Acts 2:42-47

August 5, 2018

Lord’s Day Worship

Sean Higgins

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The sermon starts at 15:35 in the audio file.

Or, Attending to Gladness and Simplicity of Heart

God reveals many descriptions of what He wants His people to be, both in terms of individual believers as well as a Body of believers. We are a small local body made up of individual members, and the pastors are always considering the health of the body and how each part is working, whether properly or not (see Ephesians 4:12-16).

Another image used to describe us is that of a vine. There is a great book called The Trellis and the Vine, a book that highlights the biblical concept of God’s people as a living, growing organism. This contrasts with the structured, possibly static, organization. It is the church people who are alive; the church programs are not. And yet a growing, stretching, productive vine is benefited by a trellis.

The pastors still think in these terms/categories, even if we don’t refer to the book as much as we used to. Each summer we take multiple meetings to review our trellis for sake of examining the health of the vine and considering whether or not the current trellis is supporting the health of the vine as best as possible. We usually have explicit discussions with our small group leaders as well, for the sake of getting broader perspective/feedback as well as sharing responsibility.

The elders have been thinking, talking, planning, praying, and we’ll do even more over the next week as we make final preparations for our leaders retreat. In our discussions thus far, we’ve agreed that there are many reasons to give thanks for God’s grace among us and also that we can excel still more. On one hand we have high participation, and on the other hand, what percentage of the vine shouldn’t be expected to participate? Not every part of the body does the same job or gets used as much as other parts, but how many parts don’t need to do their part?

Together at Heart

The final paragraph in Acts 2 has often been seen as a paradigm for churches. I don’t have issues with that, acknowledging that some things will still look different between the newborn-church in Jerusalem and the almost two-thousand year-old expression in Marysville. But there are some descriptions that we should also want to describe us.

Acts 2:42-47

This is everyday life for “all who believed” (verse 44), many of whom had received Peter’s preaching to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (verses 38, 41). The rhythm of their schedules and the focus of their priorities was about being together. This togetherness included meetings and mindset.

Fellowship and breaking of bread happened in person, in an appointed location, at an agreed upon time. Selling their possessions and sharing with those in need required knowing the condition of those in need and bringing the money to them; they had relational proximity. They attended worship in the temple together, they ate in each other’s homes.

But they were also together at heart. Devoting themselves to the apostle’s doctrine provided corporate, not just individual, edification. Together they were in awe. They believed themselves to be together so much so that they helped to pay one another’s expenses. They rejoiced and prayed and praised as one.

They were together, with the same heart and often in the same place. This is only somewhat about attendance and much more about attentiveness. It has something to do with what you put on your calendar but a whole lot more to do with what you care about.

There is a word used twice in the paragraph that describes this commitment. In the ESV it’s the word devoted in verse 42 and the same word is translated as attending in verse 46. Both are not only from the same Greek word, both are in the same Greek form (προσκαρτεροῦντες, a pr[...]