Life Together

Well, good morning everyone. Thank you so much for the opportunity to be here with you guys today.

It is my privilege to know John and Graham, to love them, and to hear from them regularly how things are going in the life of Brunsfield Evangelical Church.

And as obviously part of the East of Scotland Gospel Partnership, our hearts at Charlotte Chapel are very encouraged by what we hear of what's going on and what the Lord is doing in Brunsfield.

So it's great to be together like this and a great privilege for me to be here.

If you have Acts chapter 2 in front of you, keep it open. You'll be helped as we walk through it together.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

And we've read the text already, so let's put our heads together and let's pray.

Our Father, your word tells us that your very word spoken by you is authoritative and useful for teaching, correcting, training and rebuking.

Lord, show us where we've gone off track. Show us how to get back on track.

Tell us how to stay on track that we might be your people, walking in your ways with love and gladness in our hearts for you and for each other.

In Jesus' name we ask it. Amen.

Well, in 1630, a man by the name of John Winthrop stood on the deck of a ship called the Arabella

and addressed people who were sailing from England to America to start a brand new life.

Winthrop, who became a governor of a new colony near what is now Boston,

shared his vision for this new society that they were creating.

Here's what he said.

What a vision.

What a vision for a community.

Not even a church.

A community.

Now compare that speech with the one that was delivered 300 years later,

given by a presidential candidate, Herbert Hoover,

who also had a vision for effectively the same society, same kind of people.

But it's very different to Winthrop's.

Listen to this.

It wasn't the knit together as one man speech.

It was every man for himself.

It is the speech that became known as the rugged individualism speech.

Now my question to you at the start of our day is,

which sounds more attractive to you?

Good.

Someone answered.

The first one, clearly.

Now let me ask you a follow-up question.

Which one does your life portray?

Really?

Think about it.

Because actually what we often find is,

if we look at our own hearts and the way we spend our time,

the way we spend our time with other people,

the way we spend our lives,

the way we spend our money, etc.,

betrays the fact that we actually prefer Hoover's ideal,

rather than Winthrop's.

Now, we might say we want a shared life

with the members of our church family,

but actually making time for that is pretty inconvenient.

I've got a busy life.

My car is like a taxi, driving people around.

We might say we want deeper relationships,

but really not the kind that demand any real commitment.

I just don't know if I've got the personality for it,

never mind the time for it.

Or we might say that we really want to change

and be more like Jesus,

but if that means letting someone into our lives

for the sake of actually confessing our sins to one another,

I think that's in the Bible somewhere.

Or living a shared life together

in a way that magnifies our witness

to the people out there who don't know Jesus,

well, if it means letting someone into our lives

for the sake of things like accountability,

well, we shrink back from that.

Well, that's rugged individualism,

and that's really what I want to argue against

profoundly today from God's Word.

This is what we see in Acts chapter 2, 42 to 47.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Jesus' vision for the life of the church

is a shared life together.

Now, let me give you a bit of context.

In Acts chapter 1, we saw Jesus has given his followers

Acts 1 · chapter mention

a task of finishing the mission he began.

It basically starts off by saying,

Luke saying, in my former book,

I told you about all the things that Jesus began to do and teach.

Now, this book here is about the things

that Jesus is continuing to do and teach.

And he gave his disciples, that early church,

the task of testifying to the truth about Jesus everywhere.

Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, ends of the earth.

There is nowhere where this must not go.

And then in Acts chapter 2,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

we're going to see this a bit later on,

I'm doing things backwards.

Jesus sent them help in the person of the Holy Spirit.

And Peter gets up on that day that they are filled

and preaches and 3,000 people repented of their sin

and were baptized.

Then what?

That's the question.

What did they do?

How did they live?

In what way did the gospel that they just professed to believe in

actually start to transform their lives?

Well, that's what we see in Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

And I want to share with you the four key commitments,

the four key things that we see in here

that really depict for us what a life together looks like.

Here's the first one.

Learning.

That's still Hoover, isn't it?

Here we go.

Learning.

Growing in the knowledge of God together.

This is a first commitment.

