October 6, 2025 • 29 mins
What does it truly take for a church to change the world? Pastor Timothy Mann draws us back to the blueprint found in Acts 2:42-47, where the earliest Christians—without buildings, marketing plans, or technology—sparked a movement that spread the gospel throughout the ancient world.
The power of the early church wasn't in their resources but in their radical devotion. After Peter's Spirit-filled Pentecost sermon converted 3,000 people, these new believers didn't simply return to life as usual. Instead, they embedded themselves in a community where worship, teaching, fellowship, generosity, and mission became daily routines. Their commitment wasn't casual—it was steadfast and determined despite difficulties.
Pastor Tim unveils four critical commitments that made the early church effective and can transform our spiritual lives today. First, they hungered for God's Word and depended on prayer, soaking in apostolic teaching not just for information but for transformation. They understood that following Christ required being formed by His truth.
Second, they lived in holy awe of God while practicing sacrificial generosity. When needs arose, those with resources willingly used them to help others—not from obligation but from hearts transformed by the gospel.
Third, they pursued unity both in corporate worship and daily life. The beautiful phrase "with one accord" reflects deep spiritual harmony stemming from shared salvation, common Savior, and unified mission.
Finally, they reached outsiders while relying completely on God for growth. Their authentic worship and radical love attracted attention, yet it was "the Lord" who added to their numbers daily.
This message challenges us to examine our own spiritual devotion. Are we content with surface-level Christianity, or are we willing to commit to the kind of steadfast devotion that transforms lives? When the Word is preached, are we passive listeners or active disciples who carry the message into our week? Have we lost our awe of God, settling for a tame, predictable version of Him?
Join us in discovering how these ancient commitments can produce fruit in our modern lives. Because disciples don't choose hype—they pursue holiness. They don't seek flash—they want spiritual fruit. And when we follow this biblical pattern, we position ourselves to be used by God in remarkable ways.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Foundations of Truth, the Bible
teaching ministry of PastorTimothy Mann and Providence
Church, ormond Beach, florida.
Providence Church is a localassembly of followers of Jesus
Christ dedicated to helpingpeople become committed and
mature followers of Jesus Christ.
Now here's Pastor Timothy Mannteaching the word.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Acts 2, verses 42 through 47.
We are in this new series,calling it Growing God's Way,
preparing for a new season offruitfulness.
This really has to do withdirection and vision and where
God is working and how he'sleading us.
This is the second sermon inthat series, acts, chapter 2,
(00:43):
and so we're going to pick up inverse 40.
What's happening here is theapostle Peter is preaching the
gospel.
He has preached the gospel.
He's in Jerusalem, probablyright outside the temple, and
there's a lot of people there.
The Bible says, and with manywords, he testified and exhorted
them, saying be saved from thisperverse generation.
Then those who gladly receivedhis word were baptized and that
(01:04):
day about 3,000 souls were addedto them.
Now our text we're going tofocus on this morning.
And they continued steadfastlyin the apostles, doctrine and
fellowship, in the breaking ofbread and in prayers.
And then fear came upon everysoul and many wonders and signs
were done through the apostles.
And now all who were, whobelieved, were together and had
all things in common and soldtheir possessions and goods and
(01:28):
divided them among all as anyonehad need.
And so continuing daily withone accord in the temple and
breaking bread from house tohouse.
They ate their food withgladness and simplicity of heart
, praising God and having favorwith all the people, and the
Lord added to the church dailythose who were being saved.
We'll stop here.
(01:49):
This is God's Word.
We are in this series.
It's a topical series, but it'sexpositional along the way as
we think about growing God's way.
When we think about a churchthat changes the world, our
minds often focus on size, atleast here in America on size,
influence and resources.
(02:09):
We likely envision the largestchurches.
We all know large churches.
We have some even in ourcommunity.
We likely envision the largestchurches that are characterized
by their exceptional facilitiesand their extensive reach and
their substantial budgets.
But Acts, chapter 2, reminds usof something completely
(02:32):
different, and that's that thechurch that God used to turn the
world upside down didn't haveany of those things, didn't have
any of those things.
They lacked buildings, theydidn't have a marketing plan,
they didn't have live streamtechnology.
They didn't have live streamtechnology, they didn't have
children's check-in systems oranything along those lines.
What they had was much greater.
They had the Spirit of Godliving in them, they had the
(02:55):
Word of God shaping their livesand they had a deep,
gospel-focused love for eachother.
And this combination was whatGod used to spark a movement
that would spread the gospelfrom Jerusalem to the ends of
the earth.
Acts, chapter 2, actuallydescribes for us the results of
(03:16):
Peter's, the apostle Peter's,spirit-filled preaching at
Jerusalem on the 50th day, whichwas after Passover and the
Jewish Feast of First Fruits.
This day is called Pentecost,which is a Greek word which
means 50.
And the results of thatpreaching?
That happened that day 3,000people repented, believed in
(03:37):
Christ and were baptized.
But the passage doesn't endthere, and nor should our view
of church life.
But the passage doesn't endthere, and nor should our view
of church life.
The question is what happenednext?
What happened next?
Did they return to life asusual, seeing salvation as a
ticket to heaven rather than anew way of living?
Did they do that?
No, the gospel moved them soprofoundly that it transformed
(04:04):
everything.
They didn't just attend aservice and disappear.
Instead, they embeddedthemselves in a community where
worship and teaching andfellowship and generosity and
mission became daily routines.
That's what happened, and Godused this simple devotion to
(04:26):
make a remarkable impact as theydid this.
And Providence Christian.
