Revitalized/ Week 1

Intro - Revitalized: Coming Back to Life in Christ

Acts 2:42-ff January 30, 2022

I. Introduction:

A. On Tuesday, March 20th 2012 at 12:02 I was sitting in the room of a building on

large mountain in Oaxaca Mexico along with Chad Negly, Eric Bihl and Joel

Brassfield when the building began to move back and forth and the lights hanging

from the ceiling were strongly swaying back and forth. I remember it being so

strong I grab on to something to make sure I would not fall out of my seat.

1. We were just a bit over 100 miles away from the epicenter of a 7.4

earthquake that took place on the boarder of Oaxaca and Guerrier.

2. I remember a few hours later talking to Eric about it and I said “Wow, I

have never been in a building that swayed back and forth like that before!

3. Eric’s response woke me up to the size of what just happened. – “Pat, it

was not the building that was swaying back and forth it was the mountain that

was swaying back and forth and everything on the whole mountain!

4. I remember later seeing pictures from near the epicenter and the severe

damage that the earthquake caused.

B. January 20, 2020 a foreshock to a soon coming major cultural earthquake hit the

United States, when the CDC confirmed the first case of Covid-19 in the state of

Washington.

1. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Covid-

19 a pandemic.

2. At some point this cultural earthquake became a full blown 8.0 on the Richter

scale leaving an upheaval and many, many aftershocks that keep readjusting

our culture to new norms that we are all still trying to learn to navigate.

C. As we navigate these new days after this major cultural earthquake there are

some new norms that are not healthy which impact our lives, friendships,

families, communities and even our churches in a negative way!

1. As individuals people are feeling fatigued and foggy! It has impacted them

physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and relationally. Add to that

anger, anxiety, broken dreams, disappointment, and grief!

a) For some you it feels like you were 100 miles away from the epicenter

for others it feels like the epicenter happened in the center of your heart

or family!

2. As for our culture one negative impact we have seen from this major cultural

earthquake is what they are calling the great resignations. An economic trend

in which employees voluntarily resign from their jobs in mass, and it began

in early 2021.

3. As for the church it appears that the great resignation has reached all the way

into the church, not just MVC but churches all around the country are

reporting this!

a) Many have stopped attending services personally or getting involved in

or serving in ministries and even vital relationships that were life

transforming in small groups or other means have taken a hit.

(1) Some have legitimate or wise reasons for this but others have

gotten into the habit of the ease of doing church online and even

ministries by Zoom.

b) Even people who have come back to get involved in these are still

feeling isolated and disjointed from each other and the church at large.

More than one has told me that they are not re-engaging like they did

before Covid, either with ministries or people!

D. New norms and new habits about church have been formed that are hurtful to

individuals’ lives, families, and the communities around us who desperately need

the church to be the church.

1. All of that to say that the church is vital, as it is the body of Christ, God’s

ordained instrument through which the life of Christ comes to the world

around us in general but also to each one of us individually.

2. As a result of this cultural earthquake and its many aftershocks many

people’s lives, marriages, families and even the communities we are living in

are being hurt and in some cases falling apart without the strong healthy

godly influence of the church touching their lives.

E. So this morning we (I say we because this series is a joint effort between myself,

Pastor Mike Locke and Pastor Josh Weaver as we all feel the importance and

weight of this series at this time), we are going to begin a series we are calling

Revitalized: Coming Back to Life in Christ!

1. Purpose of the series – a call back to life, a reawakening, or a revival,

restoration back to abundant life that Jesus has for believers and being the

vital church, that God has supernaturally birthed by the Holy Spirit and

founded upon Jesus Christ!

2. So are going to look at Acts 2 as our foundational passage in this series.

a) The reason for that is that in order to become revitalized we are not

trying to discover new normal or new practices for our lives as Christians

or as the church but rather we must get back to the eternal kingdom

normal and practices we saw God built right into the DNA of the early

church.

b) Acts 2 is the northern point of the compass that can lead us through these

turbulent and confusing days that have knocked many of us personally

and as a church off course to get us back to the abundant life in Christ

and being the vital church that God has created for his glory and ours and

the world’s benefit!

c) Acts 2 is the normal when it comes to the Christian life and church!

• Turn in your Bibles to...

II. Acts 2:42

A. In this section we are going to see what naturally happened when the church was

born!

1. I say naturally because at this stage of the church these were not things that

they were so much taught they were supposed to do, but more so what sprung

out of them because of their new birth with the indwelling Spirit and the birth

of the church.

a) Just like a new born baby is not instructed to breathe or cry or move,

they just do it, so the church just did these!

B. As I read Acts 2:42 know this is what happened in the weeks and months that

followed right after the church was born

1. First, we will see in v42 what they devoted themselves to then in v43-47 we

will see what their life together looked like as the first church!

2. Read v42-43. Miracles were taking place through everyone… is that what it

says? No through the apostles

C. First let’s look at the things that they devoted their lives to. The things the built

their lives around, these are the things they poured their energy into, these are the

things they persisted in and refused to let other things or lesser things stop them

from doing them.

1. The apostles’ teachings – it is interesting to note that while the whole Bible,

all of God’s Word was important to them, they had a special devotion to the

teaching or the doctrine that came from the apostles!

a) For us that would be the New Testament about Jesus Christ, His birth,

life, death, burial, resurrection and the ascension and future return along

with what all those mean to us!

2. The (Greek) fellowship – fellowship is a much stronger word than just

hanging together but rather that they were partners of one another who shared

a common life and mission together, therefore they needed to spend a lot of

time together.

3. The breaking of the bread –I think this is specifically the celebrating of

communion together as it talks about the breaking of bread – this indicates a

very specific kind of breaking of bread.

a) I think if it was regarding just eating together, something they did do

often it would just saying they were breaking bread rather than the

breaking of break

b) Later in this passage I do not think they would separate them or feel to

the need to repeat them if they were the same thing!

4. The (Greek) prayers – again the definite article is used and it’s not just to

prayer but to the prayers.

a) That could refer to the fact that they had certain times each day they

prayed together, which we see in Acts or as some believe they had

certain content they prayed.

b) Either way, the point is that they prayed and they prayed a lot together

and not just by themselves

D. Now we will note the things that naturally happened in their life together as a

church as a result of devoting themselves to these four vital practices!

1. V44-47 gives us a picture of what that church looked like in practice on a

daily basis. The early church was not just a Sunday church but a daily

church!

2. Read

3. We see in here a community of people who built deep relationships with one

another and generously served each other’s needs with whatever resources

they had, they gathering together regularly, and they grew together as they

studied God’s Word, prayed, worshipped, and took communion together,

along with telling others about Jesus.

III. Conclusion

A. In the weeks to come we will be looking closer at all these important practices

and natural results that sprung forth in the early church that can help revitalize us

and the church as we return to the way life was designed to be in Christ!

This week – read, study and meditate over and over on Acts 2 and be radically honest

regarding how much your life and your church MVC matches up to DNA of the original

church.