- 6/2/2025
Please enjoy this message delivered by Pastor Mark Hudson.
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00:00So where we ended off last week in Acts chapter 2 was Peter had preached this amazing sermon
00:06just loaded with scripture and pointing us to the promise of God and the plan of God
00:12and the power of God at work in this world.
00:15And 3,000 people get saved on that day of Pentecost.
00:203,000 people are born again to the family, to the kingdom of God.
00:25So George Floresky was written in a book, Empire and Desert, Antonyms of Christian History.
00:33He writes,
00:34Christianity entered human history as a new social order or rather a new social dimension.
00:41From the very beginning, Christianity was not primarily a doctrine but exactly a community.
00:48There was not only a message to be proclaimed and delivered and good news to be declared
00:52but there was precisely a new community.
00:56Distinct and peculiar in the process of growth and formation to which members were called and recruited.
01:03This is called the church.
01:05What we're doing right now, we're gathering together and hearing God's word proclaimed.
01:11This was God's design to create the church.
01:14It is the body of Christ.
01:16It wasn't that some group of delegation of men sat down and said,
01:19Hey, how can we get all these people together and what should we do to them?
01:22Oh, I know, let's make them work.
01:24Let's make them come together on Sunday mornings really super early when they want to sleep in.
01:29Let's do that.
01:30No, it was not man's idea.
01:32This was God's idea.
01:34He designed the church.
01:35So 3,000 people get saved on Pentecost and they knew something marvelous had happened to them.
01:42They knew it.
01:43They knew they had been born again.
01:45They can't explain everything that's going on inside of them because now they have these new desires.
01:50They never had these desires before.
01:53They're really intense.
01:55They want to know God.
01:56They want to know more about this Jesus whom they believed on for salvation.
02:02They want to know.
02:03They were seeing God in a brand new way and they had a desire to know him in a deeper way.
02:10They want to know his works and his plan for them and the world.
02:13And this was unlike any desire that they'd ever had in the past.
02:18But the question that they may have been asking themselves, these 3,000, is what now?
02:24What follows now?
02:25What are we supposed to do now that we've come to a saving knowledge of Jesus?
02:29That's where Acts chapter 2 opens up and shows us exactly what God designed to help them
02:35to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
02:39We are not in this as individuals.
02:43We are in it as a community, as a family.
02:47It's not about individualism.
02:49It's about community, about a family.
02:52It's about being part of something bigger than ourselves.
02:56So these new believers were added to the church.
02:59And Luke then describes the essentials, the essential elements of what it means to be part of a church.
03:06What is a church supposed to do?
03:08What is a church supposed to do?
03:10Look with me in verse 42.
03:13Verse 42, chapter 2.
03:15Acts chapter 2, verse number 42.
03:18So open up your Bible, turn on your biblical device, whatever the case may be.
03:22Turn on Acts chapter 2, verse 42.
03:25Just a couple of verses.
03:27After the 3,000 were saved in 41, and they devoted themselves, they, the believers,
03:32devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
03:40And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
03:47They were devoted.
03:49They were devoted.
03:50The believers devoted themselves.
03:53That means they paid attention to, they were persistent in, to four practices that are mentioned here in this verse.
04:00There's a fifth one.
04:01It's not mentioned.
04:02It's mentioned actually a little bit early.
04:03We'll talk about that in a second.
04:04But four things what the church is supposed to be about.
04:07What is the church supposed to do?
04:08When we gather together every Sunday, what are we supposed to do in this service?
04:15Four particular practices.
04:17The first one you notice is that they were devoted.
04:20They were devoted to the apostles' teaching.
04:23They were persistent in it.
04:24They paid attention to.
04:26Remember the apostles?
04:27Those are the ones who walked with Jesus when he was on the earth.
04:31Those are the ones who were with him from the baptism of John all the way to witnesses of the resurrection.
04:37And they heard him.
04:38They saw how he interacted with people.
04:40And they wanted to know, what do you know that you can tell us more about Jesus?
