Each of us has a unique family life, right? We had our family life growing up. We have our family life now. For those who are married, you brought two different types of family lives together, and then created a new family life. Some of you who are younger have ideas of what your family life may be like in the future. We have family lives.
Well, did you know that churches have a family life? You see, one of the ways that a church is described in the Bible is a family.
Here in the book of Acts, we’re continuing our study about what God did in the early church, and in this passage, we see the church as a family. Today’s sermon is entitled “The Family Life of the Early Church.”
Before we go any further in this sermon, let’s pray together and ask God to speak to us.
(prayer)
As you may recall, in this series, we’ve learned how Jesus went back into Heaven, how the early Christians waited on the Holy Spirit to come, how the Holy Spirit, in fact, miraculously came, and then how Peter powerfully explained what God was doing through the coming of His Spirit.
Now, we’re at the moment right after all of that. We’re at the end of Acts 2, and we’re only covering a few verses today. However, these are very important verses, so let’s look at this passage and dive into them some more:
Look at Acts 2:42-47:
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.
43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. 44 Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. 45 They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
So, let’s look at three characteristics of the family life of the early church. How were they a family?
First, . . .
I. The church met as a family.
A healthy family gathers together, right?
By the way, I realize that not all of us come from a healthy family . . . not all of us have healthy family lives, but can we all agree that the church should have a healthy family life?
So, we see here in Acts 2 that part of the family life of the church was that they gathered together.
Let’s skip down to verse 46 first. It says, “Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house.”
So we see how often they gathered: every day.
The early church was committed to meeting regularly.
Notice that they gathered in the temple. The temple was often where the people of God would gather. It was a community spot for the Jewish people. Also, don’t forget that the early Christians still considered themselves Jewish. They were Jewish believers who had accepted Jesus, their Messiah. So, they still practiced many Jewish practices, such as gathering frequently in the temple.
So, we see how often they met, and we also see what they did when they met.
Skip back up to verse 42. We learn that the early followers of Jesus “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.”
Notice these four key ingredients of their gathering: receiving biblical teaching, fellowshipping, breaking bread together, and praying together.
By the way, most biblical scholars think “breaking bread” probably includes both eating together AND receiving the Lord’s Supper together.
Do any of these actions that were committed by the early church sound familiar?
Each of these behaviors should still be part of the family life of the church. What God did in and through His church in Acts 2, He is still doing in and through His church today.
We should be committed to meeting together regularly for teaching, fellowship, prayer, and the like.
By the way, we don’t have to have a formal worship service to gather. We can meet on Sunday mornings for worship as we are doing now. We can meet on Wednesday night for eating, fellowship, prayer, and Bible study, as we do. We can meet from house to house. We can meet in community gathering spots. We can meet in small groups, d-groups, or in casual relational contexts for the glory of God and the good of the church.
We just talked about meeting together in our series called “What Is a Disciple?” The reason we talked about gathering in a big group, gathering in a small group, and developing others is because this is what the Bible teaches that the church ought to be doing.
As a family, the church should meet together.
Also, . . .
II. The church shared as a family.
We see this reality primarily in verses 44 and 45. Look at your Bibles once again.
44 Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. 45 They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need.
Now, what do these verses mean? Do they mean that before we leave today, we all need to empty our pockets into one pot and then distribute the total evenly amongst all of us? No! That is not what this means.
Here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to tell you what I believe this passage means, and then I’m going to backtrack and tell you how I got there.
I believe that this passage means that Christians should be so motivated by God’s grace and they should be so united with other Christians that they consider all that they have as a tool to be used to accomplish God’s purposes and bless God’s people.
Basically, I believe that this passage is speaking about biblical generosity and biblical sacrifice.
Some have said that this passage teaches Communism, but that is not the case at all.
We must keep in mind that what we see in Acts 2 is willing sacrifice and generosity, not forced. The people were so changed by God that they overflowed with generosity and sacrifice towards one another. They realized that they were one in Jesus, so they considered all their possession to be one.
Notice also that the possessions were not blindly and evenly distributed. Rather, the possessions were distributed “as any had need.”
