Well, good morning everyone. Thank you so much for the opportunity to be here with you guys today.
It is my privilege to know John and Graham, to love them, and to hear from them regularly how things are going in the life of Brunsfield Evangelical Church.
And as obviously part of the East of Scotland Gospel Partnership, our hearts at Charlotte Chapel are very encouraged by what we hear of what's going on and what the Lord is doing in Brunsfield.
So it's great to be together like this and a great privilege for me to be here.
If you have Acts chapter 2 in front of you, keep it open. You'll be helped as we walk through it together.
And we've read the text already, so let's put our heads together and let's pray.
Our Father, your word tells us that your very word spoken by you is authoritative and useful for teaching, correcting, training and rebuking.
Lord, show us where we've gone off track. Show us how to get back on track.
Tell us how to stay on track that we might be your people, walking in your ways with love and gladness in our hearts for you and for each other.
In Jesus' name we ask it. Amen.
Well, in 1630, a man by the name of John Winthrop stood on the deck of a ship called the Arabella
and addressed people who were sailing from England to America to start a brand new life.
Winthrop, who became a governor of a new colony near what is now Boston,
shared his vision for this new society that they were creating.
Here's what he said.
What a vision.
What a vision for a community.
Not even a church.
A community.
Now compare that speech with the one that was delivered 300 years later,
given by a presidential candidate, Herbert Hoover,
who also had a vision for effectively the same society, same kind of people.
But it's very different to Winthrop's.
Listen to this.
It wasn't the knit together as one man speech.
It was every man for himself.
It is the speech that became known as the rugged individualism speech.
Now my question to you at the start of our day is,
which sounds more attractive to you?
Good.
Someone answered.
The first one, clearly.
Now let me ask you a follow-up question.
Which one does your life portray?
Really?
Think about it.
Because actually what we often find is,
if we look at our own hearts and the way we spend our time,
the way we spend our time with other people,
the way we spend our lives,
the way we spend our money, etc.,
betrays the fact that we actually prefer Hoover's ideal,
rather than Winthrop's.
Now, we might say we want a shared life
with the members of our church family,
but actually making time for that is pretty inconvenient.
I've got a busy life.
My car is like a taxi, driving people around.
We might say we want deeper relationships,
but really not the kind that demand any real commitment.
I just don't know if I've got the personality for it,
never mind the time for it.
Or we might say that we really want to change
and be more like Jesus,
but if that means letting someone into our lives
for the sake of actually confessing our sins to one another,
I think that's in the Bible somewhere.
Or living a shared life together
in a way that magnifies our witness
to the people out there who don't know Jesus,
well, if it means letting someone into our lives
for the sake of things like accountability,
well, we shrink back from that.
Well, that's rugged individualism,
and that's really what I want to argue against
profoundly today from God's Word.
This is what we see in Acts chapter 2, 42 to 47.
Jesus' vision for the life of the church
is a shared life together.
Now, let me give you a bit of context.
In Acts chapter 1, we saw Jesus has given his followers
a task of finishing the mission he began.
It basically starts off by saying,
Luke saying, in my former book,
I told you about all the things that Jesus began to do and teach.
Now, this book here is about the things
that Jesus is continuing to do and teach.
And he gave his disciples, that early church,
the task of testifying to the truth about Jesus everywhere.
Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, ends of the earth.
There is nowhere where this must not go.
And then in Acts chapter 2,
we're going to see this a bit later on,
I'm doing things backwards.
Jesus sent them help in the person of the Holy Spirit.
And Peter gets up on that day that they are filled
and preaches and 3,000 people repented of their sin
and were baptized.
Then what?
That's the question.
What did they do?
How did they live?
In what way did the gospel that they just professed to believe in
actually start to transform their lives?
Well, that's what we see in Acts chapter 2.
And I want to share with you the four key commitments,
the four key things that we see in here
that really depict for us what a life together looks like.
Here's the first one.
Learning.
That's still Hoover, isn't it?
Here we go.
Learning.
Growing in the knowledge of God together.
This is a first commitment.
Look with me, verse 42.