04:45So they were devoted to the apostles' teaching.
04:47Of course, they go back to the Old Testament as well, the apostles do.
04:50But they also talk about new things.
04:53The Spirit keeps reminding them stuff that Jesus did and said.
04:56And they keep telling the believers, this is what Jesus said and this is what Jesus did.
05:02John 14 talks about this.
05:04Jesus promised them after he would left, after he left, he's going to send the Holy Spirit.
05:08But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
05:17So these apostles are remembering all of these things that Jesus has said and he has taught them.
05:22And the believers are gathering together and say, tell me more.
05:24I want to know more.
05:27How does this work out in the Old Testament?
05:29Did this point to the Messiah in the Old Testament?
05:31What about now?
05:32What did he do in this circumstance here?
05:34What did he say about this?
05:35They wanted to know.
05:36They craved it.
05:38The believers craved the word of God.
05:41They wanted to hear the teaching.
05:43It wasn't something they said, oh yeah, I got to listen to that preacher talk for 30 minutes.
05:46No, they actually craved the word of God.
05:50So they devoted themselves to be taught by the apostles.
05:54They had the same idea like a child that looks for nourishment from its mother.
05:59That's what Peter talked about in 1 Peter 2, verse 2.
06:02He said, like newborn infants long for the pure spiritual milk that by it you may grow up into salvation.
06:11That's what they're doing.
06:12They want to know.
06:13They crave God's word.
06:16Remember when you first got saved?
06:19I can imagine.
06:20You craved the word of God.
06:23I mean, you realize something happened inside of you and you have new desires that you never recognized before.
06:29One of those new desires is you just want to know what God has said.
06:33You want to know who God is and what God has planned and what God's will is for our lives.
06:37You just want to know.
06:39So you're in the word of God.
06:40I know a believer, I heard him say often, he says, when I got saved, there's two things that I desired above all.
06:48And that was to read the word of God.
06:50And he told me he finished the Bible in one month after getting saved.
06:55Second thing is, every time the church doors open, he wanted to be around God's people.
06:59He just wanted to be around God's people.
07:01He said, this is where I'm going to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ is to be around God's people.
07:05So he craved the word of God and he wanted to be around God's people.
07:09They craved it.
07:12You remember, you did too.
07:14We did at the beginning.
07:15We craved it.
07:16God had graciously saved us and we wanted to know more about him.
07:20Wanted to know, what do you want for my life?
07:22What is he doing in this world?
07:24So we immersed ourselves in the word of God.
07:27We just couldn't get enough of it.
07:28Remember?
07:28And then, time goes on.
07:34Life happens.
07:36And Satan jumps into the equation and tries to convince us, ah, you know, once or twice a week is enough.
07:43You don't want to be a Jesus freak, do you?
07:45I mean, read your Bible every day.
07:47You know how those kind of people are.
07:48So Satan comes along and says, you don't need to crave the word of God any longer.
07:53It's not really that important to read the word of God daily.
07:59It's just not that important anymore.
08:01Satan, the liar, the enemy of our souls wants to convince us that we shouldn't commune with God.
08:06We shouldn't listen to his voice.
08:07We shouldn't follow his instructions.
08:09It's just not that important is what Satan says.
08:13I ran across a video from at Real Fletch 17 and I want to have full disclosure in this.
08:18I can see myself in this video too.
08:23I ran across a video from at Real Fletch 17 and I want to have full disclosure in this video.
08:53You remember that?
08:59We just crave the word of God.
09:02I mean, obviously that's parody.
09:03You don't ride a bicycle reading the Bible.
09:05That's very dangerous.
09:06I get it.
09:07I get it.
09:08But somehow things just begin taking the place of what we craved and desired at the beginning.
09:14You know, that's why I said I can see myself in that video too.
09:17So today, if it's necessary, let us recommit ourselves to reading God's word daily.
09:24In fact, there's a Bible reading plan on the back.
