The Church Inspired: Lessons from the Early Church in Acts 2:42-47

Hi and welcome to the FBC El Dorado Sermon Podcast.

We hope God will use this week's message to both inspire and challenge you as you seek to walk closer with the Lord.

Now join me as we listen in to this week's sermon Church family.

Last week we saw a church empowered From Acts, chapter 1, we saw what does it look like when the Holy Spirit gets involved?

Acts 1 · chapter mention

What does it look like when the Holy Spirit is the one that is causing the mission of God to go forward?

Last week the church empowered.

This week I want us to see briefly the church inspired.

What does it look like when the church takes the mission seriously and gets about the work of the mission, again empowered by the Spirit, but gets about the work of the mission?

I want to read us from Acts, chapter 2, verses 42 through 47 as we begin.

Acts 2:42–47

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers, through 47 as we begin, were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need and, day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes.

They received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord added to their number, day by day, those who were being saved.

Let's pray, lord Jesus, we need you and we need your spirit.

Would you speak now through your word, transform our hearts and our lives?

We ask this in Christ's name, amen.

I think you'd agree with this.

It's probably hard to disagree that we live more and more, day by day, in a very individualized world.

Everything is getting more catered and geared towards the individual.

I think, even through the years of slogans of even fast food restaurants, that I'm loving it.

I am.

Have it your way.

You can have it however you want it.

We love to see who smile.

I love to see you smile.

That's the slogan I think about what exists in my pocket every day.

It is the iPhone and emphasis on the eye of it.

Sometimes I will work or take notes on what my iPad Everything it's individualized, used to I had.

If there was a song I liked, I had to go to the store and buy a whole album, but now the individual is kept in mind and with Spotify and Apple Music, I don't have to buy the album.

It's all about me and my choices.

I can pick this song and that song.

I used to have to pay for 8,000 channels even though I only watched three of them.

Well, now, streaming it's all about the individual customer.

I can just like the restaurant.

I can have it my way.

You can order things on an app and you really don't even talk to some people.

Now, when you walk into a restaurant, you order on the app, you pick it up at the counter.

Now, when you walk into a restaurant, you order on the app, you pick it up at the counter.

When we were here a few weeks ago at our hotel here and I checked in on an app, the app was my key.

I checked out on the app.

I didn't even need the front desk.

It's all individualized now and I want to be clear I love so much of that.

I mean, not all of that is bad in and of itself.

I mean, there's a lot of things I love about that and it has made life really, really easy.

But it is interesting as we come to the book of Acts, as we look at the picture of the early church, as we think about what the church is called to be today.

It's really not about this individualized idea, but what is it about?

It's about the community.

It is about the community of believers, not just the one, but the many.

And what I want us to see this morning that as the church, as this community of believers, we are empowered by God's Spirit and we are unified to carry out the mission of Christ.

Now, where have we been in the book of Acts since last week?

We saw Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would come.

He ascended into heaven and then the most incredible things happened over those next few days Pentecost happened.

So the Holy Spirit came upon the believers, and the believers here are empowered.

Peter steps up and he preaches a sermon of all sermons.

This is the guy that just a few weeks before, when Jesus was in his greatest moment of need, peter was nowhere to be found.

I don't know the guy, he's not a friend of mine.

And all of a sudden, a few weeks later only the spirit can do this he is preaching this sermon of all sermons in Acts, chapter two.

And at the end of a sudden, a few weeks later only the Spirit can do this he is preaching this sermon of all sermons in Acts, chapter 2, and at the end of this sermon, again this guy that a few weeks before betrayed Jesus at the end of his sermon, 3,000 people walked down the aisle to come to know the Lord.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

3,000 people are added to the family of God that very day.

So a lot is happening.

And so, now that there is this early community of believers, what is it going to look like?

Well, it looks like what we see in Acts, chapter 2, verses 42 through 47.

Acts 2:42–47

I want us to see one of two things.

The first is this that the church is unified in belief, that the early church and, I pray, the church today is one that is unified in belief.

Verse 42 gives somewhat of the summary statement of the whole passage.

We'll see, but look where it begins.

And they, being the church, being these new believers, they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching.

Now we'll see more.

We'll see the fellowship, the breaking of bread, the prayers, but first and foremost, what's the first thing?

Out of the gate, they devoted themselves, they were unified in the apostles' teaching.

What does that mean?

That means that the scriptures.

That means that the teaching of what Christ had done, his work, his death, his burial, his resurrection, this gospel that Peter had just finished proclaiming.