It says that they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching,
which basically means that they became students of God's words.
Now, I think there are two main reasons for that.
The authoritative teaching of the apostles, first of all,
and the experience of these newly converted believers.
When you look, first of all,
at the authoritative teaching of the apostles,
what you see is that in chapter 1,
Luke has gone to great lengths to show us
that these apostles had been personally appointed by Jesus.
This isn't going to work, so I'm probably going to ditch it.
There we go.
Luke has gone to great lengths to show us
that the apostles had been personally appointed by Jesus.
They carried the authority of the king.
And then verse 43 tells us that the miracles
that the apostles performed really served
in the way that miracles always serve in the Bible,
to authenticate the spoken word,
to authenticate the teaching of the person doing the speaking.
So the teaching then and the miracles brought about,
as verse 43 says,
a great sense of awe,
and the church, this new church,
knew that God was working through these guys.
And that in order to know this amazing God better,
the one that they killed, as Peter said,
and the one that has now given them new life,
as they professed faith in Christ,
they wanted to devote themselves to their teaching,
the apostles' teaching.
Now secondly, I think,
that the experience of these new believers,
the experience of these new believers
really enthused their hearts
in regards to the teaching of the apostles.
It's simple, really.
Think about it.
How did they come to believe the gospel?
How did they come to receive forgiveness of sins
and new life in Jesus?
Well, it all began when they heard
the word of God proclaimed.
It's through Peter's preaching.
Peter had taken a passage from the Bible,
explained it,
and applied it to their situation.
They believed it,
they responded to it,
and the preaching of God's word
had just transformed their life.
It just reorientated everything for them.
It made sense of everything.
Not only the immediate events
surrounding Pentecost,
but of everything.
Their whole lives.
And if hearing this teaching
led to saving faith,
it's no wonder then
that we immediately see
them giving themselves
to learning more and more
from the same guys.
It's simple.
They're hungry for more.
Isn't that often the experience
of a new believer?
I don't know if we've got
any new believers in the room,
people who've been a Christian
maybe for a few weeks
or just a few months.
I think the appetite
of a new believer
for learning
is an incredible thing to see.
I mean,
a new believer might ask
an older believer,
you know,
what were you reading today?
And the older believer might say,
oh, well, you know,
I just finished reading
four chapters of
Money McShane's reading plan.
You know,
two of the old,
two of the new.
What about you?
What have you been reading?
Yeah, I just read Psalms.
Like, all of them.
You know,
I just read Romans.
Like, all of it.
Don't you find that
new believers,
they've got this great appetite
for just devouring
the word of God.
And I think that's what we see
in this text.
There's good reason for it.
Their experiences
through the proclamation
of this word,
through the declaration
of this truth
that God has confirmed
in their hearts
through their consciences
and by the Holy Spirit,
that this is what you want
to bank your everything on.
This is truth
to a world of lies.
This is grace
to sinful people.
That's why we pay attention.
And that's why people
who've become Christians
listen hard
and devote themselves
to this teaching.
Now, that level of learning,
I want to argue with you,
kindly,
should never fade.
Maybe you've been a Christian
for quite a few years.
Well, the Christian life
is a lifelong devotion
to knowing God more
and more
and being changed
into the likeness of his son
more and more
as we'll see in the next session.
But if you find yourself
bored with sermons
and Bible studies
and Bible reading,
you know,
you need to watch
because your faith
might just be weakening.
Those are danger signs
and not things
that you should really
put up with.
These are the kind of things
where you need each other
to talk about
these things together.
You have to find out
why it is
that your appetite
is waning.
Maybe you're a lazy learner.
Maybe it's just the case
that there are
too many distractions.
Maybe it's the case
that you've just not
become disciplined.
Get to the root of that
because what you will do
is you'll consign yourself
to immaturity in the faith
and thinking about
our life together,
you will not develop
the kind of maturity
that will serve
the brothers and sisters
around you well.
So don't think for a second
that your lack
of Bible reading
and your lack
of application
when it comes
to Sunday sermons
or Saturday sermons
today
is just a personal
individualistic problem.
