In the Church and In a Church
A Sermon on Acts 2:37-47 by Hector Garcia
Well, it’s good to see you all this morning again. As we read God’s Word, I’d like to talk to you about something that I title “In the Church and in a Church.” In the Church and in a Church. And I’ll explain to you what that means in just a moment. So let’s open the Word of God to the book of Acts.
The Text: Acts 2:37-47
Look at Acts, chapter 2, and we’re going to commence reading from verses 37 to 47. So we’re going to focus on these verses.
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about 3,000 souls.
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they 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. Gracious Master, we are grateful for the privilege of being part of your church and part of this church here, local body of believers in Kitwe. Oh Lord, forgive us, for we have taken it so lightly to belong to your church. We have been unfaithful many times. We have lived lives—we live lives—that are very superficial in our commitment to the church, and I pray that you would forgive us, Lord, but that that will resonate with us this morning as we go through the text. Father, I pray for words that would come from above to speak, to be only a herald, a messenger of what you want to proclaim to your people. I pray, Father, that you would give me the strength, the wisdom to speak, and I pray for my brethren sitting here and those listening online, Father, that you would speak to their hearts as well, so that our hearts and minds and lives may be changed and transformed and conformed to your word. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Introduction: Understanding the Church
All right, so this is a very well-known passage. This is actually one of the most known passages to most Christians, especially all of us who have grown up in a good gospel-preaching church. This is where we see the birth of the church.
In fact, some theologians will say that the church has always existed—that Israel in the Old Testament was the church. They call it the Old Testament church, and that we are the New Testament Israel. I don’t believe that’s true. Israel was an assembly of the national people of God, but it was not the church. The church is composed of believers alone, and Israel had many unbelievers. In fact, there was a point in which most of Israel were unbelievers. They were part of the national people, but they were not true believers. But the church as an institution begins here on the day of Pentecost. So this is where the church begins.
What we see in the passage is that birth of the church, and the passage is going to show us how you can belong to the church of Christ spiritually and then join the local church, a visible body of believers.
Two Categories of Church
Before I jump into the message, I want to show you how we, in theology, what we call the church—the two categories that we talk about when we refer to the church. Of course we use the word “church” to refer to this building, right? So that’s fine. It’s just a practice; it’s just a custom; there’s nothing to it. So you can call the church the building. But in the Bible, the church is not necessarily the building. I think we all know that, right? But we’re also not going to be so legalistic and say, “Oh, don’t call the building the church.” I mean, we just call it the church building, right? But let’s just get that clear.
The Universal Church (Invisible Church)
So the church—we speak of the church in theology as the universal church, which refers to all true believers in all places at all times since the day of Pentecost, okay? Any saved individual anywhere, whether here in Zambia, whether in Europe, in Asia, anywhere, who is a true believer belongs to the universal church. This is also called, it’s also known as the invisible church. Why? Because only God knows who belongs to him, right? So in reality, this is just to say all those who are true Christians.
Now we don’t know who is a true Christian and who is not, right? We cannot know for sure. We can see evidences; we can judge based on scriptural principles, but we don’t know ultimately their heart. Only God knows how many people belong to the universal church, the invisible church, or the whole body of believers in the world. Are we together? So that’s the invisible church. Good?
The Local Church (Visible Church)
All right. Now the local church, or the visible church, is a group of believers that meet regularly at an appointed location and time to worship together, okay? And we can add they practice the ordinances, but I put the word “worship” because the ordinances are part of worship. Giving is part of worship. Singing together is part of worship. Listening to God’s Word is part of worship. So I just summarized it in one word, all right? These are definitions I wrote—these definitions—but they pretty much reflect many definitions you would find in theology books.
So we here are a local church. But sometimes in a local church, somebody can slip in, you know, slip in unnoticed and kind of fool us into making us believe that you are truly a believer. But you cannot fool God in a universal church, right? So that’s how we divide the local church.
In the Bible, we find many local churches, right? And let me show you that.
What Are the Differences?
The composition: The universal church is composed of all believers. The local church is composed of believers in one location. This is why when somebody moves away from us, say to Lusaka or somewhere else, they join another local church, right? Because all believers need to belong to one.