That means this is what is central in the life of the early church.

They were people who centered everything they did on the word of God and the teaching of Christ.

And so what they had been called to do by these apostles in their teaching, guess what they did?

Through the power of the spirit, they did it and they were unified in this belief.

I want you to know, first Baptist Eldorado, that you know this.

But we are a people of this book, we are a people of the Word of God.

That the God of the universe don't miss this.

The God of the universe, who is God all by himself.

He's never once looked down at me and say, taylor, I could really use your help in being God.

No, he doesn't need to do that, he's God all by himself.

He didn't have to communicate.

He didn't need to communicate.

He'd be just as much God if he had never revealed himself to us.

And yet this God gave us his word.

He gave us his word, this authority I think of 2 Timothy 3.16, that all scripture is breathed out by God, inspired by God.

God gave us a word.

So you and I, this church, first Baptist Elder, we are people of the book.

This is what we have and this is all we need.

We don't need to add to it.

We sure don't need to subtract from it.

We're going to be people of this book and First Baptist El Dorado has been people of the book for a long, long time, before I ever showed up on this scene.

But I can promise you this as long as I am the pastor at First Baptist El Dorado and I hope and pray that is a very, very, very long time as long as I'm here we're going to be people of the book, and I want to tell you this and deacons in the room, please hold me accountable If I ever step into this pulpit and I don't have this with me, just take my arm, walk me to my office, help me pack my things, say thanks for the memories and send me on my way, because, first Baptist Eldorado, we're going to be people of the book, unified in belief, unified around the truth.

That's what the early church was.

They were devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship.

So they lived life together.

They were with one another.

Church wasn't just simply a Sunday morning thing or a Wednesday night thing.

Church was a way of life.

There was fellowship with one another and to the breaking of bread.

Now we could look at this in one of two ways.

One, the breaking of bread.

This could mean the Lord's Supper, as they celebrated the Lord's Supper together.

Or it could mean, as we'll see later in the passage, quite literally the breaking of bread in homes.

They shared meals together.

Either way you take it, that's a good thing.

They broke bread together.

And lastly is this they devoted themselves to what's number four there, to prayer.

So we're going to be a people of the book, people of fellowship.

I'm excited about being a people who break bread together, but we're also going to be people of prayer, as we already prayed this morning together.

We're going to be people of prayer, like the early church we got.

We've got to acknowledge that we cannot do the work of god without the god of the work, that we can't do this unless god is, is in and through it, from the beginning, before the beginning, to the middle, to the end.

It's got to be God's work.

So if we're not a praying church, we won't be an effective church.

And so we're going to be a church who takes prayer seriously, and what we saw this morning and what we see week by week as we make prayer a part of this service, we're going to take that seriously.

But prayer doesn't just live in this room.

In and through our lives we are going to be a praying people.

I remember in Luke, chapter 19,.

Luke 19 · chapter mention

Jesus walks into the temple and he starts to see some things he doesn't really like.

He sees there's a lot of booths and people set up.

They're selling things and really they've made the temple into a place where they can make a dollar or two.

They can turn a profit here in the temple.

And what does Jesus do?

He turns the place upside down.

And what does he say?

He says my house is going to be a house of prayer.

It's going to be a house of prayer.

What I pray for, first Baptist Eldorado.

And I know it's been the case through the years and I pray it will continue to be the case that if Jesus walked into here on a Sunday morning or any time in between, there'd be no tables to turn over and he would find a house of prayer that takes seriously the communication with God for the work of God.

We've got to have it.

And what happened?

As we read verse 42, as these things happen look at verse 43, the result and all came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

So, quite simply, what happened?

What was the result of this?

It's simply this God moved.

God did a mighty work as the people were devoted to the word and prayer and fellowship and living life together.

God moved and it's impressive language, all wonder, came upon every soul.

Wonders and signs were being done.

We see in just a few moments, in chapter three, we see this man who was disabled from birth is now healed.

These amazing signs are being done.

But, church, you know, I'm tempted, and maybe you are too, to sometimes say these miraculous signs that were happening way back then, where are those at today?

Why don't we look around and see that as much today?

Well, I would answer that in really two ways.

Number one is, I would argue that we do that all around the world.

Even now, god is still about his business and still doing things that we would have to see to believe, because the same God who was way back when is the same God today and he has the same power.

But also I'd say this that that same awe and wonder of seeing the miraculous can come upon us anytime we're willing to open our eyes and just look and see what God's up to.