09:26If you'd like a Bible reading plan and you'd like to have something to follow along, let's commit ourselves to do that.
09:32Because I believe that when we're committed to the word of God, God will bless us.
09:35And we will be spiritually successful when we're committed to the word of God.
09:40So if the apostles are going to teach, that was the first thing, devoted to the apostles.
09:44They wanted, they craved God's word.
09:45The next thing is if the apostles are going to teach them, that implies that they had to gather together.
09:51There's no podcasts.
09:53There's no internet.
09:54There's no telephone.
09:57There's no television.
09:59It required that they gather together so they could hear the apostles teaching.
10:03So that's it.
10:04The second thing is they were devoted to the fellowship.
10:08Now, it's not to fellowship, but to the fellowship.
10:13When you say the fellowship, that makes it a noun.
10:15That makes it a thing, an object.
10:18The fellowship.
10:19Whereas in fellowship is seen as a verb.
10:21Fellowshipping, we see it as a verb.
10:23It's not, it's actually a group, a community of people, the fellowship, who have been born again,
10:31raised out of the dregs of humanity, and set upon a solid foundation of Jesus Christ,
10:37who are gathering together to share the life of Christ that they have with each other.
10:43That's a big word for the word fellowship.
10:45It doesn't mean just eating together.
10:46We can do that while we're eating together, but it doesn't mean eating together.
10:51It means more than that.
10:52Devoted to the fellowship.
10:55It means sharing together the life we've been given in Christ.
11:00So this is only used one time in Acts here.
11:04Often in Paul's letters, he uses the word over and over again.
11:06In fact, it's translated in other places in the Bible as contribution, participation, part, partnership, share, and sharing.
11:17Same word fellowship, koinonia is a Greek word.
11:19It just is translated variously depending on the context.
11:23But it has the idea of partnership, sharing together our lives that we have in Christ with each other.
11:30You know how it is when you're together with a believer and the believer says something and all of a sudden it's a great encouragement to you?
11:36They're sharing their life with you that they have in Christ and it encourages us and strengthens us to go on.
11:43True fellowship requires more than just meeting together on Sundays.
11:57It's more than just one time.
11:59I can't share my life with you.
12:00If I only see you one time for an hour on Sundays, I have to see you more.
12:04I have to interact with you more.
12:05We have to get together more often, sharing our life together.
12:08It can't happen just on one day.
12:10It has to be greater than that.
12:13There's places that we can connect either in the building or outside.
12:17I know Mike Nettleton is in the first service.
12:19Some of the things that he does with the guys is he builds boats.
12:22And some of the men in the church have gone over and helped him build boats.
12:25And while they're helping him build boats, what are they doing?
12:27They're fellowship.
12:28They're sharing their life together.
12:31So it's not just happening here in the church.
12:33It happens from house to house.
12:34It happens in the community.
12:35But we get together and we share what Christ has given us with each other.
12:41And part of the fellowship was breaking of bread and prayers.
12:44So some say that that's part of the fellowship is breaking of bread and prayers.
12:48That describes the fellowship.
12:49Okay, I can see that.
12:51But there are two specific elements of the fellowship.
12:54Two specific elements of the church as well.
12:56Breaking of bread and prayer.
12:58So they were devoted, paid attention to, were actively involved in breaking of bread.
13:06It has been said that religion was loose from specifically sacred places and centered in that universal place of living, the home.
13:15Remember, they didn't have church buildings in those days.
13:18They didn't go, oh man, look at that.
13:20Number one, we're going to put 3,000 people.
13:22Oh, we've got to make a church.
13:23No, they met in homes, different homes throughout the city.
13:28They moved it from a sacred place of the temple to the family place in the home is where the church was meeting.
13:35They would share a common meal together.
13:37It was called the agape feast or the love feast.
13:40And then often they would then break bread.
13:42They would then take the Lord's Supper, which we're going to do later, together as well.
13:46Acts 20 is an example of this.