The number of churches: The universal church—there is only one universal church. God knows all those who belong in it. And the local church is composed of many churches. In fact, in Kitwe, we have a few gospel-preaching churches. We don’t have many, but we have a few, and they’re all local churches.
How members are added: In the universal church, members are added by the Lord as people repent and trust in Christ, right? In the local church, the believers join in an area, so you move to an area. Of course, you need to be saved, but then you are joined to the local church. The local church affirms that you’re a believer, and then you join the local church.
How they’re organized: The universal church—Christ is our only head, okay, and we are his body, okay? We are his body. There’s only one universal church. Local churches are ruled by elders, deacons, and the saints doing the ministry. So it is a bit different.
And confusing these can lead to many problems, including cults. For example, the Roman Catholic Church speaks only of the church universal, and they believe that all the other ones are just part of the church universal. They don’t give—this is why the Vatican would give, especially in the bigger regions, what every church is preaching every Sunday, what every church is learning of the Catholic churches worldwide, right? They control what they believe; they control what they teach; they control how they do things, because they believe that there should be only one center, okay?
Whereas we believe that there’s one universal church and God gives the freedom to local churches to run their own affairs, okay? One church can be preaching one book; our church can be preaching another book, right? And we rule our own affairs, okay?
So these are the differences, and I wanted you to have that in mind because of the title I gave. So the title was “In the Church and in a Church.” So all believers, all believers, those who are truly born again belong in the church, in the universal church. But all believers also must belong in a church, in a local church. They must belong to it; they must serve the Lord in the church, all right? In a church. Are we together? That’s why I called it “In the Church and in a Church.”
So that’s going to be my outline for today. So how do you enter into the church, in the church, and then how do you serve in a church? All right? All right, now let’s move.
Part One: In the Church
So how does a person belong in the church? Look at verse 37.
1. You Must Hear the Gospel Clearly Preached
The first thing is you must hear the gospel clearly preached. Look at verse 37:
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
The first phrase says, “When they heard this.” What is “this”? In the context, in Acts chapter 2, Peter stands up and preaches an amazing message, one of the best sermons ever preached in the history of the church. And so Peter gets up, preaches his message, and then he proclaims that Christ is the Jesus Christ, and then he compels people to repent. So preaching—Peter has just finished preaching.
And preaching of the gospel is the first and most important prerequisite to becoming a believer. You cannot become a Christian if you do not hear the gospel of Christ clearly preached to you. That’s why it is important that we preach the gospel clearly. That is why it’s important that we have good doctrine. A person cannot come to Jesus if he does not hear not only the gospel, but the gospel preached faithfully and clearly.
The Bible says in Romans 10:
For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
So the gospel must be preached.
The problem is today we live in a world in which people think that you can become a Christian, that you can join the universal church, that you can become a Christian just by doing anything—going to church, doing Christian things, doing a few rituals, or just being born in a Christian nation. And that is not the case.
It is not through a dream. There are those who claim to have been saved through a dream. I know people like that. I’ve spoken to many people that claim to have been saved through a dream—not that a dream led them to Christ and to the Scriptures, but the dream saved them.
Then there are those who claim to have had a vision, and the vision saved them, not their faith and repentance. I mean, I’ve heard of so many people claim that they went to heaven and they talked to God, and God sent them back, right? And now they’re saved. They didn’t believe much before, but now they are.
It is not through an experience. Many people only have religious experiences. They think because they feel something when they’re singing, because they’re here faithfully on Sundays, because they feel excited when they sing the songs, or when the pastor preaches, or they just feel spiritual, you know? It feels like the spiritual atmosphere here in church. “Oh, I feel this peace when I’m in church.” That does not make you a Christian. You need to be exposed to the preaching of God’s Word and you need to repent of your sins. Nothing can be further from the truth. You cannot be saved just by feelings. They don’t mean anything ultimately.
2. You Must Experience True Conviction
Number two, and this is the follow-up. Look at verse 37 again:
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter…
So the second is conviction. You must experience true conviction. Not only must you hear the gospel, but you must experience true conviction. What does that mean? When the Bible says they were cut through the heart, that’s what it means. That the Holy Spirit, through the word, the word came and it cut through their heart, right? And they felt convicted. They felt like, “Okay, this is what I need. This is what I’ve been missing.” So they were convicted by the Holy Spirit.
