Moraine Valley Church

Let’s Get Real / Week 6 / Mike Locke

Revitalized / Week 9

Revitalized / Week 8

Revitalized / Week 7

Revitalized / Week 6

Revitalized / Week 5

Revitalized / Week 4

Eating with Glad and Simple Hearts

Acts 2:46 February 20, 2022

I. Introduction:

A. I will never forget being at a concert many years ago with a Christian brother who

was a handsome man and always dressed to the nines

1. It was before the concert started and the auditorium was filled with people

sitting and talking, when this friend of mine stood up and pulled out his cell

phone and began to pretend he was talking to someone on the phone.

2. I said, “What are you doing?” His response to me was “it is all about seeing

and being seen!”

3. I was stunned but over time as I got to know this brother better, he was a

person who spent a lot of time, thought and money on appearances. I knew

him well but most people had no idea who the real him was – they only knew

the person he wanted them to think he was!

B. Let me give you another scenario where you ask a brother or sister in Christ a

direct question and expecting a simple straightforward answer. Instead you get the

run around as they dance all around what your question was with no clear answer

1. When they were done, you had no idea as to where they really were at and

feel that they were not being genuine or honest with you!

C. When it came to the early church these were not the kind of Christians you

encountered. Rather than being complicated and confusing people they were

simple people in the sense that they were who they really were with no pretenses

nor were any masks to wear and they very straightforward and honest with each

other.

D. That is another norm that is essential for MVC to get back to if we are going to be

a church that is vital in this area and revitalizing to those who are touched by the

people of MVC – people who are who they are and say what it really going on in

their hearts and minds.

1. We learned last week that for MVC to be the church God called it to be we

need to be gathering together regularly both in larger and smaller contexts

around the things of Jesus.

2. But v46 gives us a big window into what their relationships were like when

they gathered together.

• See if you can catch it as I read

II. Acts 2:46

A. Read v46

1. Did you catch it? – They ate with gladness and sincerity of heart.

2. Today I want to focus upon the second part where they met and ate with

sincere hearts.

3. Other translations use these words – generous hearts or simplicity of heart.

B. So I went to seven different Greek dictionaries to find out just what this word

means since it is used only one time in the New Testament, right here in v46.

1. It comes from a Greek word that means without a stone, free from rocks and

used in the sense of it being smooth or even ground so that you do not stub

your foot on a rock!

2. Six of those seven resources say that it is indicating a simplicity of heart.

Two talk of a singleness of heart.

3. Thus bottom line when they end up applying this Acts 2:46 says it was:

a) A humble simple heart and life

b) A humbleness associated with a sincerity and simplicity of life

c) A sincerity of heart

d) A simple and plain heart!

C. I think we see two ideas here that are connected to each other.

1. First, they were a people who were not distracted and unavailable because of

busyness with multiple things. Rather they were focused people who had a

single heart of devotion to the teaching of the apostles, the fellowship with

each other, communion and prayer!

a) For some of us that may mean we need to purge things out of our lives,

whether that be commitments or things in order to be people who can

live their lives focused upon the things of Jesus!

2. Secondly, they were genuine, real, honest and transparent people who did not

try to hide anything or to be someone they really were not!

a) They showed their true feelings/thoughts and expressed them in a simple

and honest way! Even when they were not pretty or broken!

D. Brothers and sisters, that was the norm in the relationships in the early church and

only those kind of relationships can make a church vital and revitalizing! They

were focused on Jesus and being real with one another in both life and

conversations!

III. How are you doing in that regard?

A. First and foremost, are you honest with yourself, even with all your brokenness

and flaws and living out the authentic you?

1. Do “you do you” no matter what others think or are you like my friend who

loved to put on a show in front of others to present an image of himself he

wanted others to see?

2. Do you speak the truth in love when it comes to expressing who you are to

others and where you are at today when others ask or do you repeat the most

used lie by Christians – “I am fine” when you are really hurting and dying

inside!

B. Do you have other believers in your life you can be totally yourself with, and

where you can be radically honest with when it comes to the good, the bad and

the ugly of your life?

1. I remember a number of years ago an older Christian man here at MVC asked

me “How you doing?” and I was really struggling at the time so rather than

doing the typical “I am fine” line, I decided to tell him exactly what was

going on in my life!