That's precisely the kind ofchurch we're called to be, the
exact kind of church that Godhas called us to be.
We're in a season of growth.
We praise God for that Morepeople coming, ministry
(04:47):
opportunities, open doors forthe gospel.
But growth involves a keychoice, and that key choice is
will we simply become busier orwill we choose to become
healthier, even more so than weare spiritually speaking?
Will we just settle for being acrowd or will we strive to be a
(05:09):
spirit-filled, gospel-shapedmission, sending family, because
that's the beauty of acts.
Chapter 2 devotion.
Grace received becomes gracegiven.
It's not a program, it's anatural overflow of a heart
(05:30):
drawn to Jesus.
The truth is, is disciples,disciples of Jesus, don't choose
hype, they pursue holiness.
We don't want to pursue flash,we want to seek spiritual fruit.
(05:50):
We don't want to grow by chance.
We aim to grow intentionally,in a way that glorifies God and
multiplies disciples.
The early church was devotedand effective.
They were devoted and effectiveand God uses that kind of
Christian and that kind ofchurch that's devoted and
effective.
This series that, by God's graceand with His help, I'm
(06:13):
attempting to preach, focuses onthat, and today's passage for
the next few minutes guides ustoward it.
So let's ask this questiontogether.
Just think about it in yourmind.
So let's ask this questiontogether.
Just think about it in yourmind.
What does it take, what does ittake for a Christian, what does
(06:37):
it take for a church to be thekind of people that God uses,
not just to gather a crowd, butto make disciples, to multiply
leaders and change lives foreternity?
There are four commitments inthis passage that enables you,
(06:59):
me and the church to be used byGod in this way.
So let's look at these fourcommitments.
You ready?
Let's look at them.
First of all, the commitment isis we need to be a christian
and a church that hungers forthe word and depends on prayer.
Be a christian and a churchthat hungers for the word and
depends on prayer.
Verse 42 and they continuedsteadfastly in the apostles
(07:20):
doctrine and fellowship, in thebreaking of bread and in prayers
.
So the very first thing thatLuke, the physician who wrote
the book of Acts, the very firstthing that Luke tells us about
the newborn church, is that theywere devoted.
It says they continuedsteadfastly.
Continued steadfastly that wordin the Greek language means to
(07:41):
hold fast to something withintense effort, despite
difficulty.
To hold fast to something withintense effort, despite
difficulty.
It wasn't a casual relationshipwith spiritual things.
It was not.
This was a steadfast,determined commitment to the
(08:03):
things of God.
They didn't just add Jesus totheir lives, their lives were
now built around him.
And the pillars of thatdevotion were the apostles'
teaching, fellowship, breakingof bread and prayer.
Let's touch that First of all.
(08:24):
They're devoted to the word ofGod.
Devoted to the word of God.
When Luke mentions here theapostles doctrine, he's
referencing the authoritativeteachings of those men that
Jesus personally chose, that hepersonally discipled, saved and
sent out.
And these new believers in Acts2 understood that following
Christ required being formed byhis truth.
(08:47):
Inspiration alone wasn't enough.
They needed instruction.
And the apostles' teachingcentered on Christ, on Jesus,
his person, his work, hispromises and his commands.
They weren't coming together,listen.
They weren't coming together tohear personal opinions.
(09:09):
They weren't coming together.
Listen, they weren't comingtogether to hear personal
opinions.
They weren't coming together tohear cultural or political
commentary.
They were receivingSpirit-inspired truth from the
Word of God.
And today that very sameapostolic teaching is preserved
for us in the New Testament.
Isn't that wonderful.
The Spirit who spoke throughPeter and John continues to
(09:33):
speak to us through theScriptures.
But notice it says theycontinued steadfastly in it.
They continued steadfastly init.
They just didn't hear it onceand then move on.
They kept coming back.
They soaked in it.
The early church was a learningchurch, not just for learning,
for information, but fortransformation, for change in
(09:56):
their lives.
So, providence, this means thatwe don't need to just read the
Bible occasionally, we need tolive in it.
Our Sunday gatherings like thisshould be much more than just a
motivational boost.
It shouldn't just be a timewhere you come and your mood
(10:16):
gets changed.
No, it needs to be moments whenthe Word reshapes our thinking,
confronts our sin and fuels ourworship.
That's what ought to happenhere.
That's what ought to happen ina Bible fellowship group as well
.
The Bible, god's Word, must havethe authority to correct us
when we're wrong, to encourageus when we're weary and to guide
(10:40):
us when we're unsure.
So ask yourself, ask yourselfwhen the Word is preached or
taught, am I a passive listeneror am I an active disciple?
Do I come on Sunday orWednesday or whenever we gather?
Do I come expecting God tospeak and ready to obey?
(11:00):
Do I carry the message intoMonday and Tuesday and Wednesday
and you know the rest of thelist?
Do I have a devotion to theword through the week.
What else?
Well, it says devoted tofellowship.
Devoted to fellowship theycontinue steadfastly in the
(11:21):
apostles' doctrine.
And fellowship.
Luke here connects theirdevotion to the word with their
commitment to fellowship.
And that's more than justcoffee and conversation.
It's a shared life, sharingjoys and burdens, and resources
and responsibilities.
The gospel didn't just linkthem to God, it brought them
(11:43):
together.
In the Roman world at this time, society was deeply divided.
In the Roman world at this time, society was deeply divided Jew
versus Gentile, slave versusfree, rich versus poor.
But in Christ those divisionswere broken down.
The church became a familywhere everyone belonged because
(12:06):
everyone was connected to Jesus.
And that same supernaturalunity is available to us.
But it takes effort.
