This is a football.
At the last service, I think it was the first time in the history of St. Albans
somebody brought a football to the pulpit at the 8 o'clock service.
But there was a young man present who kept waiting for me to throw it into the congregation.
And I told him that I don't trust my arm and that I would probably hit some elderly person in the face with it,
which would destroy any attempt at good teaching from the illustration.
But this is a football.
And many of you know that I'm a big football fan.
I watched parts of both of the playoff games last night.
And I don't do church services in the evening on Super Bowl Sunday because I watch the Super Bowl.
You can have a service, but as long as I can get home by about 4.30, I'll come to it.
But after that, I'm not going to do the service because I watch the Super Bowl.
There's a famous story about, I think it's Vince Lombardi, who was one of the greatest football coaches who ever lived,
that his team had been on a losing streak.
And one day when the team came after its loss and they came to gather into the room to begin their practice for the week,
Vince Lombardi said,
Men, this is a football.
And then he proceeded to teach them the basics of football.
They'd just reached the point in time he'd realized that they weren't doing the basics of football properly.
They weren't doing the fundamentals properly.
And he said, we're going to start right at the beginning.
And right at the beginning, if you want to teach somebody football, as you say, this is a football.
My sermon this morning is a this is a football type of sermon.
It's because not only do bad teams need to remember the basics,
but good teams need to remember the basics.
Those of you guys and probably some women as well.
I know.
I don't know how many here remember Audrey Foster.
Audrey Foster was the head of the altar guild in this church for half a century.
She was also season ticket holder for the Rough Riders for half a century.
And so I know there are women who like football.
And, you know, one of the things they talk about when they're talking about football is that it's a team that does the fundamentals and the basics well.
So good teams need to do the fundamentals and the basics and bad teams need to relearn them.
And churches can get confused about what the fundamentals and the basics of a church is.
This is not just speaking.
I know many of you here aren't lifetime Anglicans, but Anglicans in particular are profoundly confused nowadays about what the church is.
We think it's a name.
You know, the Anglican church is fighting people over the use of the word Anglican here in Canada.
Or we think it's the presence of a bishop.
Or we think it's the presence of a building.
Or, you know, or we think that if we want to get back to basics, we go to the third century.
Or we go to the twelfth century.
Or we go to some century or another.
And churches, the Anglican church in particular, and I'm speaking as an Anglican clergyman,
the Anglican church in particular is profoundly confused about what is a church.
And the reading of scripture which Janice read this morning is something which is going to be in our minds
over the next, this week and the next three weeks.
As we, in a sense, look again at what are the fundamentals.
What is the basics of a church?
What makes a church a church?
So take your Bibles and turn in them to page 944.
Those of you who've brought your own Bibles, it's Acts chapter 2 verses 44 to,
sorry, Acts chapter 2 verses 40 to 47.
And the first thing we're going to look at is verse 42.
And this, throughout the ages, has been recognized as a text.
This one text gives the four marks of what a real church is.
I think it was two years or three years ago.
Well, it was 2003, so I guess it's now almost three years ago.
I went to Amsterdam for the first time.
And if you go to Amsterdam and you get any of the touristy type of map stuff,
you'll see that there are churches listed.
Like here you have this secular Dutch government advertising churches.
Now, I wasn't taken in for a moment.
Because if you go to them, all it is is a building.
It's a really nice building.
It's a really dramatic building.
And if you want to pay several euros, you can go into it and have a tour.
And at least in one of the ones that I was in, which was the really dramatic building,
there hasn't been worship in that building for decades, decades and decades.
It's a museum with the odd classical music concert and the odd lecture.
But it's not a church, even though it has church on the outside.
And even though the Dutch government calls it a church.
And even though the advertising calls it a church, it's not a church.
It's just a building.
It's a building that used to be owned by a church.
Acts 2, verse 42.
And one verse gives the four marks of a real church.
Listen.
And they continued.
Another way to put this as they were devoted.
They continued, or were devoted, in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Now, over the next couple of weeks, we're going to sort of, you know, look at this in some depth.
But just sort of to give you the big picture of these four simple marks of what makes a church a church.
The first thing is that the church, a true church, a real church, is a group of people devoted to the apostles' teaching.
In fact, in this version, it says it is a group of people who are devoted to the apostles' doctrine.
And we now understand that that means the New Testament.