No, you make yourself
ill-equipped
when it comes
to ministering
to your brothers
and sisters
and ill-equipped
when it comes
to ministering
to unbelievers.
That's serious.
That's really serious.
So what does this
devotion to the apostles
teaching actually look like
in terms of application?
Well, look at what
they did here.
It seems like they met
in big and small.
Verse 46 says
they went up to the temple
every day to hear
the apostles teach.
Acts 5.42 confirms this.
This is their daily devotion.
Day after day
in the temple courts
and from house to house
they never stopped
proclaiming that Jesus
was the Messiah.
Never stopped proclaiming.
Day to day.
Big temple.
Just because it was
a big open space.
Not because it was
a special sanctuary
to go to.
It was a huge open space
where people could gather.
And small
in their homes.
Now I love that.
I love what they do there.
I love it whenever
we gather together.
I love it when
a local church family
gets.
I love being there
on a Sunday morning
whether I'm in the
congregation or in the
pulpit at Charlotte
Chapel and I just
love being with the
people of God
as we hear it.
There's something
epic going on.
Like God
changes lives
in those moments.
And God shapes
our lives
in those moments.
things.
And it's vital
that we do that
together.
And if I
stop coming
to that
well that's a problem
because I'm a pastor
at the church
but if I stop
going
and if I stop
being concerned
for encouraging
one another
to pay attention
as Jesus said
in Luke 8
take care how you
listen
I want people
to tell me
about that.
I don't want people
to shrink back
from actually
letting me know.
My soul's in danger.
You know I want
people in Charlotte
Chapel to reprimand
me for that kind
of thing.
And you should want
that from each other.
Gentle rebuke of course.
But we know that we
need more than just
the big on Sundays.
We need small groups
that provide a context
for learning and
growing as a community
of believers.
That's where
relationships are
deepened.
That's where we
really get to know
each other.
And this is vital.
So my concern
is in our own church
and for you today
is are you committed
to this small.
It might be a small
group in the life
of the church.
It might be three
or four of you
getting together
regularly to do
the same things.
It doesn't matter.
Churches are full
of people who are
void.
I find it again
and again and again.
It's really surprising
to me.
When I became a
Christian and I
started reading
through this stuff
and recognising
what life together
actually looked like
I was really surprised
how few people
were actually committed
to it.
I was like
I've not had
any of this
for 19 years
of my life.
I'd spent most
of my teenage years
in drug addiction
and utter loneliness
and come into
the understanding
that God
in the gospel
is true
it's real
and what he does
is he pulls
people together
so that even
the families
that are dysfunctional
or don't work
wherever you are
like you've got
a real family
where your ties
are thicker
than blood
then to
not engage
in that
is surprising
to me
never mind
disobedient
when it comes
to God's words
we cannot
expect to grow
if we don't
have people
gathering around
us and if we're
not gathering
around other
people
as we heard
in the reading
earlier on
let us not
give up
meeting together
as someone
in the habit
of doing
let us spur
one another
on toward
love and good
deeds
and all the more
as you see
the what
the day
what's that day
the day of the Lord
day of joy
for us
those who believe
but a day
of severe
judgment
for those
who don't
a day
when it's
preferential
to have
an avalanche
of jagged
rocks
fall on you
than to experience
what an unbeliever
will experience
serious
so
does
word
devotion
describe
your commitment
to the
apostles
teaching
this is the
word of God
of course
apostles
and prophets
do you read
it every day
do you have
a plan
ask people
afterwards
what's your
plan
how do you
read the
bible
every day
are you a
mcshane guy
do you take
four
do you take
ten chapters
a day
are you like
apollos mighty
in the scriptures
or are you
actually
I much prefer
two or three
verses
consecutively a day
and I mull it
over my head
for a long time
throughout the day
it doesn't matter
as long as you
read
as long as you
read
and then what about
making a priority
to attend every
Sunday
the big non-negotiable
you know
two things go into
your calendar
as far as I'm
concerned
it's Christmas
day
and every Sunday
at church
these are things
that we must
commit to
and we wouldn't
go a whole day
without food
of course
so what makes
us think we can
live without the
living bread
that Jesus said
we need daily
of course
the question here
is not just
life together
in a big
setting
and a small
setting
it's really
are we interested
in one another's
lives
are we ready
to step up
to that level
of commitment
because that's
actually what we