And the conviction by the Holy Spirit is when, after being exposed to the preaching of God’s Word, he makes you aware—listen to this—he makes you aware of your need for God. He convinces you of your need for repentance and faith. When the Holy Spirit comes, he convicts you that you need repentance and you need faith, and he cuts through your heart.
Look, there are different types of convictions. Sometimes people feel convicted. They sit under a sermon and they know that this is what they need. They know that they need to repent, but they’re not ready. They don’t make any step of conversion or repentance, because it’s not a conviction of the Holy Spirit. They’re just feeling the weight, but it’s not the Holy Spirit fully convicting them to bow their knee to Jesus. So for you to be saved, to belong to the church universal, you must be convicted by the Holy Spirit.
How do we know when there’s true conviction? Look at verse 37. They ask:
“Brothers, what shall we do?”
They were ready. They were ready to repent and to trust in Jesus and to turn to him.
In Acts 16, we see the jailer ask the same question: “What must I do to be saved?” What did Paul answer to him? Believe. You remember? “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved,” right? So conviction is necessary.
Listen, friends, there are many of you, some of you here today, that are not true Christians. Listen to me again. Some of you are not true Christians. There’s a good number of people here, okay, that you come regularly, you listen to God’s Word. You feel good about it; you feel peace; you like how people are nice to you. But you have not been convicted of your need of repentance and faith and bowing the knee to Jesus. You refuse to believe. You come close, but you don’t.
We should start calling you Agrippa, right? You remember Agrippa? You ever read about Agrippa in the Bible? There are discrepancies as to how that phrase should be translated, but the King James Bible translates—Agrippa says to Paul, after Paul preaches to him in chapter 26 of Acts, he says, “You almost persuaded me. You almost convinced me to become a Christian.”
There are some people sitting here that hear the gospel, they hear the Word, but they believe in their own opinions. They think they know better. They’re like, “Yeah, I’m almost persuaded,” but they won’t bow their knee. And they don’t belong to the church, the universal church of God. They’re lost in their sins. And when they die, they will face judgment. It doesn’t matter how good they were, how moral they were, how many things they found interesting in the Bible. They do not know Christ. They resist that conviction, and they keep on resisting that conviction.
3. You Must Repent and Believe
So how do you belong to the church universal? How do you come to Christ? Number one, you must hear the Word preached. Number two, you must be convicted by the Holy Spirit. That conviction that the Holy Spirit gives—and that is ultimate.
Let us see. You must repent and believe. Look at verse 38:
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”
So here it is. It’s a progression. Do you see? Do you see the progression? First you hear the Word, then the Holy Spirit convicts you effectively, and then you repent. You cannot alter the chronology. You cannot alter the process. You have to hear the Word. You are not saved. You cannot be saved if you do not hear the Gospel. It isn’t through praying a prayer. You must hear the Gospel clearly preached, and you must be convicted by the Holy Spirit. And then you turn in repentance and faith.
The word “repentance” has the idea of a turning point, a change of direction. This is one thing that Christ desires: repent and believe. But it is what is absent from most false religions.
Listen, friend. It is time for you to repent. You have heard the gospel again and again. You have felt the conviction, but now you need to be cut through the heart. And today finally say, “I bow the knee. I repent of my sins so that I may be saved from this crooked generation and be saved to live forever with God in all eternity in heaven.” Then you will belong to the church universal, but not before.
And some of you here are at the brink of repenting, but you still won’t do it. But you’re also standing at a precipice where today may be the last day of your life. You don’t know when, but it may be today. Have you repented?
Peter says, “Repent and be baptized.” Well, he’s speaking of a chronology. Baptism comes after repentance. He is not saying that baptism adds to your salvation, right? That would be contradictory to everything the New Testament says. But there are many religions that teach that, that baptism complements or completes your salvation. There are some that say that speaking in tongues completes your salvation. Well, that completely contradicts the New Testament. It is Jesus and Jesus alone. It is faith and repentance and God alone.
And so this is a progression, and this is how one becomes a Christian. This is how one is in the church.
What Does “Church” Mean?