2. This man was shaken, he had no idea what to say, was sorry he ever asked

and got out of there as fast as he could!

3. Some cannot handle the truth and there are others with whom it is unwise to

share the truth. Those are the self-appointed Christian critics. They are more

concerned with confronting errors than making connections where they can

speak the truth in love to pour grace and wisdom into others!

C. Brothers and sisters if we are going to be a vital church of Jesus Christ in this area

and revitalized believers, it is going to take this kind of radical straightforward

humble and simple honest living and conversations with each other.

1. I love what Paul said about the way he lived in 2 Corinthians 1:12-13a

a) The way he lived his life, the way he conducted himself was not dictated

by the wisdom of the world and what the world likes or approves, but

rather it was full of godly sincerity and the grace of God

b) What he wrote to them was exactly what he meant to say. You did not

have to read between the lines and there were no hidden motives. What

he wrote was straightforward and exactly what he meant

2. Ephesians 4:15 tells us that the church grows up into Christ likeness and

becomes stable when we speak the truth in love. Read Ephesians 4:15

a) I believe in light of the context it is talking about a perfect blending of

truth and love both from our preaching up front and in our up-close

relationships with each other.

b) It has been said that truth without love is brutality, but love without truth

is hypocrisy.

c) Romans 12:9 says “let love be without hypocrisy.” That means our love

has no masks on and it is a representation of the real you!

IV. Application

A. I can honestly and repeatedly say that the deepest transformation points in my life

came not just from hearing the truth spoken in a sermon. But when someone who

knew me well and what was really going on in my life spoke the truth to me in

love – whether it be an instruction, encouragement, warning or rebuke.

1. I have had all of them, I needed all of them and my life was changed by all of

them.

2. I am so grateful for the people in my life with whom I can be honest and who

are honest with me so that as iron sharpens iron we can sharpen each other!

B. So where do we go from here? I thought I would have a brother here share with

us how that has worked for him. Meet my good brother Gilbert who is going to

share with us about a group he is in that seeks to be radically honest and genuine

with each other about their lives and walk with Jesus

1. Describe the purpose and nature of this group

2. What does a typical meeting look like

3. How has this group personally impacted your life and walk with Jesus

4. What would someone here at MVC need to do to start a group like this

V. Final word

A. Four questions –

1. Are you living your Christian life authentically so that who you are is what

other people see and come to know?

2. Do you have believers in your life who know who you really are and what

you really struggle with?

3. Do you have other believers in your life who are speaking the truth in love to

each other?

4. Do you give grace to other believers at their points of brokenness and radical

honesty or do you run from or avoid them. Do you brutalize them with truth

without love or do you love them without truth so as to be of no real help to

them?

B. Finally, we are going to do something that is not normal in churches or even here

at MVC.

1. With everyone seated, if you are in a place today where you are hurting or

struggling and can really use some other Christians with whom you can be

radically honest and would love their prayers or for them to speak into your

life would you raise your hand.

2. Brothers and sisters around them who know what brokenness and struggle is

like – would you take note of those who have their hands raised and would

you take a few extra minutes this morning after we dismiss by going to them,

listening and praying or speaking as God leads you to.

C. Gilbert closes us in prayer.

Revitalized / Week 3

God Does Amazing Things When His People Gather

Passage February 13, 2022

I. Introduction:

A. God does amazing things when his people gather together!

1. Not just gathering together to hang out and eat or to watch the Super Bowl

together but when they come together to do the life and mission of Jesus

together!

2. As we said before, you can be an individual believer but you cannot be an

individual church.

B. The Greek word for church is ekklesia.

1. Vines Dictionary says it is made up of two words joined together

a) ek – out of klesia – a calling = to call out of

2. In its most basic use it was a Greek political term that was in use for

hundreds of years before the Christian era. It referred to “a gathering of

citizens called out from their homes into some public place; an assembly”

(Thayer)

3. louw-nida, another Greek word, the dictionary defines it this way: “an

assembly of persons constituted by well-defined membership” They go on

to say that in the New Testament it is an assembly of God’s people and may

be rendered as “a gathering of believers” He also say it implies they are

“interacting” with each other!