I mean really open your eyes and see the miraculous that's happening every single day.

I see the miraculous when I hear about a marriage that was on the edge of disaster and yet, in God's graciousness, there was forgiveness, there was restoration, there was hope.

I see God's miracle when I think about that prodigal son or that prodigal daughter who had been in the far country for so long, and those parents who had prayed and prayed and prayed and wondered if God was even hearing their prayers and that prodigal comes home.

I think the miraculous happens every time a little boy or little girl walks down these aisles and says I want to know Jesus.

I think, if we open our eyes, we see the miraculous, that God is at work all around us and we see what he's doing in our midst and we see that he's still doing a mighty work today and he wants to do a mighty work right here at First Baptist, el Dorado, right here in this community, in this state, in this country, in this world, because he is alive and well and he still uses his church to accomplish his mission, the church that is unified in their beliefs.

But now we continue, as we see verse 44.

And all who believed were together and had all things in common.

Now, if you want to see the miraculous this might be the most miraculous sentence of all that if we just read that 3,000 people were added.

Now we know at Pentecost there were many people who came to town that then went back to their towns and that's a big way the gospel spread.

But let's say there's 2,000 people still there and you're looking at a group of people and it says they had all things in common.

Now I don't ever want to be someone to look at the word of God and say I'm not sure about that one.

But I'm tempted to look and say how in the world does that many people, how can you say something like you have that much in common.

Not just that much, you have everything in common.

It's because of this, if you have the biggest thing in common, a lot of the smaller things start to fall in place.

If you're unified, if you have in common what is of utmost importance, then you truly can say we have everything in common.

Because even though there's lesser things, we might see different, we might dress different, we might think different Guess what?

The most important thing we know and what's the most important thing, it's what you and I have in common as we step into this room, it's the fact that there's a Savior.

His name is Jesus.

He's offered us forgiveness, he's died, he's risen from the grave.

We have life in Him.

He's the only way to the Father and this is our gospel.

And you and I, we have that.

And so, church, if there's anything else that maybe even in a room this size, that maybe there's a few different preferences or ideas, hey, we'll be okay because the gospel's there, because we know that.

I had had this in my notes for a few days now and then obviously more recently, just more and more close to home.

But I'll never forget a story from the pastor, david Platt, who pastors just outside of Washington DC and he's got a church there in the DC area, and he was asked one time how in the world do you keep your church unified, like how in the world in a church body that's in the DC area?

So you've got people on this side of the aisle, on that side of the aisle, you've got everybody in between, you've got all these different ideas and opinions and and, and you know, when they go to work during the week they're just battling one another because they see things so differently, how in the world, on a Sunday morning, do you keep this church unified right here in Washington DC?

And his answer was so beautiful.

He said this politics can't divide us if it's not what unites us.

Politics can't divide us if it's not what unites us.

Now you could put politics in there, but you could fill in the blank with anything.

This preference, this thing it's not what divides us.

Why?

Because it's not, ultimately, what unites us.

If the gospel unites the church and it does we can be unified in our belief.

We can be unified in our belief and even in this room, where we may think differently, we may be from different places, whatever it looks like.

There may be differences here, and I'm thankful to the Lord.

There are differences here.

I can promise you we don't need a church of people that act and think just like I do.

I can promise you that I'm thankful for the differences in this room, but I'm also thankful that, at the end of the day, there is a gospel, because there is a Lord that does reign above it all and we can be unified in that First Baptist Church.

El Dorado, I believe, has been and will be a church that is unified by the message of the gospel.

So the church is unified in belief, but also wants to see this this morning that the church is unified in its mission.

The church is unified in its mission.

Look with me at verse 45.

And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need.

So look what's happening here.

First, you see that word they.

This was a communal effort.

This was a generous church, a charitable church, a loving, compassionate church.

But it was a they.

This was an all hands on deck.

Ministry, just like back then, is just like now.

We don't want one person doing everything, we want everybody doing something so that we can all come together and do the work of ministry.

That's what this church was doing.

And they.

When they saw a need, they helped out with that need.

When they saw a need, they helped out with that need.

If they saw something and they said, hey, I can sell this to take care of that.

We can find a way to work things out so that we can meet this need.

And think about this.

This brand new church, this brand new group of believers, this little pocket of believers here, was making a community impact for the gospel.

We'll see later that they were gaining favor with the community.

I imagine people were looking and saying there's something different about this group.