What does the word “church” mean? It means assembly. The assembly of all believers at all places, of all times. You will belong to it if you repent. And someday there won’t be local churches. All of us as an assembly will be together in heaven worshiping the Lamb. We will not partake of the Lord’s table anymore here, but we will partake of the table up in heaven for all eternity as we continue to celebrate the Lord’s sacrifice. But we will be an assembly in heaven together.
Do you belong to that assembly? Have you repented? Have you trusted in Christ? If you die today, are you certain you will be with him?
So that is for you. If you’re a Christian, this is a message we proclaim, right? This is a message you’ve got to tell your parents, your siblings, your relatives, your friends, those who are close to you that you have not shared with. You deceive yourself—”Ah, no, I think he’s a believer because sometimes he talks about God. Sometimes he reads his Bible.” You know, we like positive thinking, right? We like to think that our relatives and close people are believers just because we see a few religious things in their life.
But in reality, we are afraid. We’re afraid to share this gospel. We are ashamed. Because what if they reject you? I mean, they’re your relatives, right? It’s more difficult, really. It’s more difficult to share the gospel with those closest to you than it is with an outsider that you don’t know. Have you noticed that? But they’re on their way to eternal damnation. And God has put you in that family, in that job situation for you to be a light and to share the gospel. And I hope this will be the gospel you preach, amen?
Part Two: In a Church
Number two, in a church. So now we go to the second part of the passage. What we’re going to see is what it looks like to be a healthy church member. Once you have joined the church universal, now you’re going to join a local church, a church, okay? And you’re going to be in a church. And that’s where God will put you. So let’s look at the characteristics of those who are in a church.
1. They’re Baptized and Have Joined a Church
Number one, they’re baptized and have joined a church.
Verse 41:
So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about 3,000 souls.
The first thing the new believers did was to get baptized as a public declaration of their faith. And I want to say that to you, brethren here, if you are a true believer in Christ, if you have truly repented, if you truly believed, the next step for you is to seek to get baptized. You can speak to one of the pastors because it is a step of obedience that declares to the church and to the world, “I belong to Christ. I have died to my sins, and I have been raised to newness of life spiritually. And I’m going to show that through my baptism.” It will not save you. It will not make you a greater Christian. It will not add to your spirituality. It’s just a public declaration of what has already happened in you.
Then after that happens, you join a local church. It’s an obvious chronology in the Bible. There is no other way for a believer. You hear the gospel, you’re convicted, you repent, you are baptized, and you join the church so that you as a Christian now can be together with the family of God, right? And then serve together in your local church.
So they joined and they became a community, and they had all things in common. Listen to this. You cannot live out your Christian life by yourself. That does not exist, okay? It doesn’t exist. No Christian can live out his Christian life by himself. No one. It’s lived out in a community. God did not design you that way, and he did not design the church that way.
I seriously do not understand how there are some people that are either not believers or they’re very weak in their faith. They say something like, “Well, I live my Christian life on my own. God and I have a close relationship, right?” You ever heard people saying that? “It’s me and God. And I’m very close to my God. I read my Bible alone. I pray alone. So why do I need to be in the church? I mean, I can do things on my own. God and I are close, right?”
Well, that person has not read Acts chapter 2. Does not understand God’s will for his life. God never intended the Christian life to be lived alone. If you’re living it alone, you’re not living it at all. So that’s how God intended. It is a way of excusing their lack of commitment to the church, and it is a way of showing their ignorance of Scriptures.
When God saved you, he did not take you to heaven immediately, right? He put you in a church. He wants you to live out your Christian life, and not alone. He puts you in a body of believers that you would serve God and others in it. There’s no such thing as a Christian without a church.
Listen to me. There are some Christians here. There are some Christians right now here that have not joined the church, the membership of the church. They are happy just attending. They do not want to commit. They do not want to join, because it requires commitment. If you’re one of those, you can always talk to us. There might be other reasons. Maybe you’re only here for a short time and you are waiting so that the final place where you’re going, you will join a church. Maybe you’re checking us out—fine. But you need to decide to join a church soon. If it’s not this one, you need to join another church and be committed in a membership. We hope you’ll join us and serve Jesus together with us.
But there’s no such thing as a Christian without a church. Look at the progression. Those who believe were baptized, and then they were added to the church. They weren’t baptized and then they’re like, “Oh, I’m going to go live my Christian life at home. This Jerusalem church, I’m not so sure about it.” No, that doesn’t exist in the Bible. A Christian without a church? That’s weird. That is weird. And it’s unbiblical, right? So God has chosen that the church is the center of his activities on earth.