4. Bottom line when we come out from our normal routines and places of life,

gather together with, and interact together with other Christians around the

things of Jesus.

C. We learned last week that the church (we the believers, the church) is vital

because it is God’s chosen instrument to carry out His mission and to express the

life of Jesus in this world and to each other.

1. We also learned it is revitalizing because when we interact with other

believers whether it be of spiritual gifts or just the one another ministry of

Scripture it makes an impact upon us that revitalizes our spiritual lives.

D. We are going to learn this morning that gathering together regularly both in larger

and smaller contexts was a kingdom norm for the early church.

1. That is where we interact with each other and that is where amazing things of

God happen!

• Turn to Acts 2 where we see the birth of the church

II. Acts 2

A. We see at the start of Acts 2 that there were 120 people gathered together in one

place praying the thing that Acts 1:14 to which it says they were dedicated.

1. It was during that time of prayer when they were together that the church was

born as the Holy Spirit came to dwell within each one of them.

2. It was at that moment that the church of Jesus Christ was born and later that

day 3,000 souls were added to the church!

B. Then we see in Acts 2:42 -47 what the norm was for that newborn church, the

norm we are seeking to get back to after the cultural earthquake we have

experienced that has impacted our lives and church.

1. As I read Acts 2:42 note the four things they were devoted to, what they built

their lives around, what they persisted in. Read

C. Now we see in the verses that follow what that devotion to these four essential

norms looked like in real life

1. Read v44 – they were together, the believers were together – that simply

means a group of people, believers were with each other in one place at one

time!

2. Read v46 – note also that they gathered together day by day

3. Note that they gathered together around the things of Jesus!

a) Read v46a one mind in the temple means they were everyday going to a

big gathering at the temple where they were together in unity. we learn

in Acts that two key things happened at the temple everyday - teaching

(Acts 5:21,42) and prayer (Acts 3:1)

b) Read v46b-c. Secondly, we see that day by day they were in smaller

gatherings in their homes taking communion and openly sharing their

lives together around a meal!

D. Later on in Acts we hear about them gathering together to:

1. Pray (12:12)

2. Hear ministry reports of what God was doing (14:27)

3. Hear decisions from the leadership of the church (15:30)

4. Take communion and hear God’s Word (20:7-8)

E. Bottom line the norm of the early church was that they were together, they were

together often to interact with one another regarding the things of the Lord since

they were continually devoted to each other!

1. We can be revitalized as a church and as individual believers as we get back

to the eternal norms we see in the early church. - meeting together to

interact with other believers around the things of Jesus, gathering together

regularly in large gathering and smaller gatherings

• The book of Hebrews gives us an encouragement about the importance of gathering

as believers. Turn to

III. Hebrews 10:24-25

A. The background of the book simply is that Jewish believers were being tempted

and pursued to be drawn back into their old beliefs in Judaism. But the writer

was showing them the superiority of Jesus over any Old Testament saint, the

superiority of the new covenant over the old covenant and the superiority of one

time for all sacrifice of Jesus over the sacrifices in the Mosaic law.

B. Thus, they arrived at the point in the book where we see that because of the blood

of Jesus they/we are able to enter with confidence right into the presence of God.

Then he gives three major outcomes of this:

1. They could approach God in prayer with full confidence

2. They could hold onto the hope of Jesus return without wavering

3. Consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds

C. The final half of this third application is what I want to focus on now

1. Read v24-25

2. Not forsaking our assembling together

a) Not neglecting nor abandoning our meeting together as believers.

b) In context of v24, it appears that these meetings are of the nature that

they are small enough to allow one another to make a significant

difference in each other’s lives. Close enough to each other to stimulate

each other.

c) For some all they know of church is coming to a 90 minute service on a

Sunday morning and partaking in the service in a manner that is no

different than sitting in the stands at a baseball game as they cheer from

the stands of the church with an amen here and there when something

they like happens!

3. As is the habit of some

a) It appears that it was a problem at that time that people were not

intentional nor consistent in meeting with other believers. In addition,

some totally abandoned it all together.

b) That is clearly a problem today as statistics of churches in general state

that before Covid most people attended church about two times per

month. After Covid, WSJ – reported recently that in-person church

attendance is roughly 30% to 50% lower than it was before.