Look with me, verse 42.

It says that they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching,

which basically means that they became students of God's words.

Now, I think there are two main reasons for that.

The authoritative teaching of the apostles, first of all,

and the experience of these newly converted believers.

When you look, first of all,

at the authoritative teaching of the apostles,

what you see is that in chapter 1,

Luke has gone to great lengths to show us

that these apostles had been personally appointed by Jesus.

This isn't going to work, so I'm probably going to ditch it.

There we go.

Luke has gone to great lengths to show us

that the apostles had been personally appointed by Jesus.

They carried the authority of the king.

And then verse 43 tells us that the miracles

that the apostles performed really served

in the way that miracles always serve in the Bible,

to authenticate the spoken word,

to authenticate the teaching of the person doing the speaking.

So the teaching then and the miracles brought about,

as verse 43 says,

a great sense of awe,

and the church, this new church,

knew that God was working through these guys.

And that in order to know this amazing God better,

the one that they killed, as Peter said,

and the one that has now given them new life,

as they professed faith in Christ,

they wanted to devote themselves to their teaching,

the apostles' teaching.

Now secondly, I think,

that the experience of these new believers,

the experience of these new believers

really enthused their hearts

in regards to the teaching of the apostles.

It's simple, really.

Think about it.

How did they come to believe the gospel?

How did they come to receive forgiveness of sins

and new life in Jesus?

Well, it all began when they heard

the word of God proclaimed.

It's through Peter's preaching.

Peter had taken a passage from the Bible,

explained it,

and applied it to their situation.

They believed it,

they responded to it,

and the preaching of God's word

had just transformed their life.

It just reorientated everything for them.

It made sense of everything.

Not only the immediate events

surrounding Pentecost,

but of everything.

Their whole lives.

And if hearing this teaching

led to saving faith,

it's no wonder then

that we immediately see

them giving themselves

to learning more and more

from the same guys.

It's simple.

They're hungry for more.

Isn't that often the experience

of a new believer?

I don't know if we've got

any new believers in the room,

people who've been a Christian

maybe for a few weeks

or just a few months.

I think the appetite

of a new believer

for learning

is an incredible thing to see.

I mean,

a new believer might ask

an older believer,

you know,

what were you reading today?

And the older believer might say,

oh, well, you know,

I just finished reading

four chapters of

Money McShane's reading plan.

You know,

two of the old,

two of the new.

What about you?

What have you been reading?

Yeah, I just read Psalms.

Like, all of them.

You know,

I just read Romans.

Like, all of it.

Don't you find that

new believers,

they've got this great appetite

for just devouring

the word of God.

And I think that's what we see

in this text.

There's good reason for it.

Their experiences

through the proclamation

of this word,

through the declaration

of this truth

that God has confirmed

in their hearts

through their consciences

and by the Holy Spirit,

that this is what you want

to bank your everything on.

This is truth

to a world of lies.

This is grace

to sinful people.

That's why we pay attention.

And that's why people

who've become Christians

listen hard

and devote themselves

to this teaching.

Now, that level of learning,

I want to argue with you,

kindly,

should never fade.

Maybe you've been a Christian

for quite a few years.

Well, the Christian life

is a lifelong devotion

to knowing God more

and more

and being changed

into the likeness of his son

more and more

as we'll see in the next session.

But if you find yourself

bored with sermons

and Bible studies

and Bible reading,

you know,

you need to watch

because your faith

might just be weakening.

Those are danger signs

and not things

that you should really

put up with.

These are the kind of things

where you need each other

to talk about

these things together.

You have to find out

why it is

that your appetite

is waning.

Maybe you're a lazy learner.

Maybe it's just the case

that there are

too many distractions.

Maybe it's the case

that you've just not

become disciplined.

Get to the root of that

because what you will do

is you'll consign yourself

to immaturity in the faith

and thinking about

our life together,

you will not develop

the kind of maturity

that will serve

the brothers and sisters

around you well.

So don't think for a second

that your lack

of Bible reading

and your lack

of application

when it comes

to Sunday sermons

or Saturday sermons

today

is just a personal

individualistic problem.