It takes effort.
Fellowship doesn't just happen.
It's built by showing up,investing in others and serving
side by side.
That's how it's built.
Let's keep going.
Devoted to the breaking of bread.
Now, this likely refers to bothregular meals and the Lord's
(12:30):
Supper, most scholars believe,and in both they were rehearsing
the gospel.
They were remembering Christ'sbody, that he gave his shed
blood and their salvation beingsecured by that.
Every meal became a moment ofworship and every breaking of
bread served as a reminder thatthe cross purchased their life
(12:52):
together.
And the Lord's table isn't justa ritual.
It's a gospel anchor for us.
It keeps the cross at thecenter and it reminds us that
our unity and our joy and ourmission comes from what Jesus
has done.
Like the choir sang earlier,what God has done.
We will observe the table nextSunday.
(13:15):
Be here for it.
Look what else Devoted toprayer.
Prayer wasn't just a sideactivity for the early church.
It was their primary powersource.
They prayed together, often andsincerely, because they
understood that they could donothing without the Spirit of
God.
How much could they do withoutthe Spirit of God?
(13:37):
Nothing, nothing.
And these weren't just emptyrecitations.
These were genuine cries to theFather who had saved them and
called them into His mission.
And so if you, as an individualChristian, and we as a church
want to grow God's way,individually and together, then
(13:58):
we have to have the same postureof dependence as they did.
I mean, if the apostles and theearly church needed prayer, how
much do you need it?
How much do I?
How much we need it even moreif they did?
A prayerless Christian willlack power.
A prayerless church will lackpower.
(14:18):
However, a praying church willsee God move in ways that
strategy alone can never achieve.
Why were they so devoted to theWord and to prayer?
Because the gospel hadtransformed them.
They had heard Peter preachChrist crucified for their sins
and risen, and back up in verse37 says they had been cut to the
(14:39):
heart and they turned fromtheir sins to trust in Jesus,
and so the Word was now life tothem and prayer was their
lifeline, to God who had rescuedthem.
And really the same is true forus, because true devotion
arises from transformation, fromgospel.
(15:02):
You won't crave God's worduntil you've experienced his
grace word until you'veexperienced his grace.
You won't pray with enthusiasmuntil you know the one that
you're speaking to is the Saviorwho shed his blood for you.
Let me give you an application,for you, me and Providence
Church.
Here's some suggestions.
(15:23):
Let's make gathering under theword a non-negotiable Come
prepared, bible in hand, with anopen heart.
If you're able, maybe evenwrite down some takeaways during
the messages, review themmidweek.
Make prayer, if you're notdoing it already, make prayer a
(15:44):
regular part of your dailyroutine, personally, with your
family, even with others in thechurch.
Let's get really holy and superspiritual.
Join corporate prayer meetingon wednesday evenings and be
willing to pray aloud, evenbriefly, with others in those
groups, maybe just this week.
(16:05):
Find one person that you canmeet either in person or maybe
facetime or text, or some way.
Find one person that you canmeet either in person or maybe
FaceTime or text, or some way.
Find one person you can meetwith weekly or even monthly I'm
not going to make it too hard onyou, even monthly to read
Scripture and pray together.
So to be a believer in a churchthat God uses, we need a
(16:26):
commitment to the Word andprayer.
There's a second commitment bea christian and a church that
lives in awe of god and givessacrificially.
43 through 45.
Then fear came upon every souland many wonders and signs were
done through the apostles, andnow all who believed were
(16:47):
together and had all things incommon and sold their
possessions and goods anddivided them among all as anyone
had need.
So here luke shifts from thechurch's inward devotion to its
outward impact, and there's acouple of qualities here that
really stand out.
One is awe and the other issacrifice.
They lived in awe of god.
(17:08):
The word fear here in thescripture doesn't mean that they
were terrified of God in thesense of dreading Him.
It means they had a holyreverence for Him.
They were captivated by Hismajesty, they were awestruck by
His power and they were deeplyaware of His presence.
It actually involved livingwith a God-centered awareness at
(17:32):
all times, knowing that he sees.
He sees you right now.
He sees your heart right now.
He sees your thoughts right now.
Knowing that he sees, knowingthat he rules and reigns and
knowing that he acts.
In the early days of the church,god revealed his presence in
very unmistakable ways miraclesand healings and supernatural
(17:55):
signs through the apostles.
I love the accounts and storiesof how the lord right now is
speaking to people who don'teven have the word of god
through dreams, visions.
Don't tell me, god doesn't dothat.
And these weren't tricks.
They they demonstrated that therisen jesus was still working
(18:15):
through his followers.
And this awe is not just, it'snot hype, it's not fake.
I'm not talking about that.
It came from a real encounterwith the living God.
And when a Christian and when achurch lives with God-centered
awareness, everything changes.
Worship becomes warm andvibrant, sin becomes serious and
(18:44):
mission becomes urgent.
So, fellow Jesus followers, Iwonder when was the last time we
felt so aware of God'sgreatness that it caused us to
stop in our tracks.
When was the last time we weremoved to tears by His mercy or
(19:07):
left speechless by His power?
Because if we lose our awe ofGod, we will settle then for a
tame version of Him Safe, smalland predictable.
But I want you to know thismorning that God of the Bible is
none of those things.
He is holy, he is sovereign andhe is unstoppable.
(19:28):
And when we fear Him rightly,we will obey Him with joy.
Well, they also gavesacrificially.
Verse 44 through 45 highlightsone of the early church's most
counter-cultural traits, andthat was radical generosity.
All it says.
All who believe were togetherhad all things in common.