I imagine they were looking and saying you's something different about this group.

I imagine they were looking and saying you won't believe this.

There's this strange group of people over here and I had a need the other day and someone I didn't even know just kind of went and sold something he had and he just helped me out.

The strangest thing, this is what this community was.

The strangest thing, this is what this community was Our giving.

And I'm talking about our giving of our time, giving of our talent, but I'm also talking about giving of our treasure, our giving.

It's our worshipful response.

It is worshipful, it is a response to what God has done, that God has given me so much my very salvation.

Okay, if he never gave me another thing, he gave me so much more than I deserve.

God has given me so much and now I get to return in worship A portion, just a portion, of what he's given to me.

Can I tell you what I know and love about First Baptist Church of El Dorado?

You are a giving church and you know that and you've been part of it.

I told a group a few weeks back when we were here in view of a call, that one of the first things I'm going to do early on in that first year is I'm going to live down in that history room on the bottom floor and I mean that and I've been down there and I stole a picture from there and put it in my office.

But it wasn't on the wall, it was in a stack of things.

It wasn't from the, it wasn't like a showcase picture, I promise, and if I need to return it I will.

I love that room, but what I've seen just this last week is how incredible of a church you are and have always been in your giving.

I I, if you're on the history committee, forgive me, I took these 1884.

1884.

The Lottie Moon Christmas offering $606.

You'd say okay, 606, okay.

You know.

You'd say okay, 606, okay that you know.

1884, that's closer to the tune of $20,000 today.

But also 1884, I don't know the exact numbers but I imagine the congregation is not quite the size it is today.

$606 in 1884 for the Lottie Moon Christmas offering.

This is a letter from April 23rd of 1910 written from the Arkansas Baptist Orphans Home to an individual here at First Baptist El Dorado, just thanking them for the gift that they had sent and that these little boys and girls who were the recipient of this gift absolutely loved what they got from this individual within this church.

This is from November 1948.

One Sunday in November they announced that next Sunday will be the time to take our annual Thanksgiving offering for the Bottoms Baptist Orphanage at Monticello.

I had one of these in my office.

I've seen about 17 more all around the church.

I feel like I could probably rebuild this church two times over with these, but these little bricks here.

We've got a lot of these.

And I look closer at it El Dorado First Baptist Church.

This is 2013, a top 10 donor church for the Arkansas Baptist Children's Home.

I think about things more recently.

I think about 2020.

I remember in March, april, may of 2020, when the church gurus and the thought leaders were coming out with their articles and their podcasts about giving's about to go down.

Churches be ready, you're going to have to cut some of the ministries.

Some things aren't going to be able to keep going.

And then I look at First Baptist Elderator that not only met the budget but exceeded it.

I think about some things and stories that I've already heard.

They're never going to make the history wall, they're never going to be recorded in any way, because it was just a need that this church had.

And someone just stepped up and said you know what, don't even bother budget and finance with it, it's taken care of.

Those stories are all over the place.

They were there in 1884.

They're here in 2024.

And I say this not to pat ourselves on the back and say, aren't we something we can rest on our laurels.

I say this just as someone who's new here, one to say thank you, thank you for doing the ministry, but also to say this as First Baptist El Dorado has always served.

Let us do it more and more.

Let us be the kind of church, again and again, that gives and gives and gives.

Let us be the kind of church that, when our community is in need, we can look and say it's taken care of, that we can look and say we're willing to help.

A former pastor of mine had a quote and he said it often.

I loved it.

He said this.

He said when I was young, I wanted to be the best church in town.

You can imagine a young guy, I want to be the best church in town.

The best activities, the best events.

We're going to have the best preaching, the best music, the best.

This, this that he said when I was young I wanted to be the best church in town, but then he said this but when I got older, I wanted to be the best church for my town.

First Baptist, el Dorado.

I want to be a church for the city of El Dorado, and you do too.

I want to be a church for this community, for this state, for this world.

And as we have been, we've seen testimony that we have been more and more.

I pray that we would be.

And so we see that the people of God are giving and giving to meet the needs of the community.

And look at this, verse 46.

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes.

Let's stop there for a second.

They're attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes.

Let's stop there for a second.

They're attending the temple, they're going to quote-unquote church together.

But also, the church doesn't just stay at the temple, it goes with them.

They're breaking bread in homes, they are living life together.

Again, church doesn't stop when church lets out.

It continues.

They received their food with glad and generous hearts.

In verse 47, praising God.

Worship was all around and all a part of it.