No, you make yourself

ill-equipped

when it comes

to ministering

to your brothers

and sisters

and ill-equipped

when it comes

to ministering

to unbelievers.

That's serious.

That's really serious.

So what does this

devotion to the apostles

teaching actually look like

in terms of application?

Well, look at what

they did here.

It seems like they met

in big and small.

Verse 46 says

they went up to the temple

every day to hear

the apostles teach.

Acts 5.42 confirms this.

This is their daily devotion.

Day after day

in the temple courts

and from house to house

they never stopped

proclaiming that Jesus

was the Messiah.

Never stopped proclaiming.

Day to day.

Big temple.

Just because it was

a big open space.

Not because it was

a special sanctuary

to go to.

It was a huge open space

where people could gather.

And small

in their homes.

Now I love that.

I love what they do there.

I love it whenever

we gather together.

I love it when

a local church family

gets.

I love being there

on a Sunday morning

whether I'm in the

congregation or in the

pulpit at Charlotte

Chapel and I just

love being with the

people of God

as we hear it.

There's something

epic going on.

Like God

changes lives

in those moments.

And God shapes

our lives

in those moments.

things.

And it's vital

that we do that

together.

And if I

stop coming

to that

well that's a problem

because I'm a pastor

at the church

but if I stop

going

and if I stop

being concerned

for encouraging

one another

to pay attention

as Jesus said

in Luke 8

take care how you

listen

I want people

to tell me

about that.

I don't want people

to shrink back

from actually

letting me know.

My soul's in danger.

You know I want

people in Charlotte

Chapel to reprimand

me for that kind

of thing.

And you should want

that from each other.

Gentle rebuke of course.

But we know that we

need more than just

the big on Sundays.

We need small groups

that provide a context

for learning and

growing as a community

of believers.

That's where

relationships are

deepened.

That's where we

really get to know

each other.

And this is vital.

So my concern

is in our own church

and for you today

is are you committed

to this small.

It might be a small

group in the life

of the church.

It might be three

or four of you

getting together

regularly to do

the same things.

It doesn't matter.

Churches are full

of people who are

void.

I find it again

and again and again.

It's really surprising

to me.

When I became a

Christian and I

started reading

through this stuff

and recognising

what life together

actually looked like

I was really surprised

how few people

were actually committed

to it.

I was like

I've not had

any of this

for 19 years

of my life.

