Let me start us off with a question today. What do you think it means to be the church? It should not be a stretch to say that the church is not a building or a program, it is a group of people who have been saved and sent by Jesus.

When you stop thinking of the church as a building for you to gather in or a program for you to consume a product, but rather a group of people who have been saved by the shed blood and broken body of Jesus, and sent on mission by the risen Jesus, then you have to start thinking about the health and the effectiveness of that group of people.

If we are to be effective in making disciples who follow Jesus – rather than making spectators who show up every now and then for the show – then we must be about the business of pursuing health and maturity as followers of Jesus. So, how would you know the difference between a healthy church and an unhealthy church? If you had to evaluate the health of a local church, what benchmarks would you use for your evaluation?

How would you evaluate a church if you could not use consumeristic scales to evaluate it by? In other words, how would you evaluate a church if you could not evaluate it based upon the programs that it offered you, or based upon whether or not you like and get along with the people, or based upon the way that that church made you feel? If you could not use those benchmarks, (since you would be hard pressed to show me those benchmarks in Scripture) then what benchmarks would you use?

I always want to try to build biblical benchmarks for evaluating anything God gives me a responsibility for. If you are a believer, then you have a responsibility for the health of your local church family. And I want to be careful not to wrap my consumeristic desires in biblical language. I do not want to bring in my own categories for evaluation because my categories are going to be infected with sin. I want to let the Bible build those categories for me so that I can learn to live in a way that honors God and extends his kingdom through the local church. 

So, that being said, when I read the text that we are studying today, I notice that the early church intentionally devoted or intentionally committed itself to some basic rhythms of Christian community. Now, we must understand that the book of Acts comes directly on the heels of Jesus commissioning his followers to make disciples and then he ascends into heaven and leaves them to do the job he gave them to do.

To their credit – or to the credit of the Holy Spirit who worked in and through those early believers – the church began to sprout up in every community from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth – following the pattern of expansion that Jesus gave to his followers in Acts 1:8where he said that they were to “be witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”.

You could say that the book of Acts is like a history book that tells the story of how the church began and how it spread from its inception to the ends of the earth. If you have never read the book of Acts, I highly encourage you to read it this afternoon. In this book you will find some really exciting stories as you watch the church beginning to take shape.

There are many signs and wonders being done, the original disciples are transformed from being cowards to being fully devoted proclaimers of the gospel, persecution breaks out, a terrorist gets saved, and so much more. It really is a fantastic read. And nestled among the many stories throughout this book, is this description of the early church in chapter 2. 

It is a very simple description. You will not see a whole bunch of bells and whistles or smoke and lights or programs to attract every age group in the area; it is a simple description of what a healthy church community looks like. I would even say that in this description, we have the standard by which to evaluate the health of any church in the modern era. And it all hinges around the fact that these early believers devoted or committed themselves to a few simple basics of Christian community. Look at the passage with me…

42And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

To devote yourself to something means to commit yourself to something. When you devote yourself to something, it becomes visible in your behaviors. What you do, how you spend your resources, how you treat people, and where you decide to show up at, all these behaviors tell the story of your true devotion and commitment. Healthy families and healthy churches are full of devoted people; people who are committed to the basic expectations of that family or church.

Devotion and commitment in a family does not look like a man marrying a woman and then finding other women to date on the side; it also does not look like one family member bailing out of all the basic family responsibilities while everyone else is sacrificing for the betterment of that family. For a family or for a church to be healthy and vibrant, they must devote or commit themselves to some very basic things. The early church was devoted to what many call the basics of Christian community.

#1: DEVOTED TO PUBLIC WORSHIP (VV. 42 – 43)

The first basic thing we find these early believers devoted to is simply, public worship. Luke tells us in verses 42 – 43 that “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.” This is a basic description of what public worship looked like in the early Christian community.

These early believers were devoted to not just hearing the preaching of the apostles, but they were devoted to obeying what they were taught. They were not just merely devoted to seeing other believers one day a week; they practiced true fellowship (being together multiple days a week) as they worshipped together and took care of each other.