(19:49):
Now, that doesn't mean theyabolished private property or
practiced forced redistribution.
It means that when a need arose, those with resources willingly
and freely used them to helpmeet that need.
The gospel had broken the powerof greed in their lives.
(20:09):
They no longer saw theirpossessions as theirs but as
tools for god's mission and forcaring for his people.
And so when a brother or sisterwas in need, they didn't just
pray, they took action.
Some even sold property andvaluables to help others.
This was not early socialism orcommunism.
(20:31):
It was compassion inspired bythe Holy Spirit.
It was.
It was compassion inspired bythe holy spirit.
Nobody told them they had togive.
The love of christ motivatedthem to give.
It was all voluntary and I'lltell you what over the years
I've seen this kind ofgenerosity at providence like,
like helping a single mom in ourchurch pay her rent or covering
(20:54):
bills for a family in crisis,and many other examples.
That's act two generosity.
It's inconvenient, it's costlyand it's joyful.
It's joy filled.
We have witnessed the generoussupport of the ongoing work of
providence church over theselast 15 years.
The faithful giving of god'speople for the ongoing work of
(21:17):
the ministry has been incredible.
He's done that and we don'tmake a big deal about it.
I loved it at the last newmembers class a couple of weeks
ago.
We had taught the class, we hadfinished up and I said do you
have any questions?
There's one guy in the room.
He raised his hand.
I said yes, sir, called hisname.
(21:40):
I said what's your question?
He said I want to know how canI actually give money to you
people.
You never talk about it, youdon't pass the plate.
I don't even know what to dowith it?
Who do I give it to?
I like those questions.
God provides, he's blessed,there's been a generosity.
Why was the early church sogenerous?
Because they had experiencedgod's generosity through the
gospel.
The apostle paul later wrote insecond corinthians 8 9.
(22:03):
He said for you know the graceof our lord jesus christ, that
though he was rich, yet for yoursakes he became poor, that you,
through his poverty, mightbecome rich.
That's spiritual talk.
That's not literal stuff.
That's spiritual talk.
Now, he does allow some peopleto be rich, but the reality is
is jesus sacrificed heaven'sglory to meet our greatest need
(22:25):
and that's salvation.
And if we have received thatgrace, then how in the world can
we cling to our possessions asif they're ours?
We can't.
We're stewards, we're notowners, and generous giving then
just simply becomes somethingwe do and it's a part of who we
(22:47):
are.
So let's touch on someapplications.
For you, me and ProvidenceChurch, I would say this Pursue
awe, a-w-e, pursue awe.
This week, just a suggestionthis week dedicate 10 minutes
each day to silence andscripture.
(23:09):
No phone, no music or no plans.
Just read a psalm of praise,contemplate god's greatness and
respond with worship from yourheart.
Here's another thought how wecould apply.
Identify a need, maybe pray andask god to reveal someone in
(23:32):
our church family with apractical need that you can meet
.
It might be financial, but italso could be time or
encouragement, child care, ahomemade meal the list goes on.
Another application would bethis give with joy, if you don't
already Just reflect on yourown giving habits towards God's
(23:54):
work through your church'sministry.
Are those giving habits casualand leftover, or are they
deliberate and sacrificial?
I would say take a step towardgreater faith in giving, not
because God or the church needsyour money, but because giving
is one of God's tools tostrengthen your faith and bless
(24:15):
others.
Because giving is one of God'stools to strengthen your faith
and bless others, what wouldshift?
I mean, let's just considerthis.
What would shift in this churchif every member, and even
regular attendees if you're nota member yet, I'd say number one
, why not?
But anyway what would actuallyshift in this church if every
member lived in awe of God andgave, as if everything that we
(24:37):
own belonged to him?
What would shift If everyperson did that?
Wow, there's a third commitment.
Do you have time for it?
I've got a couple more.
There's a third commitment Ifwe want to be the kind of
Christian and the kind of churchthat's devoted and effective
for God's use.
It's this, this is thecommitment Commit to be a
(25:06):
Christian and a church thatpursues unity in worship and
unity in daily life.
That pursues unity in worshipand in daily life.
Acts 2, verse 46.
So, continuing daily with oneaccord in the temple and
breaking bread from house tohouse.
They ate their food withgladness and simplicity of heart
.
I think one of the mostbeautiful descriptions of the
early church is hidden in thisverse three words with one
(25:33):
accord.
That phrase means of one mind,it means united in purpose.
It reflects deep spiritualharmony, not just outward
cooperation.
And this unity wasn'taccidental, because this unity
stemmed from a shared salvation,a common Savior and a unified
(25:57):
mission.
They were redeemed by the sameblood, they were indwelt by the
same Holy Spirit and they weresent out with the same gospel.
And this reality bound theirhearts together in ways that
went beyond personal differences.
They were united in worship.
Luke tells us.
They continued daily in thetemple, which was the Jewish
(26:19):
people's public, visible placeof worship.
And these early believers, theydidn't see faith in Jesus as
abandoning God's promises toIsrael.
They saw him as the fulfillmentof those promises.
And so they went to the temple,not to perform old rituals for
salvation, but to praise the god, who had kept his word and sent
(26:40):
his messiah.
That's why they went so.
In our context, the templerepresents our corporate worship
, not this building, ourcorporate worship.
It's where our corporateworship is, where, together, we
declare the worth of Christ.
We're together, we listen tohis word.
(27:00):
We're together, we lift ourvoices and we respond to his
grace.
Worship isn't just about musicthat's only singing.
Worship is far morecomprehensive.
Worship is not about personalpreference.
It's about unity in proclaimingwho god is and what he has done
(27:23):
and declaring his worth.