4. But encouraging one another

a) We need to encourage, urge believers to get together with other believers

in a small group context and going to the corporate church, whether that

is a home church or in a church building!

b) Note that this urging does not come from the pastors or elders but rather

from each other. Responsibility is on each one of us as a body and not

sit back and wonder why the elders or pastors did not call.

5. All the more as we see the day drawing near –

a) This instruction is all the more important as we see the return of the Lord

drawing near.

b) Those who understand what the Bible says about the end times and the

signs that it is near know how important this exhortation is to us in these

days

c) We need each other all the more, as this world will be tougher and

tougher for Christians as the return of Jesus draws near.

• So how are you and I doing in gathering together with other believers?

IV. Application

A. Let us do a self-evaluation. Give yourself a score between 1 and 10 – 1 terrible

and 10 great

1. Gathering with other believers in a larger corporate setting? 1-10

2. Gathering with other believers in a smaller personal setting? 1-10

3. Interacting with other believers in those settings around the things of Jesus?

1-10

4. My Christian experience is an everyday experience with other believers 1-10

5. In light of this evaluation, what next step you believe God would have you

take?

6. Share with someone what you feel is the area you are strongest and weakest

and what next step God would have you take.

Revitalized/ Week 2

The Church: Vital and Vitalizing

Passage February 6, 2022

I. Introduction:

A. We have all heard “a picture is worth 1,000 words!” That simply means that

when we see something we can better understand what they mean than just trying

to describe them by words.

1. Let me give you an example of that!

a) If I was to tell you that our grandchildren had a great time at Disney

when we took them there – that would lead your mind to think it was a

fun time.

b) But these two pictures help you better capture the heart of just how great

it was for them!

(1) Tinker Bell

(2) Dance party

B. The Bible uses metaphors for the same purpose so we can better understand the

truth

1. In many ways a metaphor is simply a word picture that help us describe

something. It puts the idea into high definition and adds color to it as it states

that one thing is another thing.

2. It help us catch a glimpse of God’s truth in a fresh way that even 1,000 more

words cannot give us!

C. This morning I want to touch on one of the biblical images/metaphors for the

church that help us better understand just how vital the church is and how it adds

vitality to our lives!

1. We are seeking to revitalize our lives and our church after the cultural

earthquake we experienced over the last few years

2. By getting back to the kingdom norms and practices that we find in the early

church when it was a newborn baby in Acts 2!

D. Before I give you that image let me give you a few reminders about the church so

we have a little bit of context to put the images into.

1. The church is not a building made up of bricks but it is saved people of flesh

and blood.

2. The church has a mission

a) Upward to God – to bring Him glory

b) Inward to other believers – to build each other up and care for each other

c) Outward to the lost – to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to them.

Even to the uttermost part of the earth.

E. The image I want us to look at this morning is a body. The church is the body of

Christ.

1. Jesus is the head and all the believer make up the body of Christ.

2. Numerous times in the New Testament we see references to the church as the

body of Christ.

3. Here is one that says it directly. Ephesians 1:22-23

• Today I want to show us that the church, the body of Christ is both vital and

vitalizing! So let’s start by seeing that …

II. The church is vital –

A. Let me start by establishing what I mean by vital!

1. To me a lot of people use vital and important synonymously. But vital is

about three notches above important.

2. Illustration of the fall

a) A number of years ago I fell off a ladder while I was painting and I

severely separated my shoulder. Very serious and very painful

eventually ended up with surgery.

b) A year later I was in Oaxaca when a woman fell off a ladder, separated

her shoulder and had a heart attack. As painful and serious as a

separated shoulder can be, if you do not keep the heart going the

shoulder really does not matter.

c) While the shoulder is important you still can live on with it separated.

One the other hand the heart is vital, if the heart does not continue to

work your life is done.

B. The church is not important but it is vital because it is the body of Christ!

1. Stop and think with me for a moment about what a body is.

2. We learned not long ago in a series that we are made up of three parts.

a) Spirit – that is where the life is and connects us with God

b) Soul – that is where our unique personality is and connects us to other

people

c) Body – that is our earth suit that allows us to connect with the material

world we live in.