And look at this and having favor with all the people.

That's fascinating to me, that this early church had favor in the community, this little bunch that's brand new to this place.

They had favor.

Can I tell you what I'd love to see at First Baptist Eldorado and I'm sure this has been the case and I'm sure it will be that someday we'd hear some story about someone in the community that would just say this I don't know Jesus.

They may even say I don't necessarily want to know Jesus.

They may say I'm not in any way interested in the God those people serve over at First Baptist Eldorado.

But I can say this those are people.

They believe something, they believe it well and they'll do anything for this community.

I believe we can be that church and I believe by being that church, that individual will see that little gospel seed and see there's something different.

There's something about this church.

There's something about the God who's moving in the midst of this church.

So they had favor in the community and look at this.

And the Lord added to their number, day by day, those who were being saved.

First of all is this, the Lord added the most dangerous thing you can do I can do Is see God move in a mighty way and think that it's my work and think that it's your work To see 3,000 people walk the aisle and say didn't we do something special?

No, the Lord added, day by by day, those who were being saved.

But I also love the Lord added.

That tells me that this was not some holy huddle us four and no more.

This was not a closed group.

This was a church that said you're welcome in.

And I know First Baptist El Dorado has been and will be a church that says come on in.

The reality is, I've been there.

We've got a country club here in town.

I ate there a few weeks back when we were here in Juva Call, some of the best chicken strips I've had in my life.

We've got a country club and I'll just tell you we don't need another one.

Here at First Baptist El Dorado it's not just us gathering together and saying look what this little holy huddle can do.

We're going to fellowship, we're going to have fun, we're going to be the church assembled and gathered.

There's no doubt about it.

But we're also going to open the doors wide and say, hey, come on in.

If you're a little different.

If you hadn't been here before, you may see something different than me, but we're going to be a people unified in belief, unified in mission.

Hey, come be a part of it.

That's who First Baptist Eldorado is and that's the mission we're called to be unified in, not exclusive, but inviting in.

Come receive the gospel, come find family.

That's who we are as we look at this picture of the early church unified in belief, unified in mission.

I just want to close by asking two quick questions of each of us.

First, are you unified in belief?

Maybe you're here this morning and what you say is I want to know this Jesus you're talking about.

You might say everything you said.

I was invited here, I don't know much about this, but I want to know Jesus because there's something here that I can't get out there.

I want to tell you I'd love nothing more this morning than to tell you about who Jesus is, what he's done in my life and what he can do in yours.

And come be unified with us.

But are you unified in belief, even you believer, who's been a believer for a long, long time, willing to say if the gospel's at the top, we can figure out the other things.

But also this are you unified in mission?

And really simply this are you a part of the mission?

You know what I would love, and I mean this I would love this.

In a hundred years I'll be long gone In a hundred years that some young pastor is standing behind this pulpit, in this room They've stolen something out of the history room.

They're holding up a plaque and they're reading the words of something that happened in this place in 2024 that only God could do.

And they won't remember our names.

They won't be listed.

They sure won't remember my name, they won't remember all the details, but they'll look and see that God's been at work in this place, that God's been faithful, that the mission has gone forward and decades and decades and decades from now, that will encourage them to stay in the fight, to stay on mission.

Being unified in belief, unified in mission, that's what I pray for, first Baptist El Dorado.

That's what I want for this church.

I'm going to pray now and, as I do, I want to offer you a chance to respond.

I'm going to be right down front and maybe you want to come and, like I said a moment ago, be introduced to Jesus.

I'd love to do that.

Maybe you want to come and you want to join our faith family.

You say unified in belief, unified in mission.

I want to be a part of that.

Maybe you just need to come and pray.

I'll pray with you.

Whatever you need.

I invite you now to respond right after I pray.

Let's pray together.

Lord Jesus, we do pray that we would be a church unified in belief, unified in mission, living out the call that you have put on our lives, living out your great commission that you've given us.

Lord, let us be found faithful, let us be found cheerful and generous givers, giving of our time, our talent, our treasure, so that your mission can go forward.

Lord, I thank you for this congregation, I thank you for these people, I thank you for those not yet in the room yet, but that will come be a part of what you're doing here.

What a gift it is to live life with these believers.

What a privilege, an undeserved privilege, to live life together, unified in you, under your gospel.

So, lord, any that needs to respond this morning, would you give them wisdom, discernment and boldness and courage to do that.

Now.

We ask this in Christ's name Amen.

Would you stand?