And when we gather on sundaysas providence, you know what
happens.
We send a message to thewatching world.
Every person who drives by ongranada and sees cars here maybe
they know you and see your carhere you know what the message
(27:44):
is.
We're saying jesus is worthyand we belong to him.
That's why we're here that'swhat we're saying that's what
we're saying, and that kind ofunity is powerful because it
reminds us that we're not alone.
I mean, look around, we're notin this alone.
(28:04):
We're not alone.
And that strengthens our faithand it demonstrates the gospel
to others.
Let's be a people who pursueunity in worship and in daily
life.
There's a fourth commitmenthere.
I need to give it to you beforewe go.
It says it's this fourthcommitment be a christian and a
church that reaches outsidersand relies on god for growth.
(28:29):
Acts 247, last verse in thepassage praising god and having
favor with all the people.
And the Lord added to thechurch daily those who were
being saved.
The image here that Luke sharesis really remarkable.
It was a church that worshiped,that witnessed and that
welcomed.
That's a recipe for success,and God used it to reach people
(28:53):
daily.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word
of God stands forever.
That's Isaiah 48.
Thanks for tuning in to theFoundations of Truth podcast
with Pastor Timothy Mann fromProvidence Church in Ormond
Beach, Florida.
Join us next time and untilthen, keep building your life on
God's eternal truth, the Bible.
Welcome to Foundations of Truth, the Bible
teaching ministry of PastorTimothy Mann and Providence
Church, ormond Beach, florida.
Providence Church is a localassembly of followers of Jesus
Christ dedicated to helpingpeople become committed and
mature followers of Jesus Christ.
Now here's Pastor Timothy Mannteaching the word.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Acts 2, verses 42 through 47.
We are in this new series,calling it Growing God's Way,
preparing for a new season offruitfulness.
This really has to do withdirection and vision and where
God is working and how he'sleading us.
This is the second sermon inthat series, acts, chapter 2,
(00:43):
and so we're going to pick up inverse 40.
What's happening here is theapostle Peter is preaching the
gospel.
He has preached the gospel.
He's in Jerusalem, probablyright outside the temple, and
there's a lot of people there.
The Bible says, and with manywords, he testified and exhorted
them, saying be saved from thisperverse generation.
Then those who gladly receivedhis word were baptized and that
(01:04):
day about 3,000 souls were addedto them.
Now our text we're going tofocus on this morning.
And they continued steadfastlyin the apostles, doctrine and
fellowship, in the breaking ofbread and in prayers.
And then fear came upon everysoul and many wonders and signs
were done through the apostles.
And now all who were, whobelieved, were together and had
all things in common and soldtheir possessions and goods and
(01:28):
divided them among all as anyonehad need.
And so continuing daily withone accord in the temple and
breaking bread from house tohouse.
They ate their food withgladness and simplicity of heart
, praising God and having favorwith all the people, and the
Lord added to the church dailythose who were being saved.
We'll stop here.
(01:49):
This is God's Word.
We are in this series.
It's a topical series, but it'sexpositional along the way as
we think about growing God's way.
When we think about a churchthat changes the world, our
minds often focus on size, atleast here in America on size,
influence and resources.
(02:09):
We likely envision the largestchurches.
We all know large churches.
We have some even in ourcommunity.
We likely envision the largestchurches that are characterized
by their exceptional facilitiesand their extensive reach and
their substantial budgets.
But Acts, chapter 2, reminds usof something completely
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different, and that's that thechurch that God used to turn the
world upside down didn't haveany of those things, didn't have
any of those things.
They lacked buildings, theydidn't have a marketing plan,
they didn't have live streamtechnology.
They didn't have live streamtechnology, they didn't have
children's check-in systems oranything along those lines.
What they had was much greater.
They had the Spirit of Godliving in them, they had the
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Word of God shaping their livesand they had a deep,
gospel-focused love for eachother.
And this combination was whatGod used to spark a movement
that would spread the gospelfrom Jerusalem to the ends of
the earth.
Acts, chapter 2, actuallydescribes for us the results of
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Peter's, the apostle Peter's,spirit-filled preaching at
Jerusalem on the 50th day, whichwas after Passover and the
Jewish Feast of First Fruits.
This day is called Pentecost,which is a Greek word which
means 50.
And the results of thatpreaching?
That happened that day 3,000people repented, believed in
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Christ and were baptized.
But the passage doesn't endthere, and nor should our view
of church life.
But the passage doesn't endthere, and nor should our view
of church life.
The question is what happenednext?
What happened next?
Did they return to life asusual, seeing salvation as a
ticket to heaven rather than anew way of living?
Did they do that?
No, the gospel moved them soprofoundly that it transformed
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everything.
They didn't just attend aservice and disappear.
Instead, they embeddedthemselves in a community where
worship and teaching andfellowship and generosity and
mission became daily routines.
That's what happened, and Godused this simple devotion to
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make a remarkable impact as theydid this.
And Providence Christian.
That's precisely the kind ofchurch we're called to be, the
exact kind of church that Godhas called us to be.
We're in a season of growth.
We praise God for that Morepeople coming, ministry
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opportunities, open doors forthe gospel.
But growth involves a keychoice, and that key choice is
will we simply become busier orwill we choose to become
healthier, even more so than weare spiritually speaking?
Will we just settle for being acrowd or will we strive to be a
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spirit-filled, gospel-shapedmission, sending family, because
that's the beauty of acts.
Chapter 2 devotion.
Grace received becomes gracegiven.
It's not a program, it's anatural overflow of a heart
(05:30):
drawn to Jesus.