It means that the mark of a real church is a church which is completely and utterly, wholeheartedly devoted to understanding what the apostles taught about the person of Jesus Christ,
about the meaning of life, about what happens after we die.
It means a group of people completely and utterly devoted to hearing the witness of the apostles,
which means a church is a people devoted to the New Testament and through the New Testament to read the Old Testament.
It is a church devoted to the Bible.
And you know what?
It doesn't matter if, you know what?
It doesn't matter if we have, we could have 20 bishops in here.
We could have five primates in here.
We could have 10 learned professors, emeritus here from divinity schools.
But if they all gathered here and they weren't committed to the New Testament,
to having, to being a group of people who are formed and reformed by the New Testament,
then there's not a church here.
Doesn't matter if they own the name Anglican.
Doesn't matter if they're all of those people.
A church is a group of people who are devoted to being a New Testament people.
A people devoted to apostolic teaching.
Listen again to the words of Acts 2.42.
They continued steadfastly, or they were devoted, in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship.
And that second word, fellowship, is a hard word to translate.
The Greek word is koinonia.
And it could really also be translated as communion.
And so what does it mean to be a people devoted to communion?
The word koinonia points us that, first of all, we are to be a people devoted.
Like, you could have a group of people devoted to Shakespeare's writings.
You could have a group of people who are devoted to maybe Jane Austen's writing.
I know there's piles of people every year who go to Prince Edward Island because they are devoted to Anne of Green Gables.
And they read the book over and over and over again.
And if all the church was was a group of people devoted to the New Testament,
there would be maybe nothing different than us in the university down the road
who have professors devoted to different writers or different topics.
But the second one points to something deeper.
Remember, we are a group of people devoted to communion, to koinonia.
And first and foremost, that is a word that points us to being devoted to communion with God,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
That's what this word is pointing us to.
Not just a group of people devoted to intellectual mind games
and academic discussions about curious things about the New Testament.
Maybe read the New Testament to see what it does to reflect upon the changing roles of women
in first century pagan culture as they clash with Latin and Greek culture and things.
It's not like that, folks.
It is a group of people devoted to New Testament teaching, to the apostolic teaching,
and a group of people devoted to communion.
And that means first and foremost, communion with God.
And secondly, communion with other people who desire communion with God.
You see, the Christian life is never the life of the Lone Ranger.
It's always a life of communion and community.
And so we are to be devoted first and foremost to communion with God.
And as part of our devotion to communion with God, it means communion.
Well, look to your left and look to your right.
It's devotion as well, a complete and utter commitment to other people who also desire communion with God.
Acts 2.42, the third mark of a church.
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, koinonia,
in the breaking of bread.
And here, the definite article, the, belongs there.
And it's referring to the Lord's Supper.
And it's referring to the Lord's Supper, not just as a ritual which we happen to go to.
And, you know, a church which never has that ritual isn't a real church.
You know, you have to have the ritual.
But it's more than the ritual.
It's what the ritual is about and what it allows us to enter into.
Remember, we're to be a people devoted to apostolic teaching,
a people devoted to communion with God and communion with others who are in communion with God.
And we are to be a people who regularly gather to remember Jesus.
Regularly gather to remember that Jesus is the Messiah of God,
the anointed one, the mighty savior, the mighty deliverer,
that he is the one who died on the cross for you and for me,
bearing all of your sins in mind,
tasting all there is to taste of sin and of death,
and on the third day, rising from the dead,
and defeating sin and death and hell and the evil one,
and all things that keep us far from God.
And we are to gather daily.
We are to gather regularly to partake of the Lord's Supper.
And more than that, to remember Jesus.
To remember Jesus.
The fourth mark of the church.
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship,
in the breaking of bread, and in,
and here if it was to be translated literally,
it would say, and in the prayers.
And the prayers is a wonderful term.
It means that we are to be a people devoted to prayer in two types.
That we are, on one level,
it describes that we are to be devoted to this type of the prayers,
gather together to say and to do and to live the prayer of the church.
A public gathering.
That once again, we're not just to be solitary,
individual lone rangers,
but it also means,
it also means those of us who get up in the morning
and kneel by the side of the bed,
or before we go to bed at night,
kneel by the side of the bed and pray.
Or those who gather in coffee shops,
or in living rooms, or in kitchens,
and pray with other people,
or pray by themselves.
It is a commitment to a life of conversation with God.
Because that's what prayer is.
The four marks of a real church.
It is a group of people devoted to knowing the apostolic teaching
so we can be formed by it.