3. The spirit and the soul use the body to express themselves. The body is the

external material visible instrument through which our internal immaterial

invisible life expresses itself in this world

a) It is simply the instrument which we live our life through!

b) It is the part of us that people can see and identify us by.

C. Thus the church, as the body of Christ is vital because it is God’s chosen means

by which the life of Jesus Christ is expressed in this world.

1. Turn and read Ephesians 1:22-23

2. Then he switched images from the body to a building but we see the same

idea that the church is the place where God’s presence is today, His dwelling

place, and His current temple! Read Ephesians 2:21-22

D. The invisible and internal spirit of Jesus now lives in and through His people!

1. We are what people see and identify Jesus with for the good or for the bad

dependent upon how we live!

2. Like the song by Casting Crowns says “If we are the body why aren't His

arms reaching?

Why aren't His hands healing?

Why aren't His words teaching?

And if we are the body why aren't His feet going?

Why is His love not showing them there is a way?

E. The church is vital because we are the ones God brings glory to Himself through,

we are the ones He builds and cares for each other through, we are the ones He

brings the gospel to the lost world through we are the ones that the very life of

Christ is expressed in this world!

• And not only is the church vital but it also

III. The church vitalizing

A. By vitalizing I mean it gives vitality! Vitality is that state of having abundance or

intense activity.

1. It is a life that is full of exuberance, liveliness, robust, vibrant, vigor. Simply

there is a bounce and energy, gusto and zip to your spiritual life

2. When a life is full of Jesus and the graces He brings to us it cannot help but

be a life of vitality!

B. One of the greatest graces or gifts that God gives to us is the church. We (you

and me) cannot live the fullness of life that God intends for us unless we are both

contributing to and receiving of the graces that God intended to flow the church,

that is you and me the believers!

C. I want to just mention two practical ways we experience God’s graces and

blessing through the body

1. Spiritual gifts – the supernatural abilities that the Holy Spirit gives us to

minister to one another!

a) 1 Corinthians 12 teaches us that each one of us has a spiritual gift or two,

and they are all different gifts and to different degrees by design for God

to work through us for the common good of the body

2. One anothers – simply this means that we return to each other in due measure

these things with which God calls us to bless and minister to each other.

a) Here is a sampling of some of the one anothers

3. Do you not think that if we lived with each other experiencing the

supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit in our lives and church and impacting

each other with the one anothers it would add vitality to our church and lives?

D. Finally we are deeply dependent upon one another and the proper functioning of

each member

1. Read Ephesians 4:15-16

2. Illustration this about the body with my drop foot.

a) My foot does not work properly because of my back and not my foot!

(1) The arthritis in my back squeezed against the nerves that control

my foot and destroyed them.

(2) Then as my foot would not work properly it has impacted my hip

on that side which ends up throwing off the hip on the other side.

(3) I think you get the point of how the whole body is dependent upon

the other members for the health of the body!

b) That means that the person sitting in the first row of the main floor is not

functioning properly or fully it will impact the person sitting in the last

row of the balcony.

3. You matter to the body and your full participation with the body of Christ at

MVC has a large impact upon the church’s ability to carry out the three fold

mission God has created the church for and also to the vitality or the

abundance of life that each believer at MVC will experience!

IV. Communion

A. Interesting that we always connect communion with remembering the death of

Jesus. 1 Corinthians 10 tells us there is another thing that communion, reminds

us, as it becomes that picture that is worth 1000 words.

1. Listen as I read 1 Corinthians 10:16-17

2. Did you catch it? It pictures for us the fact that the many of us members

individually make up one body!

B. As we learned last week it is important not just to know these truths but to believe

them and do them. But I think Romans 12:3 shows us an attitude that will stand

in the way of anyone doing what we learned today.

a) Read Rom 12:3-4

2. This verse is directly connected to living as a body and reveals to us the

foundational attitude that must be in place!

a) Humility - recognizing our need for others whom God has gifted as

much as He has gifted me!

b) Pride, self-sufficiency, independence destroys body life

3. If our attitude is anything like Romans 12:3 not only will the rest of this

series have little impact upon you but also God’s vital church, yes even MVC

which was created for His glory, the believers’ edification and the lost’s

salvation will be less effective and the vitality of yourself and each believer

here will be impacted!

C. Reflect

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.