One commentator, regarding fellowship, says that “This is the first occurrence of the word [fellowship – koinonia in the Greek] in the [entire] New Testament” and that it simply means “commonality” or a community that sacrifices for the good of one another.3

He goes on to say that “Fellowship cost something in the early church, in contrast to our use of the word fellowship today. Fellowship is not just a sentimental feeling of oneness. It is not punch and cookies. It does not take place simply because we are in the church hall. Fellowship comes through giving. True fellowship costs! So many people never know the joys of [true] Christian fellowship because they never learned to give themselves away… The truth is, we will have fellowship only when we make it a practice to reach out to others and give something of ourselves.”4

Let this be a challenge to those of you who treat the church like an occasional add on program to your busy life – you are not a healthy functioning member of this church family if you are not practicing biblical fellowship as it is described here.

We should also notice that these early believers did not receive communion (or observe the Lord’s Table) every once in a while; it seems here that they practiced communion (breaking bread) every time they got together so that they could remember and celebrate the work of Jesus at the cross of Calvary.2

It is also significant to mention that prayer was not merely an add on to a religious program, it was something these early believers were devoted to practicing together as they sought the presence of the Holy Spirit. We practice this pursuit of God in prayer on Sundays and in our small groups every week.

And let us not miss the fact that Luke says that “awe came upon every soul” and that “many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles”. Lots of people were being healed and restored, people were walking in repentance, families were probably being restored, but even greater than that – even more awesome than that – God was present among them by the power of the Holy Spirit. Could it be that your awe of Christ is so dismal that you have little to no devotion for the basics of Christian community?

We know that many people were being saved daily (as the end of our passage states) and that is an awesome thing for sure. But even more awesome than that, is the life changing knowledge of Christ crucified, risen, and returning. He died on that cross so that you could be restored to Christian community, first in community with God, and second in community with brothers and sisters in Christ.

I am convinced that the reason people do not devote themselves to the basics of Christian community and public worship is that they have lost their awe of their Savior and they have turned the sacrifice of being in community into something too hard for them to do. 

It is almost as though these people run from the sacrifice of community while proclaiming a Savior who never ran from the cross that restores them to that community, while they criticize the community for not meeting their needs. It should not be this way!

These early believers were devoted to this most basic principle of public worship, obedience to the teaching of God’s Word, true fellowship, communion and prayer, simply because they were in awe of God. 

They did not allow anything else to awe them or to woo them into spiritual laziness or complacency or consumerism. On top of that, they were super generous as the next portion of the text teaches us.

#2: DEVOTED TO GENEROSITY (VV. 44 – 45)

The second basic thing we find these early believers devoted to is simply, generosity. Luke tells us in verses 44 – 45, that “all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.” Here is the thing, generosity – especially with our money – is one of the most difficult aspects of discipleship but it is meant to be practiced within the confines of relational community.

We tie identity and need and worry and doubt and unbelief to our money and our possessions. When we do this, we fail to practice generosity in the way the Bible instruct us to. God’s economic plan was for his family – Israel in the Old Testament and the church in the New Testament – was to take care of each other financially. The believers in our passage were simply devoted to God’s economic plan.

These believers basically took the Old Testament principle of tithing to cover the expenses of the ministry and giving special offerings to cover the needs of the community and they put it into practice in the early church. Why? Because they had witnessed Jesus giving every last drop of his blood to save them.

Jesus did not give the leftovers of his life; he held nothing back. So, these early believers mimicked Jesus’ generosity in their generosity and in doing so, they testified their absolute belief and trust (their faith) in God’s economic provision. No one in the early church had any financial need – from the pastors down to the most impoverished member – because these early believers devoted themselves to mimicking their sacrificial Savior. And all of this generosity was practiced as they gathered together regularly. This leads us to the third basic rhythm of Christian community.