It is a group of people who are devoted to be in communion with God,
and in communion with others who are in communion with God.
A group of people who are devoted to gathering together to remember Jesus in the Lord's Supper,
and a group of people who are committed, devoted to conversation with God.
These are the four marks of the church.
They answer the question,
how do I recognize a real church?
How do I know when I go to Amsterdam
that even though the brochure says it's a church,
the government says it's a church,
the sign says it's a church,
it's just a building?
We know this by Acts 2.42.
Pray for us that we will be a people devoted to these basics.
Pray for us that we will be a church,
a group of people,
a community devoted to these things.
Now this text,
which Janice read,
touches on two other questions.
The first one is,
how do you enter a real church?
And secondly,
how do you live in a real church?
We're going to look at the first one,
how do you enter a real church?
And here,
we're not just talking about a building,
although, you know,
it's really important for us to be always sensitive
about how hard it is to enter a building.
I have a friend,
or I had a friend many years ago
who was into anthroposophy.
I don't know if there still are many people
who are into anthroposophy.
I hope I pronounced that correctly.
And I went with her once
for one of their services.
And I had been going to churches for a long time,
but it was just very, very unnerving
to go into a building devoted to anthroposophy.
Like, you know,
how am I supposed to act, you know?
Like, what am I supposed to do?
I went to a Buddhist wedding once.
And, you know,
when I first got the invitation
to go to a Buddhist wedding,
it was a cousin
who was marrying somebody who was a Buddhist.
And I was a bit apprehensive about,
well, how do you enter
into a Buddhist wedding ceremony?
How do you enter into a Buddhist building?
And one of the things
that we have to pray about
is that, you know,
there are many people in our culture
that the idea of walking through that door
is very scary.
They don't know how to do it.
And you know what?
That's not their fault.
Like, you know,
we can't stand at the door
and say,
shame on you
for not knowing
how to enter this building.
But, you know,
and for many people in our culture,
what they think is in this building
is a combination
of interesting things
about the past
and toxic waste.
You know,
because there's many people
in our culture
who believe
that we're a repository
of everything that is bad
about Canada and the West.
And once again,
that's not their fault.
And one of the things
we have to do
is we have to pray
and pray and pray
that as people pass that door
and as they maybe
even consider that door
that there's something
welcoming about it
and that we can do
whatever we can
in our power
to make coming
into this scary place
a welcoming experience.
But that's an aside.
The text here talks about
how do we enter
a real church.
We're going to look at
still on page 944,
we're going to look at
verses 40 to 41.
And with many other words,
this is Peter.
Luke is summarizing
what Peter has just,
how Peter's ended
the first Christian sermon
that took place 50 days
after the resurrection
of Jesus
and the Holy Spirit
has fallen upon
the 120 people
Peter has got up
and preached.
Luke has given a summary
of this first sermon.
On one level,
this is the birthday
of the church
and here's what Peter,
this is how it sort of
closes up.
And with many other words,
Peter testified
and exhorted them saying,
be saved
from this perverse generation.
Then those who were,
those who gladly received
his word were baptized
and that day
about 3,000 souls
were added to them.
verse 41 shows
that there's two things
involved in entering
a real church
because remember,
a real church
is not a building
but people,
a community of people.
There are two things involved.
First,
that we receive
the word of Peter
and secondly,
that we are baptized.
Now,
the receiving
the word of Peter
means,
it means receiving
his witness
forgiveness
to Jesus,
his death upon the cross,
his resurrection,
the fact that he is
the Messiah of God,
the fulfillment
of all of the promises
which God has been making
for centuries
and centuries
and centuries.
It is a message
to turn to him
in faith,
to surrender to him
in obedience.
It is a message
that Jesus is the one
that opens the way
to God
and that when we
turn to Jesus,
he turns no one away
who comes to him
and we receive
the forgiveness
of sins
and the gift
of the Holy Spirit
and the way
that we enter
into a real church
is to receive
this word,
to say yes
and in saying yes
to say no
to whatever
is not in keeping
with that word
and is to say yes,
Jesus,
thank you,
thank you
and the second thing
is to be baptized.
Now,
completely
and utterly
godly people
in different churches
debate the order
that these two things
have to happen in.
Baptists,
I was a Baptist.
I was a member
of Alta Vista Baptist Church.
I was baptized
when I was 17 years old.