I'd spent most

of my teenage years

in drug addiction

and utter loneliness

and come into

the understanding

that God

in the gospel

is true

it's real

and what he does

is he pulls

people together

so that even

the families

that are dysfunctional

or don't work

wherever you are

like you've got

a real family

where your ties

are thicker

than blood

then to

not engage

in that

is surprising

to me

never mind

disobedient

when it comes

to God's words

we cannot

expect to grow

if we don't

have people

gathering around

us and if we're

not gathering

around other

people

as we heard

in the reading

earlier on

let us not

give up

meeting together

as someone

in the habit

of doing

let us spur

one another

on toward

love and good

deeds

and all the more

as you see

the what

the day

what's that day

the day of the Lord

day of joy

for us

those who believe

but a day

of severe

judgment

for those

who don't

a day

when it's

preferential

to have

an avalanche

of jagged

rocks

fall on you

than to experience

what an unbeliever

will experience

serious

so

does

word

devotion

describe

your commitment

to the

apostles

teaching

this is the

word of God

of course

apostles

and prophets

do you read

it every day

do you have

a plan

ask people

afterwards

what's your

plan

how do you

read the

bible

every day

are you a

mcshane guy

do you take

four

do you take

ten chapters

a day

are you like

apollos mighty

in the scriptures

or are you

actually

I much prefer

two or three

verses

consecutively a day

and I mull it

over my head

for a long time

throughout the day

it doesn't matter

as long as you

read

as long as you

read

and then what about

making a priority

to attend every

Sunday

the big non-negotiable

you know

two things go into

your calendar

as far as I'm

concerned

it's Christmas

day

and every Sunday

at church

these are things

that we must

commit to

and we wouldn't

go a whole day

without food

of course

so what makes

us think we can

live without the

living bread

that Jesus said

we need daily

of course

the question here

is not just

life together

in a big

setting

and a small

setting

it's really

are we interested

in one another's

lives

are we ready

to step up

to that level

of commitment

because that's

actually what we

see in the

second point

where people

devoted themselves

to loving

one another

truly living

as the people

of God

together

what we see

in this

section

is that

they became

involved in

each other's

lives

these people

who had just

become Christians

together with

the apostles

and the 120

that reported

in Acts 1

we see them

commit to life

together

now fellowship

is a biblical

word that in my

opinion has lost

its punch

I think many

people have

neutered it

of its meaning

fellowship is

not just when

Christians get

together to have

a coffee and a

chat

it's way more

than that

the root meaning

of this word

for fellowship

is the word

common from

which we get

our word

community

where we share

our common

unity profoundly

through our

union with

Christ

it's really

straightforward

and these

brand new

Christians take

life together

as something

elementary

and basic

Christianity

then involves

sharing life

together with

other Christians

and devoting

yourself to

that kind of

commitment

actually requires

a new mindset

if you look

with me at

verse 44

see if you

think these

guys are

guilty of

keeping people

at arms

laying

see if they're

guilty of

rugged individualism

all the believers

were together

and had everything

in common

selling their

possessions and

goods they gave

to anyone as

he had need

now what we see

even in that is

that they had a

healthy ecclesiology

from the start

they knew what the

church was

they just started

living it out

it was part and

parcel of their

conversion

they understood

that God is

creating a new

people for his

own to bear

his name

indwelt by him

to carry the

gospel out

and that's what

conditioned the

way they lived

they had everything

in common it says

even their

possessions

now it should be

clear that this

is not communism

where the state

force is sharing

this isn't even

communalism where

no one has any

private property

no what we have

here is genuine

biblical community

and their sharing

is marked by a

love for each

other and a

recognition that

what we have is

not ours

we're just stewards

of the stuff that

we've got

when I was at

Bible college a

number of years

ago I lived with

a friend two days

a week as I

studied in Glasgow

and I would often

go up to him and

say it's alright if I

use your computer

I could just check

my emails he said

feel free it's

God's computer

you know it

started to get a

bit ridiculous where

I said do you

mind if I have a

couple of slices of

toast before I go to

bed he would

say it's God's

bread you know

it's like okay I

get it I get it

but I mean that

that was a strong

testimony to me of

actually this we're

just stewards of the

stuff that we've got

it's all God's we

should be willing to

hold to it loosely so

that we can help and

serve one another as

best we can but

maybe you know I

don't know what this

looks like in

Brunsfield for you

but I've seen in my

own experience in two

churches I've been

pastoring where people

have sold stuff to

help another person

out you know maybe

someone's lost their

job the family

has not been able

to make ends meet

you know I've seen

people say well let

me just see what I

can sell on eBay so

that I can help out

and that's a glorious

thing to see and

because that

demonstrates real

love Dietrich Bonhoeffer

has written a great

book called Life