#3: DEVOTED TO GATHERING TOGETHER (VV. 46 – 47)

The third basic thing we find these early believers devoted to is simply, gathering together. Luke tells us in verses 46 – 47 that, “day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people”. Simply stated, these early believers were devoted to being together more than once per week and definitely more than once every couple of weeks.

The “day by day” phrase in verse 46 simply means “as the days went by” and can be taken to mean that the early church gathered together multiple times per week. They attended large group gatherings in the temple. The spent time eating food together in one another’s homes. They were full of gladness and generosity – not because they were required to do these things – but because they were devoted to praising God and developing relationships with one another.

The early church was not a program to find better friendships; it was a community of deep and diverse relationships where people from all social economic backgrounds came together to praise God and serve one another’s needs. They did not expect the “paid staff”to create fun and meaningful experiences for every age group in the community. 

They expected God to show up and knit them together as they devoted themselves to praising God and developing sacrificial relationships. The really cool part about this is that as they devoted themselves to these most basic rhythms of Christian community, God added new believers to their midst on the daily as they practiced evangelism.

#4: DEVOTED TO EVANGELISM (V. 47)

This brings us to the fourth basic thing we find these early believers devoted to which was simple, relational evangelism. When Luke tells us at the end of verse 47 that “the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” we should not envision a group of people who were devoted to street preaching, or evangelistic crusades, or specialized tracks for sharing their faith. 

We should simply envision a devoted and vibrant community of believers who, in the midst of practicing all the basic rhythms of Christian community that we have already seen, they also practiced a welcoming and inviting presence among the lost in their community. Yes, evangelistic preaching has its place, and we do need to be equipped to share our faith. 

But above all that, we need to be devoted to being in regular Christian community with one another so that we can build relationships with the lost and invite them into relationship with Jesus and his church family. 

The best evangelism we can practice is simply building Christ sharing relationships with the lost and then acting like relational bridges into the Christian community. This was the kind of evangelism that the early believers were devoted to, and the result was a church that spread across the world.

CONCLUSION…

In conclusion, we come back to the question I asked at the beginning. How would you evaluate the health and the effectiveness of a local church? It seems to me that the category the Bible gives us is simply, devotion. We could evaluate the health and the effectiveness of a local church by its devotion to the basic rhythms of Christian community.

How devoted or committed are the church’s members to public worship? How devoted or committed are the church’s members to practicing generosity? How devoted are they to gathering together multiple times per week? How devoted are they to practicing evangelism? The real question is how devoted are you to these most basic rhythms of Christian community? 

What are the barriers for you becoming a healthy member of the body of Christ? Every one of us has busy schedules to contend with. We all struggle with becoming contributors instead of mere consumers. All of us will struggle with seasons of spiritual apathy or laziness and complacency. And maybe some of you have surrendered to some of those barriers; those things have become your excuse for not becoming a healthier or more vibrantly engaged disciple of Jesus.

I could stand here all day and rail against the issues that have defeated your devotion. The only thing that will set you free from living in your self-imposed defeat is a crucified, risen, and returning Savior. You need to remember your first love; you need to remember Christ’s devotion and commitment to you. You need to become awestruck over the reality of the gospel again. 

When you come face to face with the awesomeness of Christ, these most basic rhythms of Chrisian community are easy to devote yourself to because in these basic rhythms you will be left in awe as you witness the Spirit of God doing the impossible in the lives of everyone involved. Thes rhythms become easy because you are not being crucified and you are in absolute awe of the One who was crucified for you.

So where is your awe today? Where is your awe? What is it that has captured your heart? You will know the answer to that question as you evaluate the level of your devotion to the basics of Christian community. My prayer is that your heart would be set free to be in awe of Christ and that you devotion to the basics of Christian community would increase as you come back to your first love. – Amen.

1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).

2 R., Kent, Hughes, Acts: The Church Afire, Preaching the Word Commentary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 1996), 50.

3 Ibid., 48.

4 Ibid., 49.