly be worship it must have the common bond of Jesus as the cornerstone and the teachings of the apostles and prophets as the foundation. Fellowship is not just having food, although it can involve having food. This right here is fellowship, we are gathered together for with a common bond of hearing God’s word. Singing together is fellowship, when we got together for the desserts it was fellowship, not the food being fellowship but the common bond of coming together as Christ Followers was fellowship. It doesn’t revolve around food it revolves around the fact that God is the most important part of our lives and we hold Him dear.
John the apostle knew what it really means to have fellowship and he tells the church in his letter this;
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—
and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us—
what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
See this is true fellowship it also revolves around God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. So how can you have true fellowship if you don’t know Jesus and don’t know God. That is why doctrine is a priority, that is why teaching the truth, teaching what the Bible says is so important because the more you know about God and Jesus, the more you trust God and Jesus’ activity in the world and your life the more you can be bond together through the common bond of who they are and what they do. This means fellowship involves and is not limited to, signing songs directed at God and His works, building one another up, rebuking sin, doing ministry, eating with one another and prayer. These things are all fellowship but they are not fellowship if they are not directed to and for the purpose of glorifying God. This is what the church should be doing is being together as much as possible.
Churches as a whole have a tendency of coming together on Sunday morning and singing together getting a warm fuzzy message that teaches absolutely nothing and then they have some snacks and walk out of the church and take off their church faces and go to work in the secular world and act like the secular world all week long maybe go to a midweek but never do anything to spend time with people within the church. The church is only for Sunday mornings and midweeks. That is not true and that is not the purpose of the church or of fellowship. The purpose is to get together as much as possible. Call one another, text one another when their are issues, ask for help when needed and even when not needed. Doing what you can to be together as much as possible. These people devoted themselves to this and in America especially we have lost this sense of together because of our individualistic lifestyles, you know good fences make good neighbors. There shouldn’t be any fences within the church.
Fellowship leads so easily into the next essential element;
The Third Element: Gospel Remembered
The Third Element: Gospel Remembered
They were devoted to the apostles teaching, and to fellowship and to the breaking of bread. Now the breaking of bread some like to argue it was eating together they have meals together and I would agree. There is a sense of the breaking of bread being the church coming together for a common meal. During this common meal they would break bread which within this context means they were taking communion. This of course was corrupted and need to be fixed. Paul dealt with this in 1 Corinthians 11:20-27
Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper,
for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk.
What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you.
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;
and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
This is what the breaking of bread is it is a time of remembering who Jesus is and what Jesus has done and expressing our hope in what He will do. We should be reminded what Jesus has done daily and when we take communion it is for that purpose. There is sorrow in it but their is joy and hope in what is to come as well.
The last essential element is praying together
The Fourth Element: Praying Together
The Fourth Element: Praying Together
Jesus made it a point to teach His apostle’s how to pray. This is not to say the Israelites where not a praying community, they were. In fact they had specific times of prayer.
Specific times of prayer
Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer.
They had at least three specific times of prayer morning noon and night so they were a praying community. What has changed now they don’t just have these specific times of prayer they are to be devoted to prayer and pray often.
With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,
Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;
not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,
contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.
“And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus,
by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh,
and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;
and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,
not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
We need to be praying together it is essential for the growth of the church and the growth of the people in the church.
The are the four essentials of a healthy church in the four essentials the focus most be God if the focus is anything else it is not worship and these four elements are done in vain.