2. Devoted to Good Teaching
Letter B: Devoted to good teaching. Here’s what a true Christian that is in a church looks like. First, he has joined the church. Second, he is devoted to good teaching.
Verse 42:
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.
Here, the apostles’ teaching is a reference to the Word of God and the teaching of the New Testament, since God chose to reveal his Word and his will through the apostles, all right?
So the apostles’ teaching was good teaching because God chose, Christ chose to give his word through the apostles. We were just told that 3,000 got saved. So the first church started with more than 3,000 souls. That’s a dream of many pastors to have a church that big, but it would be also the nightmare of every pastor. Imagine pastoring 3,000 souls. And then in chapter 4, it grows to 5,000. And of course, in chapter 6, we begin to see the problems of having a big church, that deacons need to be chosen.
But these people were from many different locations, many different backgrounds. Most of them had some biblical background or knowledge of the Old Testament, but they were ignorant about the person and ministry of the Lord Jesus. So the apostles had a massive job teaching these new believers about Jesus. Even if they were very knowledgeable of the Old Testament, they were not knowledgeable of Jesus Christ and his ministry. So the only way they could do that was to preach and teach the Word of God faithfully.
Even when the deacons were chosen in chapter 6, the apostles said that deacons would serve in the general tasks of the church so that the pastors could devote themselves to praying and preaching. In other words, from the beginning of the church, the apostles and all Christians have understood the importance of good, biblical, sound teaching. Being exposed to the Word of God in different ways is the main way in which a Christian grows and the only way in which you can know your God and your faith better.
Throughout the history of the church, Christians have given their lives to have access to the Word of God. We have access very easily, right? At the tip of our fingers, printed, many versions. Brothers and sisters, a healthy Christian is one that is committed to God and to his Word, committed to learning God’s Word.
It is sad that many Christians have lost that commitment. There are many that only open God’s Word when they come here on Sunday morning—that’s if they get here on time. Some here, they’re always late, always late. I don’t know why, you know. Maybe a real reason, but God’s Word is important. Be here on time. There are some that only open God’s Word when they come to church to read it. The rest of the week, nothing, nothing. They don’t listen to it; they don’t read it.
Same with the prayer, right? They devoted themselves to fellowship and prayers. Well, same with prayers. You know, some of you only pray when you’re about to eat, right? You have a prayer memorized for food, right? Kind of feels like a religious duty to pray before you eat. It would be a nice, actually a nice custom to pray after you eat, you know, also to thank the Lord for the food he gave you. Either way, it’s fine. But you get my point.
Being exposed to God’s Word is important. You can’t just open it here on Sunday morning. And if you don’t come on a Sunday, it takes two or three weeks for you to open God’s Word. How do you expect to know him better? How do you expect not to be deceived by false teaching? How do you expect not to be weak in your walk with Christ?
A great number of Christians—they only open the Word on Sundays. When they’re here, they’re distracted. Some of you are already thinking what you’re going to eat for lunch, what you’ve got to do after, where you’re going to go. “Ah, did I turn off the stove? I left the beans cooking. I left the beans cooking. Did I turn it off? I don’t remember if I did. My dad asked me to get this from the shop. I’m going to go to the shop right after. And you know, where’s the Holy Spirit going to lead me to eat after church?”
You’re already thinking about all those kinds of things here as the Word of God is being preached, moving around. You go and use the toilet five times, right, during the sermon. Now, don’t feel bad if you’re not well, right? I mean, so that’s not what I mean. I go before I preach; I feel nervous, so, you know. But you get the point. It’s a hard issue.
Some, you know, they come and this is where they take their weekly naps, right? In church. I mean, I understand, you know, you’ve got a boring preacher up here, but at least read God’s word, you know?
Or just thinking about something else. And I don’t mean to make you feel guilty—I know it sounds funny—but sometimes we are so used to being distracted that our focus is not on God’s Word.