13:49On the first day of the week when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day and prolonged his speech until midnight.
13:58He preached longer than I do.
13:59It was a long time.
14:00In fact, someone fell out of the window.
14:02He preached along.
14:03So, but it's the idea.
14:05They gathered together and they broke bread.
14:06They shared a meal together.
14:09They shared a meal together.
14:10And then often they would share the Lord's Supper together.
14:13They would get together.
14:14Acts 11 is, I mean, excuse me, 1 Corinthians 11 is another example of us coming together to share this meal together.
14:21So, fourthly, they were devoted to the prayers.
14:24It doesn't say prayer.
14:25It says the prayers.
14:27Notice that?
14:28And while the temple was standing, they're still Jews.
14:30They're still Jewish people.
14:31So, they would participate in the regular prayer times of the Jews three times a day.
14:36The prayers.
14:36In fact, we're going to see that when we get to chapter 3.
14:40Exactly that.
14:41They were going in to pray during the time of prayer.
14:44So, it could be these regular Jewish times.
14:46Or it could be when they gathered together in the homes.
14:48They were praying together in the homes.
14:50Lord, what is your will for us?
14:52What do you desire for us to do?
14:54Teach us more things.
14:55Let us be led by your spirit.
14:57All of these things.
14:59So, William McGill said the value of persistent prayer is not that he will hear us,
15:05but that we will finally hear him.
15:07Sometimes we just yap a lot in prayer.
15:11We don't listen a lot to what God is trying to say to us, but we'll hear him.
15:16Or John Barry said,
15:17In Acts, prayer indicates dependence on God, hope in the future, and desire for the advancement of God's work.
15:24They participate in the prayers, both in the temple and then locally together as they gathered in the homes and prayed with each other.
15:30They shared prayer together in their worship services.
15:34General William Booth from the Salvation Army said,
15:37Work as if everything depended on your work and pray as if everything depended on your prayer.
15:44They prayed, God, put us into action.
15:46Use us to tell other people about Jesus.
15:49That's why they went to the temple.
15:50We're going to see that shortly.
15:51They're going to go to the temple and evangelize.
15:53So the new believers, they had this desire to be with the people of God so that they could be trained.
16:00It's not just some man-made event, the church.
16:03It's there for a divine purpose.
16:07Yeah, remember?
16:09We enjoyed being around the people of God when we got saved.
16:12It says an awe fell on all of them.
16:14Awe.
16:15It's the same word as translated fear in other places in the New Testament.
16:18It's usually translated fear in other places in the New Testament, but it's an awe.
16:23It's something that amazes us so much that it has a tinge of, oh, that's frightening.
16:29It's just so amazing.
16:31It's awe.
16:33It's just awe.
16:34And actually, in Luke 5, 26, it hasn't concerned this event, but it's the same idea.
16:41Same word.
16:42And amazement sees them all, and they glorify God, and we're filled with awe.
16:47Exact same word here.
16:49Saying, we have seen extraordinary things today.
16:52And that's what they're saying.
16:53We have seen God do.
16:54Listen, when the wind, when the sound of this wind comes in, that's like a tornado, and tongues of fire lands on each other's head,
17:01and they go out and start speaking in different languages that they've never learned before,
17:06and the people are going, these guys are drunk.
17:08Extraordinary things are happening.
17:09They're in awe of what's going on.
17:13And signs and wonders were done by the apostles.
17:16It doesn't say that anyone else were doing signs and wonders.
17:18It says the apostles were doing signs and wonders.
17:22The apostles.
17:23There's one other essential element other than these four in a church that's not listed here,
17:28but it was listed in verse 41.
17:30We saw it last week.
17:32And that's baptism.
17:34Verse 41 says,
17:35So those who received his word were baptized.
17:37That's Matthew 28.
17:39He told us to baptize all of those who come to faith.
17:41And there were added that day about 3,000 souls for baptism.
17:46It's another element of what a church is all about.