I survived
the interview
by the deacons
of several hours
to allow me
to membership
in the church
which given that
I had hair down
to my belt
was quite a task.
And I was a member
of a Baptist church
and Baptists,
God loved them,
they believed
that first you received
the word about Jesus
and then you were baptized.
Anglicans,
Presbyterians,
Lutherans,
Roman Catholics,
Eastern Orthodox,
say that the order
doesn't matter
as long as you do both.
And some other time
I can talk more fully
about why we Anglicans
in particular
believe that it's appropriate
that baptism happens
for godly parents
of their children.
That's another topic.
But whether you're a Baptist
or whether you're Anglican,
you should believe
in both.
In fact,
one of the tragedies today
is that while it's
understandable
that Christians of goodwill
can debate
the order of receiving
the word
and being baptized,
it is terrible
that there are many
who think
that both are not needed.
There are many Anglicans,
once again,
unfortunately,
who only think
you have to be baptized.
That, you know,
you can come to
St. Swithin's
in the swamp
as long as you're baptized
you can receive communion
and one of the wonderful things
about St. Swithin's
in the swamp
is it doesn't matter
what you believe.
That anybody,
no matter what they believe,
are completely and utterly,
well, folks,
that's not Christian.
You know,
I had a hard time
for many years
when I was an Anglican
after I'd been ordained
in Anglican Church
to be able to say that,
like, you know,
come out in public
and say,
that's just not Christian.
And Anglicanism,
of course,
does believe
and teach
that you have to have
receive the word
about Jesus
and give your life
to Christ
and be baptized.
Both of them
have to happen.
Whether baptism
happens first or second,
well,
that's just sort of,
there's a whole sorts
of reasons
why things might happen
in that order,
but both are important.
The church is a people
who have received the word,
the message of Jesus,
responded with faith
and obedience,
and have been baptized.
As another aside,
sometime within the next
couple of weeks,
I would like to provide
an opportunity
for people in this congregation
who haven't been baptized
or for people
who would like
to publicly reaffirm
their faith.
Maybe they were baptized
as infants,
came to faith far later
and would like to mark
that somehow publicly.
And also for those
who would like to be received
into the Anglican Church.
And I'm going to provide
some means of
some sort of teaching
for that.
And I will be making
some announcements
about that
in a couple of weeks' time.
So, the marks of a true church,
a real church,
how you enter a real church,
and finally,
how do you live
in a real church?
Once again,
we go to this classic text.
Remember, Acts chapter 2,
40 to 47,
is a,
this is a football text.
It's one of those things
we have to sort of look at
time and time and time again
to make sure
that we're in the right direction.
And how do we live
in a real church?
Look at verses 43 through 47.
I'll just read them briefly.
Then fear, or awe,
came upon every soul,
and many wonders and signs
were done through the apostles.
Just want to pause here.
The first thing
about living in a real church
is that we are learning,
we are a people learning
to be open to God.
Learning to just be open to God.
I mean, you know,
so many of us go through times
in our life
when our relationship with God
is sort of like this,
and we're maybe in a fetal position,
you know, curled up,
and the goal of the Christian life
and the goal of the people of God
is to learn to be,
not in a fetal position,
but to learn to stand like this
and be completely
and utterly open to God.
And here in this simple verse,
we see two of the three things
that are mentioned in this text
about how we're learning
to be open to God.
First, to be open to God
is to learn awe.
Like, the more you know about God,
on one level,
the more we know about God,
the more we know
that he is the kindest being
you will ever meet,
the most merciful,
the most faithful,
but he's also the most different.
He is God.
And so it's appropriate
that we learn a sense
of the awfulness of him
and his difference.
And to be open to God
means to be open
to the supernatural.
It means to be open
to the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
It means to not quench
the Holy Spirit.
It means to be open
to praying for miracles,
to pouring out our heart to God
for the needs of the world
and for God to work miraculously
and powerfully
in and through the church
and his people.
It means learning
to be open to this
and also means to be open
to God in such a way
that other people
come to saving faith
in Jesus Christ.
It's the last verse
of the chapter.
Praising God
and having favor
with all the people
and the Lord added
to the church daily
those who are being saved.
Like the part
of the dailiness
of learning to be the church
is expecting
and being open to God
in such a way
that we learn
to have a sense of awe
in his presence.
We learn to be open
to the supernatural power
of the Holy Spirit
and the acting of God
in our lives
and we are open
to how God brings people
to saving faith
through fallen people
like us.
fallen, unworthy people
like us.