How can you be a Christian that’s committed to the apostles’ teaching? Well, attend services regularly. It starts with that little simple thing. Come on Sunday mornings; hear God’s Word preached. Come on Sunday evenings when we have them. Come on Wednesdays to learn God’s Word. Really, Sunday mornings is an hour and a half, an hour and 45 minutes. Wednesday nights is one hour. Sunday evenings is one hour. That’s not even four hours in a week. I don’t even know how many hours there are in a week. That’s only four hours in a week.
How many hours of the week are you exposed to the world? How many? How many hours of the week are you exposed to the world through social media, through TV, unbelievers around you? Are we serious? How are we going to grow? You need to be devoted to the word, not devoted to the world. Otherwise we’ll never grow.
Read the Scriptures at home. Listen to sermons at home. Some of you commute, you know? Have you ever thought about listening to a sermon on the way to work, maybe 20 minutes, and then the other 20 or 30 minutes on your way back? You’d be able to listen to a few sermons a week. Talk with other Christians about the Christian life. Read books to help you grow.
You know, we live in a day where sound teaching is not important. People love experiences; people love feelings; people do not want eternal truth. Paul commands Timothy to preach the word, to be ready. He says, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves false teachers to suit their own passions. And they will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”
Listen, I thank God for the preaching of God’s Word at KC. But it is your job—it is your job and my job—to make sure that the pastors of this church stay true to the Word and never deviate. We need to make sure that we make a commitment that we will protect this pulpit, that God’s Word would always be faithfully preached from here. If today the Word stops being preached, it will be the day when we will become a false church. And it is your job to protect the church from that.
I pray that that day never comes. If someday someone in our church, whether a preacher or not, stands up and wants to say something that is unbiblical, I pray that you will be brave enough to sit him down, and if he persists, to kick him out, and to avoid and separate from such a one, because false teaching divides the church.
3. Committed to Fellowship
So that’s what a Christian in a church looks like. A Christian in a church is also committed to fellowship. Look at 42b:
They were devoted to the apostles’ teaching.
Another thing they’re devoted to is fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayers. Here fellowship includes the breaking of bread and prayers. We understand what prayers mean, right? They were praying together at home and different places. But the breaking of bread refers to the Lord’s Supper. Why? Because in the old times, the Lord’s Supper was celebrated by eating a big meal. It wasn’t like the way we do it, right? Now we do it to remember the Lord’s death, but back then it was a big meal, so everybody partook of the meal. And there was fellowship that happened when the Lord’s Supper took place.
A lot of these celebrations of the Lord’s Supper happened in the believers’ homes, where the body of Christ would gather to break the bread. This shows that there was constant fellowship. Many believers opened their homes so that the church could come and remember the Lord’s death, as well as enjoy some fellowship.
Sadly, this practice has been lost. We, at times, are no longer hospitable. And I don’t mean the practice—I don’t mean we lost the practice of the Lord’s Supper, but the practice of fellowship. The practice of having fellowship in homes. Believers live their lives privately and they rarely open their house to other Christians. Look, you can justify it—you can justify, “No, you see I’m busy. No, I’m private. My house is not nice.” This, that, whatever it is. It is easy to justify. “Oh, that’s not my personality.”
We had a full series of teaching last year on fellowship on Wednesday nights. If you did not attend, you can always get the notes from me about the series of teaching we talked about fellowship.
Let me ask you a question: When was the last time you had a believer or group of believers in your home? I want you to think about it right now. Seriously, think about it. Think about it right now. I’m not asking a general question for someone else—it’s for you. For you, okay? For you, you who’s hearing me. When was the last time you had believers in your home? One, two, or many?
I can guarantee you for many, it’s going to be never. Or “I can’t remember.” It doesn’t have to be in your home—maybe just fellowshipping somewhere else. But the opening of your home is a good way of fellowshipping. And you get the point, right? They’re devoted to fellowship. That’s what it means to be in a church.
You notice how we’re living private Christian lives, which was not intended to be that way by the Lord.
4. Committed to Unity
Then they were committed to unity. Look at verse 44:
And all who believed were together.
They were together and had all things in common. This was something that they did. The phrase “they had all things in common” speaks of the unity. They were together, and therefore, they had all things in common.
And this is how Satan destroys a church, brethren. He always destroys the unity, because the world cannot destroy the church, persecution does not destroy the church, Satan cannot destroy the church, but it’s always done through division. A seed is planted, then we let it grow and grow and grow until the church no longer exists.
