A Devoted Church - Acts 2:42-47
We have started a new sermon series that will span over the next six weeks entitled "The Local Church: God's Plan for His People," we will be looking at what Scripture says about the local church. Both in our culture and with the church today, there is often confusion about what the church is and a temptation to minimize the significance of the church in the life of the Christian. Rather than seeking pragmatic answers or looking at the most recent trend, we want to ask, "What does God say about the church? What is God's plan for His church?"
Last week we answered the question, "What is the church?". We saw from Scripture that "The church is a group of baptized believers who meet regularly to worship God through Jesus Christ, to be exhorted from the Word of God, and to celebrate baptism and the Lord's Supper under the guidance of duly appointed leaders." -John Piper.
This week in our "The Local Church" sermon series, we looked at Acts 2:42-47, which shows us how the church was birthed in the New Testament and how the believers began to gather, worship, practice the sacraments, and be led by appointed leaders. We see in Acts 2 that the church is gospel–formed and Spirit-empowered. It is the Spirit through the gospel that births the church. The church is formed around the gospel and is continually made alive by the Spirit.
The Spirit empowers the believers to live out what Acts 2 records "They devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer."
What does it mean to be a Spirit-empowered church? It means to be devoted to God and one another not with momentary enthusiasm but with a continuing commitment to God and each other.
The church is not a service to attend but a family to belong to.
Resources:
Book - What is a Healthy Church? - Mark Dever
Reflection Questions:
What encouraged or challenged your view of the church in this message?
Would you consider yourself devoted to God and His people? If so, how? If not, how could you practically change that?