Secondly,
a church,
a real church
is learning
to be generous.
Look at verses 44
and 45.
Now all who believed
were together
and had all things
in common
and sold their possessions
and goods
and divided them
among all
as anyone had need.
This is not a text
that teaches communism.
It's not part
of the sermon.
Some other time
I can show.
The whole text
assumes private property.
It assumes
their possessions
and in a moment
we'll see
it's their houses.
But the mark,
you know,
how do we live
in the real church?
Those of us
who are learning
to live in the real church
are learning
to be open to God
and we are learning
to be generous,
especially when
faced with need.
especially when
faced with need.
That when we see
real need,
whether it's a need
to send the gospel out,
whether it's a need,
a physical need
of somebody
in the congregation,
the first thing
that goes through our mind
is how can I
generously deal with this?
How can I deal
with this generously
with my property,
with my time,
with my money?
How can I deal
with this?
When we're learning
to do this,
we're not there yet.
But to be
a real church,
I mean,
to learn to live
in a real church
is to learn
to be open to God,
to learn to be generous,
especially when
faced with need.
And finally,
we're learning
to live large
and little.
Notice all those L's
in that sentence.
This is my Baptist roots,
you know,
learning to live
large and little.
Look at verse 46.
So continuing daily,
day by day,
the word daily here
presents a picture
of the normal life.
You know,
it's a homey word.
Like,
what's your daily life like?
Well,
you know,
your daily life,
you brush your teeth,
you know,
you get up,
you have coffee,
you go to work,
you know,
you say hi to your friend,
you go to your regular
place for coffee.
Like,
it's a daily,
homey type of word.
And so in verse 46,
so continuing daily
with one accord
in the temple
and breaking bread
from house to house,
they eat their food
with gladness
and simplicity of heart.
You see,
they're learning
to live large
and little.
And that means
that part of this
normal life
in a real church,
part of a real people
who are really committed
to Jesus Christ
means that
large gatherings
like this
are just part
of our normal life.
that's the word there
they met in the temple
daily.
It's just part
of their normal life
that we would come together
with larger numbers
of people
and that we'd worship
God together
and this is part
of the normal
Christian life.
But not only
are we learning
to live large,
but we're learning
to live little
because they meet
also daily
house by house.
And this is really
what we would now
call small groups.
And it would be also
those mentoring types
of relationships.
It's not only
Christian families,
but it implies
something beyond
the family
of a life
where we remember
Jesus
and we say
the prayers
and we study
the Bible
and we learn
about each other's
needs
and we use
our spiritual gifts
not only when we
gather in large
settings,
but also in little
sessions.
And if we as a church
only do the large
without the little,
there's something wrong.
And if we only do
the little
without the large,
there's something wrong.
Because part of what
it means to learn
to live in a real
church is that not
only do we learn
to be open to God,
not only are we
learning to be
generous,
but we're learning
to live large
and little.
Which means,
you know,
whether it's the
small groups that
are advertised
in the bulletin
or I don't know
if they are
advertised in the
bulletin,
Vi's been,
Vi is sick
and I don't know
if the bulletin's
all up to date,
but whether it's
one of the small
groups that we
offer,
whether it's a
small group that
we want to start
in our home
or whatever,
but learning to
live little
is part of what
it means to be
the real church.
Please pray
that St.
Albans
will never forget
the basics,
but that we'll do
these really,
really well.
Let's pray.
Loving Father,
we thank you
that you are
so patient with us.
We give you
thanks and praise
that you don't
look at us
and try to weigh
our merits,
but that you
pardon our offenses.
We give you
thanks and praise
that you don't
sort of look
down your nose
at us if we're
not doing as
good a job
as we should
be,
but that you
just day by day
and moment by
moment that you
smile at us
and look at us
with eyes of love
and desire only
the best for us.
Father,
we give you
thanks and praise
for your fatherly
care,
your gentle care,
your kindness
towards us.
Loving Father,
pour out your
Holy Spirit
with fresh power
upon us as a
congregation.
May these marks
be the marks
that characterize us
as a people.
may you help us
to help people
to enter
into your people,
people who are
learning to call
on your name.
And Father,
may you help us
to learn how to
live as your people.
Help us to learn
how to live large
and little
and to live
more generous lives
and to live lives
that are completely
and utterly
open to you.
Father,
this we ask
in the name of Jesus.
Amen.