When Christians are in a church and fully committed to the church, there is unity. Unity of vision—where are we going together? Unity of purpose—why do we exist as a church? Unity of doctrine—we share the same beliefs in the Bible and what the Bible teaches. Unity of possessions—we give generously for the good of others and for the spread of the gospel through our church.
We have—I mean, we constantly have those opportunities to promote the unity of the church. Fellowship promotes it.
I mean, you members of Kitwe Church will have an opportunity in the next few weeks. We’re following a process of choosing new deacons and new elders. You know what happens every year or every time we choose new deacons or new elders? There’s always somebody that does not agree with the name proposed, okay? And we receive them from the congregation, we vet them, and then we just tell you the names, okay? It’s not meant that we grabbed and said, “Put this on you,” okay? But there’s always going to be someone that’s not happy with the choice.
But God speaks through his church. If the majority of the church says yes, the Holy Spirit is showing his will. Are you going to say, “I submit joyfully and I will serve the church with this deacon, even though I did not think that he should have been a deacon at this church”? If 95% of the church votes that we should have this elder appointed as an elder of our church, but you do not like him, or you do not like that choice because you think we should have somebody else, but the Holy Spirit speaks through the church, then you submit to the will of the church and the will of God, and you promote unity, and you serve under the leadership of that pastor. Are we together?
Now I’m not talking about—I’m talking about issues. Most of the time people disagree on issues of personality. “I don’t like—ah, he’s too quiet, he’s too loud, or we did not get along so well, or I don’t know him well.” Now if it’s an issue of character, or “I know he’s a drunkard,” well then you should tell us, okay? That’s a different thing. But if a man meets the qualifications, we in unity need to serve, right?
And you will have an opportunity in the next few weeks. We’ll talk more about that.
5. Sacrificially Generous
Then finally, in a church, what does that mean? What does it look like to be in a church? You are sacrificially generous. Some of you were afraid about this one, right?
Verse 45:
And they 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.
If the first church is to be a model, then we need to consider how generous they were. Look at the text—I mean, they sold their possessions. Have you ever sold something and then given the money to the church? Have you ever done that? Believers were doing that. Something—and I don’t mean even sacrificially, but even selling something you don’t need and give it to the church.
These believers—the Bible says they were selling their properties later on in chapter, I think it’s chapter 5, and giving it to the Lord. See, that mentality is far removed from what we see in most churches today. We see stingy believers because of love of money, fear of the unknown, and the lack of love for God and his church. Christians are very stingy and seldom sacrifice for the Lord.
Now, I’m not even going as far as saying sacrifice, but some Christians are even very unfaithful, even in things that don’t require sacrifice. And you know, I know what some of you are thinking: “I’m poor. I’m broke.” Good, right? I’m not a prophet, but I can see some of your thoughts right now. “I’m broke. I have needs.” That’s exactly the mentality that I’m talking about.
You know, the Philippian church was a very, very poor church. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 8 that the Macedonian churches gave way too much because—but they were—the Bible uses a word that refers to very, very, very poor, like bankrupt poor. And they were persecuted too. And they still gave. And they gave Paul a big offering so that he would be supplied, all his needs would be supplied in the most expensive city in the world, in Rome.
But we are broke, right? I know some of you are thinking—the Lord just told me. I know. No, I’m kidding. No, it didn’t happen. So you get my point, right? We are not generous. We think so much of ourselves. And I’m not even talking about sacrificially generous, but just generous with at least giving basically to the Lord.
God takes generosity so seriously. In Acts chapter 5, you remember Ananias and Sapphira? They were pretending to be generous. They could have just said, “Hey, we sold this and we want to give half.” No, they wanted to look generous because they knew that God and the church took generosity seriously. So then they said, “No, we sold it for this much,” but it was a lie. And you know what? They dropped dead. You think it’s not serious? God takes generosity seriously, or lack of it.
Brothers, listen, and sisters, listen to me. I’ll be done in a few minutes. Listen to me. I want to take a moment to lovingly rebuke you, okay? Listen, to lovingly rebuke you, rebuke us, but also encourage you. Members of Kitwe Church, many of you have been unfaithful to the Lord in the use of your resources. The offerings do not resemble the blessing that God has given to each one of us. And I’m not pretending to be a prosperity gospel preacher. You know that. But they do not resemble the blessing that God has given you and how God has provided for you. I’m speaking to members of Kitwe Church.