The truth is, is disciples,disciples of Jesus, don't choose
hype, they pursue holiness.
We don't want to pursue flash,we want to seek spiritual fruit.
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We don't want to grow by chance.
We aim to grow intentionally,in a way that glorifies God and
multiplies disciples.
The early church was devotedand effective.
They were devoted and effectiveand God uses that kind of
Christian and that kind ofchurch that's devoted and
effective.
This series that, by God's graceand with His help, I'm
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attempting to preach, focuses onthat, and today's passage for
the next few minutes guides ustoward it.
So let's ask this questiontogether.
Just think about it in yourmind.
So let's ask this questiontogether.
Just think about it in yourmind.
What does it take, what does ittake for a Christian, what does
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it take for a church to be thekind of people that God uses,
not just to gather a crowd, butto make disciples, to multiply
leaders and change lives foreternity?
There are four commitments inthis passage that enables you,
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me and the church to be used byGod in this way.
So let's look at these fourcommitments.
You ready?
Let's look at them.
First of all, the commitment isis we need to be a christian
and a church that hungers forthe word and depends on prayer.
Be a christian and a churchthat hungers for the word and
depends on prayer.
Verse 42 and they continuedsteadfastly in the apostles
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doctrine and fellowship, in thebreaking of bread and in prayers
.
So the very first thing thatLuke, the physician who wrote
the book of Acts, the very firstthing that Luke tells us about
the newborn church, is that theywere devoted.
It says they continuedsteadfastly.
Continued steadfastly that wordin the Greek language means to
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hold fast to something withintense effort, despite
difficulty.
To hold fast to something withintense effort, despite
difficulty.
It wasn't a casual relationshipwith spiritual things.
It was not.
This was a steadfast,determined commitment to the
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things of God.
They didn't just add Jesus totheir lives, their lives were
now built around him.
And the pillars of thatdevotion were the apostles'
teaching, fellowship, breakingof bread and prayer.
Let's touch that First of all.
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They're devoted to the word ofGod.
Devoted to the word of God.
When Luke mentions here theapostles doctrine, he's
referencing the authoritativeteachings of those men that
Jesus personally chose, that hepersonally discipled, saved and
sent out.
And these new believers in Acts2 understood that following
Christ required being formed byhis truth.
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Inspiration alone wasn't enough.
They needed instruction.
And the apostles' teachingcentered on Christ, on Jesus,
his person, his work, hispromises and his commands.
They weren't coming together,listen.
They weren't coming together tohear personal opinions.
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They weren't coming together.
Listen, they weren't comingtogether to hear personal
opinions.
They weren't coming together tohear cultural or political
commentary.
They were receivingSpirit-inspired truth from the
Word of God.
And today that very sameapostolic teaching is preserved
for us in the New Testament.
Isn't that wonderful.
The Spirit who spoke throughPeter and John continues to
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speak to us through theScriptures.
But notice it says theycontinued steadfastly in it.
They continued steadfastly init.
They just didn't hear it onceand then move on.
They kept coming back.
They soaked in it.
The early church was a learningchurch, not just for learning,
for information, but fortransformation, for change in
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their lives.
So, providence, this means thatwe don't need to just read the
Bible occasionally, we need tolive in it.
Our Sunday gatherings like thisshould be much more than just a
motivational boost.
It shouldn't just be a timewhere you come and your mood
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gets changed.
No, it needs to be moments whenthe Word reshapes our thinking,
confronts our sin and fuels ourworship.
That's what ought to happenhere.
That's what ought to happen ina Bible fellowship group as well
.
The Bible, god's Word, must havethe authority to correct us
when we're wrong, to encourageus when we're weary and to guide
(10:40):
us when we're unsure.
So ask yourself, ask yourselfwhen the Word is preached or
taught, am I a passive listeneror am I an active disciple?
Do I come on Sunday orWednesday or whenever we gather?
Do I come expecting God tospeak and ready to obey?
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Do I carry the message intoMonday and Tuesday and Wednesday
and you know the rest of thelist?
Do I have a devotion to theword through the week.
What else?
Well, it says devoted tofellowship.
Devoted to fellowship theycontinue steadfastly in the
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apostles' doctrine.
And fellowship.
Luke here connects theirdevotion to the word with their
commitment to fellowship.
And that's more than justcoffee and conversation.
It's a shared life, sharingjoys and burdens, and resources
and responsibilities.
The gospel didn't just linkthem to God, it brought them
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together.
In the Roman world at this time, society was deeply divided.
In the Roman world at this time, society was deeply divided Jew
versus Gentile, slave versusfree, rich versus poor.
But in Christ those divisionswere broken down.
The church became a familywhere everyone belonged because
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everyone was connected to Jesus.
And that same supernaturalunity is available to us.
But it takes effort.
It takes effort.
Fellowship doesn't just happen.
It's built by showing up,investing in others and serving
side by side.
That's how it's built.
Let's keep going.
Devoted to the breaking of bread.
Now, this likely refers to bothregular meals and the Lord's
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Supper, most scholars believe,and in both they were rehearsing
the gospel.
They were remembering Christ'sbody, that he gave his shed
blood and their salvation beingsecured by that.
Every meal became a moment ofworship and every breaking of
bread served as a reminder thatthe cross purchased their life
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together.
And the Lord's table isn't justa ritual.
It's a gospel anchor for us.
It keeps the cross at thecenter and it reminds us that
our unity and our joy and ourmission comes from what Jesus
has done.
Like the choir sang earlier,what God has done.
We will observe the table nextSunday.
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Be here for it.
Look what else Devoted toprayer.