Together it's worth

getting your hands on

it and he says

loving one another in

this way to this

extent speaks the

Christian language with

overwhelming eloquence

the problem is

sometimes we prefer to

be a little less

eloquent the idea of a

shared life together is

a bit of a nightmare for

some of us I mean we

go out of our way to

make sure our

conversations at times

with fellow believers

are mundane arms length

very self-protective

well if we do that

Paul Tripp would say

that we become

co-conspirators in a

church that prefers

superficiality to true

worship and true life

together or worse we

shrink our understanding

of church to an hour and

a half on a Sunday

and as a result this

would be God's call to

us to love one another

and to lay down our

lives for one another

even as Christ has for

us so what does

devotion to the

fellowship look like

well I'm convinced that

in churches the size of

Brunsfield it's it's

really difficult to do

this without finding

ways to know each other

better than just on

Sundays so my

encouragement for you is

to practice hospitality

how many Sundays in the

month or even Friday

nights or Saturday nights

do you have people around

your house for a meal

how many times do you

just invite people who

are just like you or how

many times do you ask

people who are really

reflective of the bread to

the congregation is there

a seat at your table for

people who are single is

there a seat young people

is there a seat at your

table for that for an

older couple or a

widow widower we should

be sharing in our life

together in intergenerational

ways generational ways

much in the same way that

Charlie and Beth were

encouraging us to do

earlier this is how we

start to know what needs

people have and especially

as we gather together in

our small groups that

really serves us very well

we've just gone through a

complete revolution in our

small groups recently at

Charlotte Chapel and I am

stunned at the way that

our commitment to reducing

the size of the group

basing our commitment

together and forming our

groups around the basis

of relationship where

people are ready and

willing to share and

setting up from the very

start these are called

growth groups because

they're going to help us

grow to be more like

Jesus and the basic gist

of everything that people

come to do is a reminder

for them on every single

study sheet that they look

at how will this study

help us grow more in the

likeness of Jesus and love

one another and love God

better and we just drum

that home because it's

absolutely vital for us

I think this is the kind of

thing that we see in the

church in Acts as these

people who become

Christians it's part and

parcel of the faith to love

each other and live a

shared life together what

about the third thing

praising remembering the

gospel of God together of

course verse 42 they

devoted themselves to the

breaking of bread I

realize I am taking my

life in my hands speaking

in a brethren church on

this wow what is he going

to say he's a Baptist

well they devoted

themselves to the breaking

of bread they became

worshipers of Jesus

together I should say in

this context and in a

couple of contexts so for

example when Paul later in

Acts is in Troas and he's

he's I think in this

context in Acts 2 what

we're talking about here

is the Lord's Supper

it's adhering to the

command of the Lord

Jesus but there are other

couple of occasions in the

book of Acts where it's

not necessarily talking

about the Lord's Supper

for example it says

there's breaking of bread

on when Paul is on the

boat in Acts 27 I think

it is with a bunch of

pagans I don't think he's

sharing communion with

them but I think in the

context this is what's

going on here they are

remembering the gospel of

God together worshiping

Jesus and that's one of

the primary things that

we do now the Lord's

Supper for these guys

wasn't something that's

tagged on at the end of

a service it certainly

didn't involve little

squares of bread involved

much more of a meal

together a meal made

very meaningful by the

sharing of a common loaf

and a common cup and

Jesus therefore had

commanded these

observatants of course of

this feast until he

returns he had said

do this in remembrance

of me and it's

intended as this

symbolic remembrance of

Christ's sinless life and

atoning death on our

behalf it's a proclamation

of his death and his

resurrection until he

returns at the individual

level it's an opportunity

for self-examination but

communion is for the

church the people of God

shared in together as an

expression of the unity of

the people in gratitude to

God for the gospel you

follow me so again in

verse 42 it's unpacked

further down the page

verse 46 they broke bread

in their homes and ate

together with glad and

sincere hearts praising

God now why does Luke want

to highlight this commitment

as a feature of the early

church why does it matter

to their life together and

to our life together well I

think there are three

reasons one it's a matter

of simple obedience Jesus

commanded it two it

stimulates the church to

praise God for the most

important thing that he

has ever done for his

people it has to be

central I don't know about

you but when I'm at

communion I'm reminded of

every time of why I follow

Jesus when I take bread and

wine I'm reminded of the

fact that I am both torn

apart and put right back

together again by the

gospel and my love for

Jesus swells my my my

realization of my sin and

ongoing sinfulness is

unavoidably exposed in the

light of his blood and I

come as as a sinner as James

forces humbly repenting under

his welcome and grace and

I remember the beauty of

