Fourth Sunday in Lent (2023)
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Acts 2:41-47
Acts 2:41-47
My Brothers and Sisters, in our lesson from Acts, we see the other side of the Resurrection, Ascension, and fruits of Pentecost as the Holy Spirit descends upon the Disciples and they share with all teh good news of salvation and everything that God has accomplished through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on the Cross.
The Church United
The Church grew from 120 to 3000 in a day.
It included people from all around the region. For people had come from around the area back to the temple and had heard the Disciples speaking that day in their native tongues, that is languages. So you had converts that grew greatly in number over that day as the Holy Spirit brought them together.
These new converts devoted themselves to 4 things:
Teaching of the apostles, and The fellowship
This means that they learned from the Disciples what Jesus taught, for they had not yet written the Gospels, or any of the Epistles, but they heard from the Disciples who had heard JEsus’ teachings for 3 years, and they had the Old Testament, which Jesus had showed them points to Christ.
The Breaking of bread, and the prayers.
The breaking of bread was not just speaking of an ordinary meal, but referred to that night when Jesus broke bread and instituted the Lord’s Supper. The prayers would is an abbreviated way to speak of worship. So the Church grew rapidly that day.
Why is the Church Divided?
How many different church bodies are there?
If we think just here in White Lake, there are 4 different churches all of different confessions, so we would wonder well what happened to the Church united? Where did these divisions come from?
1 Corinthians 11.19 tells us that factions help us see who is genuine.
For while they were united on the Day of Pentecost divisions and factions started to come into the Church, and when Paul writes to Corinth, they’ve got about 100 christians in the town, who are following 5 different teachers.
Division is the result of false teaching.
For that is what divides the church, it moves us away from the good foundation found in Christ and has us look to ourselves instead of God’s Word. Which is to say, its when folks are no longer devoted to the Apostle’s teaching.
The one who seeks to divide the church is the devil.
This has been his work since the beginning, and he has long sought to usurp the church and destroy the work of Christ.
How Does Unity Happen?
Unity is the work of the Holy Spirit through the means of grace.
That is who brought them together at Pentecost and what they gathered around. It wasn’t a one time thing, but it was regularly being with their fellow believers around the Word and the Sacraments, and prayer.
What we are devoted to matters.
Consider any task or activity, if you want to be good at sewing, but don’t sew, its not going to happen. If you want to be better at drawing, but never draw, it isn’t going to happen.
Are you devoted to the Apostle’s teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers?
What role does the faith play in your life, now indeed it is God that grows the faith and the Spirit that grows our faith, but He does that through means. If you are cut off from these means, then there won’t be any growth, in fact it will decay.
If individually we are not, then what does that mean for the Church?
For if we all are devoted to things other than the teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers, there are church isn’t really one is it? So this is where individually we have a responsibility to be active, and church wide to be concerned for our neighbors who are not here.
The Church United In Christ
In the garden, Jesus prayed that we all might be one.
This was his desire, for Jesus wanted us to be one not only with him, but with each other. For what He did wasn’t so that we would be lone believers, but rather that I might be connected with the body of Christ.
Jesus’ teachings unite Christians around the world.
When you look at where the Church is, it isn’t limited to one nationality, one period of time, one particular language, the teachings are shared by people even when we don’t share the same language.
At the Lord’s Supper, Jesus gives everyone His body and blood.
It doesn’t matter if you are King of a powerful empire, or the lowest slave, we all receive the same body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of our sins as we receive that meal that Jesus instituted for us.
By Jesus’ gifts, we pray together our Father.
We don’t say my Father, for we are God’s children, and whether we are young or old, we pray together the same prayer the very prayer that Jesus the Son of God prayed, for He is our brother.
Jesus gave these things so we may be one with Him and the Father.
For He did not want us to be separated but united in him.
The κοινωνία (koinonia)
This fellowship means we are all one.
That is no longer just about me, but I look around and see my neighbor who is in need and go to lend a hand.
It means caring for each other.
Look what they did when they saw someone who was in need, those who had an abundance used it to help their neighbor.
It comes from sharing the same beliefs.
For when we are united in confession, and share the same beliefs we understand why God gave us the time, talents, and treasures he did it was not for our sake, but for the sake of those around me.
Being Devoted to...
The Apostle’s teaching means learning the Bible.
It means not only studying the Bible on your own, but also being part of a Bible Study. It is amazing how we grow together as the body of Christ when we have the chance to learn together.
The Fellowship means that we are one.
That we do not seek to divide ourselves, but rather understand that Christ has made us one. That we all share the same divine name, and one thing that used to be understood was what happened at the altar.
The Breaking of Bread means coming to communion.
Marking those days, and being sure to be there for Jesus is giving to us His body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins. So we want to be there with others to receive these same gifts.
The prayers means attending services.
In a busy world, we think to ourselves well just one more thing. Why is it so important to be in God’s House? Because here we get to be together with our family, we get to know each other and rejoice int eh goodness of God.
So my brothers and sisters in Christ, this is what has bound together the church throughout the centuries, and it is what binds us together still today. It is why our primary actions on a Sunday morning are Bible Study, Breaking the Bread, and prayers, for this grows the fellowship that Christ wants for us all. So do not neglect, for this is what Christ prayed we would have, rather devote yourself to these things that you might have fellowship not only with your fellow believers, but also with Christ, and God the Father. In jesus name. Amen.