Prayer wasn't just a sideactivity for the early church.
It was their primary powersource.
They prayed together, often andsincerely, because they
understood that they could donothing without the Spirit of
God.
How much could they do withoutthe Spirit of God?
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Nothing, nothing.
And these weren't just emptyrecitations.
These were genuine cries to theFather who had saved them and
called them into His mission.
And so if you, as an individualChristian, and we as a church
want to grow God's way,individually and together, then
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we have to have the same postureof dependence as they did.
I mean, if the apostles and theearly church needed prayer, how
much do you need it?
How much do I?
How much we need it even moreif they did?
A prayerless Christian willlack power.
A prayerless church will lackpower.
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However, a praying church willsee God move in ways that
strategy alone can never achieve.
Why were they so devoted to theWord and to prayer?
Because the gospel hadtransformed them.
They had heard Peter preachChrist crucified for their sins
and risen, and back up in verse37 says they had been cut to the
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heart and they turned fromtheir sins to trust in Jesus,
and so the Word was now life tothem and prayer was their
lifeline, to God who had rescuedthem.
And really the same is true forus, because true devotion
arises from transformation, fromgospel.
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You won't crave God's worduntil you've experienced his
grace word until you'veexperienced his grace.
You won't pray with enthusiasmuntil you know the one that
you're speaking to is the Saviorwho shed his blood for you.
Let me give you an application,for you, me and Providence
Church.
Here's some suggestions.
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Let's make gathering under theword a non-negotiable Come
prepared, bible in hand, with anopen heart.
If you're able, maybe evenwrite down some takeaways during
the messages, review themmidweek.
Make prayer, if you're notdoing it already, make prayer a
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regular part of your dailyroutine, personally, with your
family, even with others in thechurch.
Let's get really holy and superspiritual.
Join corporate prayer meetingon wednesday evenings and be
willing to pray aloud, evenbriefly, with others in those
groups, maybe just this week.
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Find one person that you canmeet either in person or maybe
facetime or text, or some way.
Find one person that you canmeet either in person or maybe
FaceTime or text, or some way.
Find one person you can meetwith weekly or even monthly I'm
not going to make it too hard onyou, even monthly to read
Scripture and pray together.
So to be a believer in a churchthat God uses, we need a
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commitment to the Word andprayer.
There's a second commitment bea christian and a church that
lives in awe of god and givessacrificially.
43 through 45.
Then fear came upon every souland many wonders and signs were
done through the apostles, andnow all who believed were
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together and had all things incommon and sold their
possessions and goods anddivided them among all as anyone
had need.
So here luke shifts from thechurch's inward devotion to its
outward impact, and there's acouple of qualities here that
really stand out.
One is awe and the other issacrifice.
They lived in awe of god.
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The word fear here in thescripture doesn't mean that they
were terrified of God in thesense of dreading Him.
It means they had a holyreverence for Him.
They were captivated by Hismajesty, they were awestruck by
His power and they were deeplyaware of His presence.
It actually involved livingwith a God-centered awareness at
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all times, knowing that he sees.
He sees you right now.
He sees your heart right now.
He sees your thoughts right now.
Knowing that he sees, knowingthat he rules and reigns and
knowing that he acts.
In the early days of the church,god revealed his presence in
very unmistakable ways miraclesand healings and supernatural
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signs through the apostles.
I love the accounts and storiesof how the lord right now is
speaking to people who don'teven have the word of god
through dreams, visions.
Don't tell me, god doesn't dothat.
And these weren't tricks.
They they demonstrated that therisen jesus was still working
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through his followers.
And this awe is not just, it'snot hype, it's not fake.
I'm not talking about that.
It came from a real encounterwith the living God.
And when a Christian and when achurch lives with God-centered
awareness, everything changes.
Worship becomes warm andvibrant, sin becomes serious and
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mission becomes urgent.
So, fellow Jesus followers, Iwonder when was the last time we
felt so aware of God'sgreatness that it caused us to
stop in our tracks.
When was the last time we weremoved to tears by His mercy or
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left speechless by His power?
Because if we lose our awe ofGod, we will settle then for a
tame version of Him Safe, smalland predictable.
But I want you to know thismorning that God of the Bible is
none of those things.
He is holy, he is sovereign andhe is unstoppable.
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And when we fear Him rightly,we will obey Him with joy.
Well, they also gavesacrificially.
Verse 44 through 45 highlightsone of the early church's most
counter-cultural traits, andthat was radical generosity.
All it says.
All who believe were togetherhad all things in common.
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Now, that doesn't mean theyabolished private property or
practiced forced redistribution.
It means that when a need arose, those with resources willingly
and freely used them to helpmeet that need.
The gospel had broken the powerof greed in their lives.
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They no longer saw theirpossessions as theirs but as
tools for god's mission and forcaring for his people.
And so when a brother or sisterwas in need, they didn't just
pray, they took action.
Some even sold property andvaluables to help others.
This was not early socialism orcommunism.
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It was compassion inspired bythe Holy Spirit.
It was.
It was compassion inspired bythe holy spirit.
Nobody told them they had togive.
The love of christ motivatedthem to give.
It was all voluntary and I'lltell you what over the years
I've seen this kind ofgenerosity at providence like,
like helping a single mom in ourchurch pay her rent or covering
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bills for a family in crisis,and many other examples.
That's act two generosity.
It's inconvenient, it's costlyand it's joyful.
It's joy filled.
We have witnessed the generoussupport of the ongoing work of
providence church over theselast 15 years.
The faithful giving of god'speople for the ongoing work of
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the ministry has been incredible.