see in the
second point
where people
devoted themselves
to loving
one another
truly living
as the people
of God
together
what we see
in this
section
is that
they became
involved in
each other's
lives
these people
who had just
become Christians
together with
the apostles
and the 120
that reported
in Acts 1
we see them
commit to life
together
now fellowship
is a biblical
word that in my
opinion has lost
its punch
I think many
people have
neutered it
of its meaning
fellowship is
not just when
Christians get
together to have
a coffee and a
chat
it's way more
than that
the root meaning
of this word
for fellowship
is the word
common from
which we get
our word
community
where we share
our common
unity profoundly
through our
union with
Christ
it's really
straightforward
and these
brand new
Christians take
life together
as something
elementary
and basic
Christianity
then involves
sharing life
together with
other Christians
and devoting
yourself to
that kind of
commitment
actually requires
a new mindset
if you look
with me at
verse 44
see if you
think these
guys are
guilty of
keeping people
at arms
laying
see if they're
guilty of
rugged individualism
all the believers
were together
and had everything
in common
selling their
possessions and
goods they gave
to anyone as
he had need
now what we see
even in that is
that they had a
healthy ecclesiology
from the start
they knew what the
church was
they just started
living it out
it was part and
parcel of their
conversion
they understood
that God is
creating a new
people for his
own to bear
his name
indwelt by him
to carry the
gospel out
and that's what
conditioned the
way they lived
they had everything
in common it says
even their
possessions
now it should be
clear that this
is not communism
where the state
force is sharing
this isn't even
communalism where
no one has any
private property
no what we have
here is genuine
biblical community
and their sharing
is marked by a
love for each
other and a
recognition that
what we have is
not ours
we're just stewards
of the stuff that
we've got
when I was at
Bible college a
number of years
ago I lived with
a friend two days
a week as I
studied in Glasgow
and I would often
go up to him and
say it's alright if I
use your computer
I could just check
my emails he said
feel free it's
God's computer
you know it
started to get a
bit ridiculous where
I said do you
mind if I have a
couple of slices of
toast before I go to
bed he would
say it's God's
bread you know
it's like okay I
get it I get it
but I mean that
that was a strong
testimony to me of
actually this we're
just stewards of the
stuff that we've got
it's all God's we
should be willing to
hold to it loosely so
that we can help and
serve one another as
best we can but
maybe you know I
don't know what this
looks like in
Brunsfield for you
but I've seen in my
own experience in two
churches I've been
pastoring where people
have sold stuff to
help another person
out you know maybe
someone's lost their
job the family
has not been able
to make ends meet
you know I've seen
people say well let
me just see what I
can sell on eBay so
that I can help out
and that's a glorious
thing to see and
because that
demonstrates real
love Dietrich Bonhoeffer
has written a great
book called Life
Together it's worth
getting your hands on
it and he says
loving one another in
this way to this
extent speaks the
Christian language with
overwhelming eloquence
the problem is
sometimes we prefer to
be a little less
eloquent the idea of a
shared life together is
a bit of a nightmare for
some of us I mean we
go out of our way to
make sure our
conversations at times
with fellow believers
are mundane arms length
very self-protective
well if we do that
Paul Tripp would say
that we become
co-conspirators in a
church that prefers
superficiality to true
worship and true life
together or worse we
shrink our understanding
of church to an hour and
a half on a Sunday
and as a result this
would be God's call to
us to love one another
and to lay down our
lives for one another
even as Christ has for
us so what does
devotion to the
fellowship look like
well I'm convinced that
in churches the size of
Brunsfield it's it's
really difficult to do
this without finding
ways to know each other
better than just on
Sundays so my
encouragement for you is
to practice hospitality
how many Sundays in the
month or even Friday
nights or Saturday nights
do you have people around
your house for a meal
how many times do you
just invite people who
are just like you or how
many times do you ask
people who are really
reflective of the bread to
the congregation is there
a seat at your table for
people who are single is
there a seat young people
is there a seat at your
table for that for an
older couple or a
widow widower we should
be sharing in our life
together in intergenerational
ways generational ways