the gospel and at times I

have a big smile on my

face at times I have tears

and a smile on my face but

on any occasion whatever's

going on externally inside my

heart is full of joy and

gratitude and love that the

Lord God himself would do

this for someone like me man

alive so don't be

distracted when it happens

when you share in the Lord's

Supper together enjoy it

reflect on it and never ever

forget that you do it

together it's a mark of our

life together we encourage one

another to remember the gospel

together I don't know what

you guys do what often we eat

at the same time we drink at

the same time where we're just

saying one great big fat yes to

the Lord Jesus for his salvation

so what does devotion to the

breaking of bread look like for

you well again it's like

attending Sunday services it's

making sure that you have time to

and the priority to attend and

make the most of it don't let

minds wander whether it's to the

the roast that's in the oven or

whatever just meditate on that

I find Psalm 51 comes to mind

again and again I've memorized

passages of the Bible where

there's the gospel in a nutshell

which both remind me of who I

was what God has done and what I

am now those are rich those are

the things that when you

concentrate on those things or it

might be a song for you you know

it might be a song don't sing it

out loud especially if you're a

you're the only one yeah people

might not join in that's a bit

risky but that's those are helpful

things to do to make the most to

focus your heart your mind on what

you're doing in that moment and what

you're doing together lastly I'll make

this quick praying asking great things

from God together verse 42 again

they devoted themselves to prayer where

they came as dependent children to a

generous father listen when our eyes

are open to the majesty and the

beauty of Christ we're drawn to desire

more of him and prayer is simply the

articulation of that heart's love the

heart's response to Christ and what

he's done and we pray with prayers of

adoration but I think in verse 42 what

we're here what we're looking at

mainly is intercession and the reason I

say that is because that's the kind of

prayer that saturates the book of Acts

it's intercession all the way through in

chapter 4 God's people pray together for

boldness to speak God's word in the

face of persecution in chapter 12

God's people pray together for Peter's

relief release from prison so prayer is

something that they ask God to do on

account of the fact that they have come

to be aware of his great power he

actually can do anything isn't it odd

that and as we recognize that and

understand that that at times we prefer

self-reliance we prefer to crack on

with our lives the way we think we

should do them and forget to take time

to pray well prayer is as one author

has said the antithesis of this self

reliance it what it's what demonstrates

our dependence on God that we've

grasped the magnitude of his character

and honors him as the one behind all

the blessings of our life so are we

devoted to praying together regularly

most churches find it difficult to

gather more than a small fraction of

their Sunday congregations to either

corporate prayer times or even to small

groups but I think it's an important

thing for us to do and even when people

meet to pray we all know how much

easier it is to spend time sharing news

and requests than actually speaking to

God together in prayer why is this well I

wonder if it's because we don't get

beyond the religion that we ought to

pray to the reality of relationship that

we get to pray we get to speak to God so

when we devote ourselves to praying

together let's pray when we gather ask

great things of God together I don't

know if you have a membership directory

at Brunsfield but it's useful if you

have a knowledge of who are the people

in your church whatever you read in the

morning by the way just we pray that

not just for yourself but for each other

didn't Jesus teach us that the Lord's

prayer has that outward emphasis lead us

deliver us our father it starts with you

know it's not a prayer you're meant to

pray individualistically it's corporate

from the very off so learning loving

praising and praying one life that's

what we're called to that's what you're

called to as a church together if you're

new to Christianity I hope that spells it

out for you if you've been a Christian for

a longer time I hope you'll maintain an

emphasis on these things and recognize

that they are the heartbeat really of

Brunsfield Evangelical Church your

commitment to these things will serve you

well lastly very very lastly how many

times does a preacher say lastly he

never means it yes what do we see what's

the result of this you know this life

together I think the big temptation when

we look at a subject like this in this

sermon like this is that we just think

we do all these lives to all these

things together it's all about just

being a little commune a little closet

community together no way no way is

that the case you see in this passage

that they were not so preoccupied with

each other that they forgot about

mission it tells us that God added to

their number daily those who were being

saved and what that means is that they

must have been so generous as a

community and bold and sharing their

faith that their attractiveness as a

people their their attractiveness of

their shared life together won many

people to Jesus so one of the reasons

why we commit to our life together is so

that we might better display the love of

Christ to people who don't know him and

we need to recover then this vision of

Acts 2 42 and discover rediscover the

expectation then of steady growth in

that amen

you