He's done that and we don'tmake a big deal about it.
I loved it at the last newmembers class a couple of weeks
ago.
We had taught the class, we hadfinished up and I said do you
have any questions?
There's one guy in the room.
He raised his hand.
I said yes, sir, called hisname.
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I said what's your question?
He said I want to know how canI actually give money to you
people.
You never talk about it, youdon't pass the plate.
I don't even know what to dowith it?
Who do I give it to?
I like those questions.
God provides, he's blessed,there's been a generosity.
Why was the early church sogenerous?
Because they had experiencedgod's generosity through the
gospel.
The apostle paul later wrote insecond corinthians 8 9.
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He said for you know the graceof our lord jesus christ, that
though he was rich, yet for yoursakes he became poor, that you,
through his poverty, mightbecome rich.
That's spiritual talk.
That's not literal stuff.
That's spiritual talk.
Now, he does allow some peopleto be rich, but the reality is
is jesus sacrificed heaven'sglory to meet our greatest need
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and that's salvation.
And if we have received thatgrace, then how in the world can
we cling to our possessions asif they're ours?
We can't.
We're stewards, we're notowners, and generous giving then
just simply becomes somethingwe do and it's a part of who we
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are.
So let's touch on someapplications.
For you, me and ProvidenceChurch, I would say this Pursue
awe, a-w-e, pursue awe.
This week, just a suggestionthis week dedicate 10 minutes
each day to silence andscripture.
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No phone, no music or no plans.
Just read a psalm of praise,contemplate god's greatness and
respond with worship from yourheart.
Here's another thought how wecould apply.
Identify a need, maybe pray andask god to reveal someone in
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our church family with apractical need that you can meet
.
It might be financial, but italso could be time or
encouragement, child care, ahomemade meal the list goes on.
Another application would bethis give with joy, if you don't
already Just reflect on yourown giving habits towards God's
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work through your church'sministry.
Are those giving habits casualand leftover, or are they
deliberate and sacrificial?
I would say take a step towardgreater faith in giving, not
because God or the church needsyour money, but because giving
is one of God's tools tostrengthen your faith and bless
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others.
Because giving is one of God'stools to strengthen your faith
and bless others, what wouldshift?
I mean, let's just considerthis.
What would shift in this churchif every member, and even
regular attendees if you're nota member yet, I'd say number one
, why not?
But anyway what would actuallyshift in this church if every
member lived in awe of God andgave, as if everything that we
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own belonged to him?
What would shift If everyperson did that?
Wow, there's a third commitment.
Do you have time for it?
I've got a couple more.
There's a third commitment Ifwe want to be the kind of
Christian and the kind of churchthat's devoted and effective
for God's use.
It's this, this is thecommitment Commit to be a
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Christian and a church thatpursues unity in worship and
unity in daily life.
That pursues unity in worshipand in daily life.
Acts 2, verse 46.
So, continuing daily with oneaccord in the temple and
breaking bread from house tohouse.
They ate their food withgladness and simplicity of heart
.
I think one of the mostbeautiful descriptions of the
early church is hidden in thisverse three words with one
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accord.
That phrase means of one mind,it means united in purpose.
It reflects deep spiritualharmony, not just outward
cooperation.
And this unity wasn'taccidental, because this unity
stemmed from a shared salvation,a common Savior and a unified
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mission.
They were redeemed by the sameblood, they were indwelt by the
same Holy Spirit and they weresent out with the same gospel.
And this reality bound theirhearts together in ways that
went beyond personal differences.
They were united in worship.
Luke tells us.
They continued daily in thetemple, which was the Jewish
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people's public, visible placeof worship.
And these early believers, theydidn't see faith in Jesus as
abandoning God's promises toIsrael.
They saw him as the fulfillmentof those promises.
And so they went to the temple,not to perform old rituals for
salvation, but to praise the god, who had kept his word and sent
(26:40):
his messiah.
That's why they went so.
In our context, the templerepresents our corporate worship
, not this building, ourcorporate worship.
It's where our corporateworship is, where, together, we
declare the worth of Christ.
We're together, we listen tohis word.
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We're together, we lift ourvoices and we respond to his
grace.
Worship isn't just about musicthat's only singing.
Worship is far morecomprehensive.
Worship is not about personalpreference.
It's about unity in proclaimingwho god is and what he has done
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and declaring his worth.
And when we gather on sundaysas providence, you know what
happens.
We send a message to thewatching world.
Every person who drives by ongranada and sees cars here maybe
they know you and see your carhere you know what the message
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is.
We're saying jesus is worthyand we belong to him.
That's why we're here that'swhat we're saying that's what
we're saying, and that kind ofunity is powerful because it
reminds us that we're not alone.
I mean, look around, we're notin this alone.
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We're not alone.
And that strengthens our faithand it demonstrates the gospel
to others.
Let's be a people who pursueunity in worship and in daily
life.
There's a fourth commitmenthere.
I need to give it to you beforewe go.
It says it's this fourthcommitment be a christian and a
church that reaches outsidersand relies on god for growth.
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Acts 247, last verse in thepassage praising god and having
favor with all the people.
And the Lord added to thechurch daily those who were
being saved.
The image here that Luke sharesis really remarkable.
It was a church that worshiped,that witnessed and that
welcomed.
That's a recipe for success,and God used it to reach people
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daily.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word
of God stands forever.
That's Isaiah 48.
Thanks for tuning in to theFoundations of Truth podcast
with Pastor Timothy Mann fromProvidence Church in Ormond
Beach, Florida.
Join us next time and untilthen, keep building your life on
God's eternal truth, the Bible.
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