Some of you are robbing God. Do you know how serious that is? Robbing God? Look, let me give you an example. We have regular giving and missions giving. Last year, we were 284,000 kwacha short of our projected budget for our normal operations of the church. Thankfully, we were able to save money in some areas. But we were almost 300,000 short in our operations budget. And though we lost some members, we did gain many members also. We’re about 18%, almost 20% short of our projected income for 2025. That’s what we were. So now, next week, we will present a new budget for this year.
But God has blessed many of us. We should be way above our budget. In fact, instead of trying to make our ends meet as a church, we should be looking at how to invest in the kingdom, the extra money we’re receiving as a church, because the members are being so generous. But that’s not what’s happening.
And I am not saying this to make you feel guilty only. That’s the job of the Holy Spirit to convict you. I’m saying this because I want you to be blessed by the Lord, because there’s a blessing in being generous. I’m saying this because I don’t want you to sin by robbing God. I beseech you brethren, I admonish you, I encourage you: be faithful with your giving to the Lord for the sake of his church. Be generous and you will have an opportunity this year. Trust that the Lord will provide. You’re so afraid that if you give you won’t have. You’re so in love with money that God is the last thing you think about.
So these believers were generous, and you should be too. Look, this is not—it says that they had all things in common, they were giving—this is not communism, okay? Or socialism. I don’t like communism. I hate communism, okay? It’s unbiblical; it’s from the devil. But that’s for another conversation some other time. Their political beliefs that wealth must be administered fully by the government and redistributed equally. Well, socialism as a political experiment has always failed. Why? Because it forces you to be generous. It takes your money, right? It takes your money. Many religions do that. They force you to be generous and they come to your house: “Hey, you didn’t come on Sunday. At least give us the offering.”
But in biblical Christianity, your heart must be generous. You must be a generous person. That’s what it means to be in a church.
The Results of Living in a Church
All right. Now, I’m only going to mention this because it’s just obvious here in the text and then we’ll be done. Verse 46, which I read, is basically a summary of everything he has said. But look at verse 47, the results of living in a church.
Verse 47a:
Praising God.
So what is the first result of living in a church? Authentic worship. You will be praising God. Everything that has been said so far is worship. That’s what it means. The whole passage is acts of worship.
Good Testimony with the Community
Verse 47 continues:
Praising God and having favor with all the people.
I can only imagine this, you know. I mean, imagine the scene in the ancient world. People were not generous; they were not moral; they were not authentic; they were not compassionate. So I’m sure the Christians stood out and people were saying, “Hey, look at this weird group. They’re very different. They’re very different.” I’m sure that people were intrigued by this new kind of culture, this new Christian culture. They had never seen anything like that. Jews, Gentiles from many places all together. How does that happen? How did you put together 3,000 people? I mean, think about it. Even today it’s difficult. But how do you put together in that culture 3,000 people and all of them are of one mind and they have all things in common? So then people were looking at that and they were saying, “There’s something there that we want to see.”
That’s what they should say of Kitwe Church. We should be all together. We should have one mind so that we have a good testimony to those outside of the church. But it will only happen when you’re committed to the church.
God Grows His Church
And then finally, God grows his church. When you are in the church and you’re serving in a church, the Bible says:
And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
God grows this church. If we want to see Kitwe Church grow with true believers, we’ve got to be members. We’ve got to be people that serve Christ in a church here.
Conclusion
I hope that goes in our hearts and minds today. God bless you, brethren. Thank you. Let’s take a moment. Let’s bow our heads. And if there’s anything that God spoke to you about this morning, something that he has convicted you of, I pray, take a moment and let’s pray in silence there.
Father, I pray that the Word of God may go with us, in us, that we would be committed, devoted to good teaching, devoted to fellowship, that we would be generous, Lord, for the glory of your name. I pray for those who are here that do not know Jesus, that as they hear the word preached, as they feel convicted, they may turn to Christ in repentance and faith. I pray these things in Jesus’ name, amen.
Today we clearly heard the meaning of church and what the biblical requirements are. As we sing the closing song, let’s reflect on these truths.