much in the same way that
Charlie and Beth were
encouraging us to do
earlier this is how we
start to know what needs
people have and especially
as we gather together in
our small groups that
really serves us very well
we've just gone through a
complete revolution in our
small groups recently at
Charlotte Chapel and I am
stunned at the way that
our commitment to reducing
the size of the group
basing our commitment
together and forming our
groups around the basis
of relationship where
people are ready and
willing to share and
setting up from the very
start these are called
growth groups because
they're going to help us
grow to be more like
Jesus and the basic gist
of everything that people
come to do is a reminder
for them on every single
study sheet that they look
at how will this study
help us grow more in the
likeness of Jesus and love
one another and love God
better and we just drum
that home because it's
absolutely vital for us
I think this is the kind of
thing that we see in the
church in Acts as these
people who become
Christians it's part and
parcel of the faith to love
each other and live a
shared life together what
about the third thing
praising remembering the
gospel of God together of
course verse 42 they
devoted themselves to the
breaking of bread I
realize I am taking my
life in my hands speaking
in a brethren church on
this wow what is he going
to say he's a Baptist
well they devoted
themselves to the breaking
of bread they became
worshipers of Jesus
together I should say in
this context and in a
couple of contexts so for
example when Paul later in
Acts is in Troas and he's
he's I think in this
context in Acts 2 what
we're talking about here
is the Lord's Supper
it's adhering to the
command of the Lord
Jesus but there are other
couple of occasions in the
book of Acts where it's
not necessarily talking
about the Lord's Supper
for example it says
there's breaking of bread
on when Paul is on the
boat in Acts 27 I think
it is with a bunch of
pagans I don't think he's
sharing communion with
them but I think in the
context this is what's
going on here they are
remembering the gospel of
God together worshiping
Jesus and that's one of
the primary things that
we do now the Lord's
Supper for these guys
wasn't something that's
tagged on at the end of
a service it certainly
didn't involve little
squares of bread involved
much more of a meal
together a meal made
very meaningful by the
sharing of a common loaf
and a common cup and
Jesus therefore had
commanded these
observatants of course of
this feast until he
returns he had said
do this in remembrance
of me and it's
intended as this
symbolic remembrance of
Christ's sinless life and
atoning death on our
behalf it's a proclamation
of his death and his
resurrection until he
returns at the individual
level it's an opportunity
for self-examination but
communion is for the
church the people of God
shared in together as an
expression of the unity of
the people in gratitude to
God for the gospel you
follow me so again in
verse 42 it's unpacked
further down the page
verse 46 they broke bread
in their homes and ate
together with glad and
sincere hearts praising
God now why does Luke want
to highlight this commitment
as a feature of the early
church why does it matter
to their life together and
to our life together well I
think there are three
reasons one it's a matter
of simple obedience Jesus
commanded it two it
stimulates the church to
praise God for the most
important thing that he
has ever done for his
people it has to be
central I don't know about
you but when I'm at
communion I'm reminded of
every time of why I follow
Jesus when I take bread and
wine I'm reminded of the
fact that I am both torn
apart and put right back
together again by the
gospel and my love for
Jesus swells my my my
realization of my sin and
ongoing sinfulness is
unavoidably exposed in the
light of his blood and I
come as as a sinner as James
forces humbly repenting under
his welcome and grace and
I remember the beauty of
the gospel and at times I
have a big smile on my
face at times I have tears
and a smile on my face but
on any occasion whatever's
going on externally inside my
heart is full of joy and
gratitude and love that the
Lord God himself would do
this for someone like me man
alive so don't be
distracted when it happens
when you share in the Lord's
Supper together enjoy it
reflect on it and never ever
forget that you do it
together it's a mark of our
life together we encourage one
another to remember the gospel
together I don't know what
you guys do what often we eat
at the same time we drink at
the same time where we're just
saying one great big fat yes to
the Lord Jesus for his salvation
so what does devotion to the
breaking of bread look like for
you well again it's like
attending Sunday services it's
making sure that you have time to