Remember also that the early Christians were persecuted, and all the people of Judea were under the thumb of the Roman Empire, so some of them may have had trouble meeting basic needs. So, the Christians were there to look out for one another and help one another as the need was present.
We also know from elsewhere in the book of Acts that even though the people held all things in common, it didn’t mean that they sold all things. Rather, they viewed everything as a resource to be used for the glory of God and the good of the church.
For example, in Acts 4:37 we see that Barnabas sold a field and donated the proceeds to the work of the church. He didn’t necessarily sell everything he had.
So, the picture here is that the early church seemed to be willing to sell all that they had if it was needed for the glory of God and the good of the church.
Now, some wonder if this is something that we should still practice today in the modern church. Let me just make it clear for all of us: Yes, this is an attitude and practice that we need in the modern church.
No one who is a part of our family of believers should go without basic needs. If we have the means to help one another, we should consider all of our possessions as belonging to the Lord and as tools to help others. We should view ourselves as one family with any resources on the table when it comes to being used for the glory of God, the mission of God, and the good of the church of God.
A family shares, and the family of God should be the best at sharing with each other as we have need.
Now, you might say, “Wait, Pastor Matt! Won’t some people take advantage of the church?” Well, yes, they will. I’ve seen it happen. People have taken advantage of our church. People have taken advantage of me and my family. However, I’d rather lose a few dollars here and there than lose a Jesus-like generosity and sacrifice for my church family. I’d rather lose possessions than lose the purpose of the church.
A family shares with one another.
Finally, we see that . . .
III. The church thrived as a family.
What was the result of the people of the early church coming together as a family? Well, the Bible tells us!
Look at verse 43: “Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles.”
When the Spirit of God inhabited the family of God, they were filled with awe at the work of God.
God blessed the ministry of the early church. He accomplished signs and wonders through them (some of which we’ve already learned about, and some we’ll learn about later).
We see further that they had “joyful and sincere hearts,” and they were “praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.”
When the people of God were united as a family, we see that joy developed in their hearts and praise flowed from their hearts.
Additionally, it says they were enjoying the favor of others. Apparently, others couldn’t help but see what God was doing amongst them.
Wouldn’t that be something, church? What if we were so tight-knit as a family that as we were filled with joy and as we were praising God, people looked at us and showed us favor because of how greatly God was working amongst us?
May it be so at First Baptist Church Bartow.
Finally, on a practical level, we see in verse 47 that “Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”
A result of the ministry of the early church was that the Lord added to their number every day.
I believe that if we are doing gospel-centered, Spirit-filled ministry, the Lord will frequently add to our number those who are being saved.
May we be found so faithful, and may we experience the favor of God.
The church met as a family, they shared as a family, and they thrived as a family.
That takes us to our bottom line:
Bottom Line: God designed the church to thrive as a family.
Some of us may think it’s odd to treat our church as a family, yet this is the continual picture that the Bible gives for the church.
For example, in Ephesians 2:19 we read, “So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household.”
Galatians 6:10 says, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.”
Galatians 3:28 tells us, “There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
You know, some may even think it’s crazy to think of other people as family when they have no earthly relationship to you.
You may think it’s nuts to share your resources with other people.
However, when the grace of God gets ahold of you, when the gospel of Jesus Christ changes your life, and the Holy Spirit fills you with His power, you start doing things that may sound crazy to those without Jesus! You start living a sacrificial and generous life. You start realizing that those who are in Jesus are closer in relationship to you than anyone else in the world. You start committing to your church in a special way because you belong to a new family: the family of God.
Challenge yourself to live out this passage in the following ways:
Weekly Challenge #1 – Ask yourself how committed you are to the family of God.
What does it mean to you to be a part of a church?
Spend some time this week and consider this question.
Weekly Challenge #2 – Seek to bless your church family in some way.
Let me be clear: Many of you are a blessing to our church in many different ways.
However, take some time this week and think about how you can bless your church family in some way.
The picture in Acts 2 is of a family of believers who sacrificed and were generous to one another. They were a blessing to one another. How can you be a blessing to others this week?
When Jesus changes you, you really change. (Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
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