17:49So these believers were fully committed to the Lord, devoted to the apostles' teaching, devoted to the fellowship,
17:54devoted to the breaking of the bread, and devoted to the prayers,
17:57and devoting, baptizing all who come to faith.
18:01As a matter of fact, we're having a baptism next week.
18:03Have you come to faith and have never been baptized since coming to faith?
18:07You say, I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, but I've never been baptized.
18:10I've never publicly identified with him.
18:12There's a sign-up sheet right over there.
18:14Sign up, and we'll get you.
18:15It's the first service next week, so you have to come a little bit earlier.
18:19It works, but we'll get you baptized.
18:22So sign up over there.
18:23Talk with me this out the week.
18:24So, okay, moving on.
18:26The unity of the people of God was expressed in this phrase, they were together.
18:32Look at verses 44 and 45.
18:36And all who believed were together.
18:39That speaks of unity.
18:40And had all things in common.
18:43And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need.
18:52So they're distributing now.
18:53Remember, fellowship is sharing.
18:56They had something.
18:57Somebody lacked something.
18:58They're sharing what they have.
18:59That's fellowship.
19:01They were together.
19:02A strong emphasis on their unity.
19:05They were together.
19:07They were united.
19:07It wasn't that they were all thinking exactly the same thing.
19:10They were growing, but they were all central on the one important thing, and that is Jesus Christ and what he has done.
19:16His promises.
19:18William MacDonald wrote,
19:19Among those who believe was manifested a unity of heart and interest in which the natural selfishness of the fallen condition was swallowed up in the fullness of a love which the sense of the divine love had begotten.
19:33They said, God loves us.
19:35We love other people.
19:37They have a need.
19:38I have a surplus.
19:39I have something I can sell, a piece of property, something that belongs to me because they have a need.
19:44They have a need.
19:46And it was a practice.
19:47It's written in a form where they did it in the past, and they continued to do it.
19:51It wasn't just like a one-time event.
19:52It was continuing.
19:54It's an imperfect verb.
19:56They continued doing it.
19:57It was something that they practiced.
20:00It is possible that many who got saved, remember they were at Pentecost, one of those Jewish feasts that everyone's supposed to travel to Jerusalem, if you're a Jew, to participate in.
20:09It's likely they got saved, and they hadn't gone back home yet.
20:12So all of the resources that they had, they have used up now because they only planned to spend a certain amount of time in Jerusalem.
20:20Now they don't have any more resources.
20:22So they had a need.
20:23So people go, hey, I have a piece of property.
20:24I've got something that belongs to me.
20:26I can go ahead and sell it and give it to them because there was a need.
20:30Now, what we have to understand is this is not communism.
20:34This is not communism.
20:36Communism means that the state owns everything, and there is no private property.
20:41That's not what this is.
20:42This is not communism.
20:44It's not communism.
20:46John Carlson actually wrote it well.
20:48He said, college professors in the 60s and 70s who used this verse to say that the early church was communist missed the marks completely.
20:57Ah, that was a good one.
20:58I like that.
20:59That was a good one.
20:59I like that, actually.
21:01The early believers were not communists.
21:03They were communists.
21:06And there's a big difference.
21:08Communism says what's yours is mine.
21:10Commonism says what's mine is yours.
21:13I have it.
21:15You need it.
21:16I love you.
21:17The love that's been poured out into their heart they're sharing with each other.
21:20I have.
21:20You need it.
21:22It was their property.
21:24It didn't belong to the apostles.
21:25The apostles didn't tell them to do it.
21:27It's something that they voluntarily did.
21:29Their own private property.
21:30They said, I see a need.
21:31I have surplus.
21:33Let's meet that need.
21:35They could use the money to help another brother or sister that's in need.
21:38Actually, even John talks about this in 1 John.
21:41But if anyone has the world's good and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against them, how does God's love abide in him?
21:49Well, the love had been poured out in their hearts and they're loving on each other by selling their items, their private property, their goods, their possessions, their real estate,
21:56so they could help somebody out that was in need.