and the priority to attend and
make the most of it don't let
minds wander whether it's to the
the roast that's in the oven or
whatever just meditate on that
I find Psalm 51 comes to mind
again and again I've memorized
passages of the Bible where
there's the gospel in a nutshell
which both remind me of who I
was what God has done and what I
am now those are rich those are
the things that when you
concentrate on those things or it
might be a song for you you know
it might be a song don't sing it
out loud especially if you're a
you're the only one yeah people
might not join in that's a bit
risky but that's those are helpful
things to do to make the most to
focus your heart your mind on what
you're doing in that moment and what
you're doing together lastly I'll make
this quick praying asking great things
from God together verse 42 again
they devoted themselves to prayer where
they came as dependent children to a
generous father listen when our eyes
are open to the majesty and the
beauty of Christ we're drawn to desire
more of him and prayer is simply the
articulation of that heart's love the
heart's response to Christ and what
he's done and we pray with prayers of
adoration but I think in verse 42 what
we're here what we're looking at
mainly is intercession and the reason I
say that is because that's the kind of
prayer that saturates the book of Acts
it's intercession all the way through in
chapter 4 God's people pray together for
boldness to speak God's word in the
face of persecution in chapter 12
God's people pray together for Peter's
relief release from prison so prayer is
something that they ask God to do on
account of the fact that they have come
to be aware of his great power he
actually can do anything isn't it odd
that and as we recognize that and
understand that that at times we prefer
self-reliance we prefer to crack on
with our lives the way we think we
should do them and forget to take time
to pray well prayer is as one author
has said the antithesis of this self
reliance it what it's what demonstrates
our dependence on God that we've
grasped the magnitude of his character
and honors him as the one behind all
the blessings of our life so are we
devoted to praying together regularly
most churches find it difficult to
gather more than a small fraction of
their Sunday congregations to either
corporate prayer times or even to small
groups but I think it's an important
thing for us to do and even when people
meet to pray we all know how much
easier it is to spend time sharing news
and requests than actually speaking to
God together in prayer why is this well I
wonder if it's because we don't get
beyond the religion that we ought to
pray to the reality of relationship that
we get to pray we get to speak to God so
when we devote ourselves to praying
together let's pray when we gather ask
great things of God together I don't
know if you have a membership directory
at Brunsfield but it's useful if you
have a knowledge of who are the people
in your church whatever you read in the
morning by the way just we pray that
not just for yourself but for each other
didn't Jesus teach us that the Lord's
prayer has that outward emphasis lead us
deliver us our father it starts with you
know it's not a prayer you're meant to
pray individualistically it's corporate
from the very off so learning loving
praising and praying one life that's
what we're called to that's what you're
called to as a church together if you're
new to Christianity I hope that spells it
out for you if you've been a Christian for
a longer time I hope you'll maintain an
emphasis on these things and recognize
that they are the heartbeat really of
Brunsfield Evangelical Church your
commitment to these things will serve you
well lastly very very lastly how many
times does a preacher say lastly he
never means it yes what do we see what's
the result of this you know this life
together I think the big temptation when
we look at a subject like this in this
sermon like this is that we just think
we do all these lives to all these
things together it's all about just
being a little commune a little closet
community together no way no way is
that the case you see in this passage
that they were not so preoccupied with
each other that they forgot about
mission it tells us that God added to
their number daily those who were being
saved and what that means is that they
must have been so generous as a
community and bold and sharing their
faith that their attractiveness as a
people their their attractiveness of
their shared life together won many
people to Jesus so one of the reasons
why we commit to our life together is so
that we might better display the love of
Christ to people who don't know him and
we need to recover then this vision of
Acts 2 42 and discover rediscover the
expectation then of steady growth in
that amen
you