22:00It's been said a real Christian could not bear to have too much when others have too little.
22:07It was voluntary.
22:08Again, it wasn't forced.
22:11The selling and giving to those in needs was voluntary, temporary, and motivated by love.
22:18It's motivated by love.
22:19Some think that they sold their goods to distribute to the poor because the kingdom of God was coming quickly, so why would you need it in the kingdom of God?
22:29That's possible.
22:29It's possible.
22:30But it seems that this practice ceased later on, especially once the seven get selected to be servants of the church.
22:37It seems that this practice kind of diminishes and it doesn't continue on any longer.
22:42It was short-lived.
22:44So the money that was collected, the money that was sold and given, the money was not distributed evenly.
22:50Like, here's five for you and five for you and five for you and five for you.
22:53No, it was you.
22:54You have a need.
22:55You get the money.
22:56So it wasn't distributed evenly.
22:57It was distributed to those who had the need.
23:02Then what's interesting here is that the church was not content to meet one day a week.
23:08They were not content to meet one day a week.
23:11Look at 46 and 47.
23:14And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes,
23:21they received their food with gladness and generous hearts,
23:25praising God and having favor with all the people.
23:27And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
23:34So you notice the two things that they did together?
23:36They spent time in the temple and they spent time in each other's homes.
23:40So in the temple and in the homes eating together.
23:44They were attending to the temple.
23:47It's the same word used as devoted.
23:48So they were attending to the temple.
23:50They were devoted to, they were persistently consistent in attending the temple.
23:55It was important.
23:56It was part of their Jewish background.
23:57That's who they were as Jews.
23:59And then while the temple was still standing, they still participate.
24:01Not in the sacrifices, because the one great sacrifice had already been given.
24:05But times of prayer and evangelism, they were part of that.
24:11The early church was a called out, gathered together assembly.
24:16They were in harmony with one another.
24:18This word together expresses unity of purpose.
24:21One heart and one soul is the idea.
24:24In Acts 4, it's repeated again.
24:26Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul.
24:30And no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own.
24:33But they had everything in common.
24:36Commonism.
24:38Commonism.
24:39They shared.
24:40When we see a brother or sister that's in need, and we have means to do it, the ideas that we share with them.
24:46That's part of what the church is.
24:47It's not just gathering together on a Sunday.
24:49It's sharing our lives together.
24:53And the Holy Spirit lies at the heart of the believer's lives together.
24:58He unites us to Christ, and he unites us to one another.
25:02Not only are you in Christ as a believer, but you're placed into his body, which is the church.
25:08That which he has designed so you can grow up in your faith.
25:12You can grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
25:15So the church is there for your, for the growth of the body.
25:20It's the Holy Spirit.
25:22So in the temple, they were witnessing.
25:23They were doing evangelism.
25:25They were praying at the Jewish prayer times.
25:28The temple was a place of worship and evangelism for them.
25:32They would go there and worship, but they also would evangelize in Solomon's portico.
25:35They were there in the colonnade section.
25:37Then they would go to homes or a place of fellowship and worship in the homes.
25:42So did you notice, though, it said they met once a month?
25:46No, they met once a week.
25:48No, it says day by day.
25:51They weren't content with just meeting one day together.
25:53They met day by day together.
25:57They would share a common meal.
25:58It's normally called a love feast or an agape feast.
26:01Then they would break bread.
26:02They would do the Lord's Supper together.
26:04They would share that together to remember the sacrifice of cross.
26:07Of Christ.
26:08And they were expressing their joy by praising God.
26:12Stanley Toussaint wrote,
26:13One of the sub-themes of Acts is joy.
26:16Because a victorious church is a joyful one.
26:19So they were full of joy praising God.
26:22And God gave them favor with all the people.
26:25Just like their master.
26:27Remember when Jesus was growing up in Luke chapter 2?
26:30Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
26:35God gave them favor to the Jewish people.
26:38Now, that favor was short-lived.
26:41It was short-lived.
26:42It was momentary.
26:43Because soon the Jews are going to start persecuting the church.
26:47Acts chapter 7.
26:48We see a murder that takes place in Acts chapter 7.
26:51So it's short-lived.
26:52But right now, God's given them favor.
26:54They can witness and no one's persecuting them at this point.
27:00So God blessed the young church by adding souls day by day.
27:04Those who were being saved.
27:05They don't save themselves.
27:07God is acting upon them and saving them.
27:10It's a passive verb.
27:11God is saving them.
27:12They're not doing it themselves.
27:13God's saving them.
27:15God is responsible for building his church.
27:18We proclaim the person and work of Jesus Christ.
27:20God is the one who saves.
27:23When we go out to tell people about Jesus, it is God who saves them.
27:27It is God who calls them.
27:28It is God who opens up their understanding.
27:30It's God who saves them.
27:31We just tell them what we know as witnesses.
27:33Hey, this is what we know.
27:35And God saves them.
27:36It takes the burden off of us thinking,
27:38Oh, I've got to lead this person to the Lord.
27:40And if I don't, I'm a failure.
27:41No.
27:41Just tell them what you know about Jesus.
27:44God will save them.
27:45That's his job.
27:46We witness faithfully.
27:48God builds his church.
27:49Now, there's another essential element to what a church is all about.
27:53We don't get to that until, I think, chapter 5.
27:56And that's actually church discipline.
27:57And we'll get to that when it comes to it.
27:59But that's also an element of the church.
28:02These are the priorities that we see here in 42 through 47.
28:05The priorities of the new believers.
28:07They said, what now?
28:09This is what they were doing now.
28:11And this is the ideal for the church.
28:15Medical Lake Community Church is a perfectly imperfect church.
28:19We have not hit the ideal.
28:20We're still striving for it, though.
28:23Just because we haven't hit the ideal doesn't mean that we're not striving for it.
28:26We're still striving for the ideal.
28:27We're still trying to meet everything that God has intended for people when they gather together.
28:33It's not perfect.
28:35But we're trying.
28:37We're striving to do all the things that God has asked us to do.
28:40There's a man named Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was alive during World War II, part of the underground seminary, believer, arrested by Hitler, and murdered just prior to the liberation of Germany in May.
28:55He died right a couple of weeks before the war ended in May.
29:00He wrote in his book, The Cost of Discipleship.
29:03He said, having reached the end of the Beatitudes, we naturally ask if there's any place on this earth for the community which they describe.
29:13Clearly, there is one place, and only one.
29:16And that is where the poorest, meekest, and most sorely tried of all men is to be found, on the cross of Golgotha.
29:24The community which is the subject of the Beatitudes is the community of the crucified.
29:31With him, it is lost all, and with him, it is found all.
29:36With him, it is lost all, and with him, it is found all.
29:42The community of the crucified.
29:47Let's pray.
29:48Father, thank you.
29:49Thank you for showing us exactly your design of what you intended your church to be.
29:54Not some man-made institution.
29:57Not something that somebody devised and sat around.
29:59But no, you designed it this way so that we can grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
30:04And do it in community.
30:06Not as individuals.
30:08But together we grow together.
30:10Together we share our life that you gave us.
30:12Together.
30:13Together we encourage one another.
30:15Together we love one another.
30:16Together we support one another.
30:18Father, you've designed the church in a very beautiful way.
30:22And even though we're not perfect, we're a perfectly imperfect church,
30:25we're striving to be all that you intend us to be.
30:28So please, by your spirit, guide us in areas where we're failing to meet this ideal.
30:33And strengthen us in the areas where we are meeting this, that we can even do it better.
30:38Father, we want to glorify you.
30:39The church is your idea, not ours.
30:41And we want to make sure that we're the kind of church that you intended us to be.
30:46We thank you.
30:47We are the community of the crucified.
30:50We pray in Jesus' name.
30:52Amen.
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