Real Followers Live in Community

Acts 2:42-47

A “Ziggy” cartoon recently pictured the small, pudgy man, sitting alone in a boat, drifting toward a tunnel with the sign above, “Tunnel of Meaningful Relationships.”

           Loneliness is a growing problem in our society.

A study by the American Council of Life Insurance reported, that the most lonely group in America are college students.

                      That’s surprising!

Next on the list are divorced people, welfare recipients, single mothers, rural students, housewives, and the elderly.

Americans are amongst the loneliest people in the world.

And it may be surprising, but our mobility is part of the problem:

Generally speaking you graduate from high school, then you move away from home to college.

Then you move again for your job, and most people will switch jobs 2-3 times.

Now, there’s nothing inherently evil about this, but it contributes to the loneliness in America.

           Then couple this with a high divorce rate, and that makes for some very lonely people.

Concert attendance has been slowly declining over the last 10 years, because people no longer want to go to concerts to get lost in a crowd.

But if you track another trend over the past 10 years you’ll see concerts down but coffee houses are up.

           About a year ago newspapers ran a piece on coffee houses.

Check out this quote, “I come here because I like an atmosphere of busyness, I don’t like to feel like I’m alone.”

One of the most watched TV shows of all time was “Friends.”
A show that takes place in a coffeehouse, 5 or 6 friends in NYC just trying to make it and they spend time together.

Another popular show in the 90’s was a show called Seinfeld.

They said it was about nothing, but it really was about a group of friends who hang out and talk about meaningless stuff.

We live in a society that is extremely lonely.

Some of you have experienced this feeling first hand, and you have not wanted to complain for one reason or another.

Some of you feel like you’re living in an endless game of keep-away.

There is an underlying sense of humiliation and shame and separation from other people.

As a country we are going to have to deal with this epidemic of loneliness.

I believe that real followers of Jesus, have the answers, and we need to communicate those answers.

The world is definitely communicating their answers to the problem.

One solution that’s offered is to simply dull the pain of loneliness with destructive behavior (addictions and habits).

To point out how lonely people can be, Charles Swindoll mentioned an ad in a Kansas newspaper.

           It read, “I will listen to you talk for 30 minutes without comment for $5.00.”

Swindoll said, “Sounds like a hoax, doesn’t it? But the person was serious. Did anybody call? You bet. It wasn’t long before this individual was receiving 10 to 20 calls a day. The pain of loneliness was so sharp that some were willing to try anything for a half hour of companionship.”

The other solution that’s offered, is to get plugged in to a coffee house or bar and to simply hangout.

                      People love to hang out, to be together with friends.

Being with friends and hanging out will satisfy a need in your life, but it’s not the totality of the experience that God wants for you.

           God’s desire for you is to experience “community.”

           Real Community is “hanging out with a spiritual purpose.”

           We are physical beings, so we need to take care of ourselves physically.

                      We’re mental, so we need to sharpen ourselves mentally.

But we are also spiritual, so it stands to reason that we should take care of ourselves spiritually.

In Acts 2 we have the first churches and they were rapidly growing and were on fire.

           The Holy Spirit was moving.

                      But we also see a group of real followers that were devoted to true community.

           This church was not a social club.

                      They were not just a group of Christians that were “hanging out” together.

                                 They were dedicated to the things of God.

So let’s read Acts 2:42-47 and find out what made this church so powerful.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.44 All the believers were together and had everything in common.45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Check out this quote from CS Lewis, “Christ works on us in all sorts of ways…But above all, He works on us through each other. Men are mirrors or carriers of Christ to other men…Usually it is those who know him that bring him to others.”

Our fellowship must have a spiritual base, so let’s discover what this early church knew about real community.

I believe that when we are involved with each other at the spiritual level, then one of our deepest needs will be met and there will be no room in our life for loneliness.

A. Real Followers desire to be in God’s presence.

Often when we think of church, we think of wanting to be around people.

However, this passage shows us that although it’s great to be in the presence of others, our first priority is to be in the presence of God.

The early church prayed, read their Bibles, and praised God together.

I know that it’s great to get together, but job number 1 is to grow in our relationship with God.
So we work hard to apply the Bible to our lives,

                      we pray for people in our church that need encouragement,

                                 we do things to give praise and honor to God.

           We remove barriers so that we can allow God to speak to us.

                      And we do it as the early church did, together!

I love what is says in vs. 44, “all the believers were together.”
 

        Real followers desire to grow their relationship with God together.

Satan wants nothing more than to suck you dry spiritually, and some of you may be there already.

Do you find yourself frustrated every time you try to start a devotional with God?
Do you feel dry or empty spiritually?

           If those things are true for you, I want to encourage you to get plugged into community here.

                      Where people will care about your spiritual welfare.

                                 Where you can have some Bible application, and prayer.

I am always amazed at how good I feel spiritually after I have worshiped together or studies together with the people of the church.

                      It’s like drinking a big tall glass of cold Pepsi, it’s refreshing.

B. Real Followers are dedicated to each other.

I want you to notice some of the imagery in this text

Everyone was filled with awe, all the believers were together, and every day they continued to meet together.

The early church understood and wanted to be together, and they were dedicated to each others needs.

If the need was physical, we’re told the early church sold their possessions and gave to anyone who had need.

If the need was spiritual this tight knit group of people would be available for that as well, to help and pray.

I heard a minister tell about how his son was born without a left hand.

           One Sunday back in the children’s program, the teacher was trying to illustrate the church.

To do that, she folded her hands and said, “Here is the church, here is the steeple, open the doors and see all the people.”

She asked the class to do it along with her, obviously not thinking about the boy’s inability to pull off the exercise.

Yet in the next moment it dawned on her what she had done, but before she could say anything, the boy sitting next to him said let’s do it together.

The two boys proceeded to join their hands together to make the church and the steeple.

                      That’s the church.

That exercise illustrates that the church is not an individual, but it is made up of people interconnected in Christ.

           Sometimes life throws us a curve ball, and things don’t always make sense.

                      Tragedies happen and they cannot be explained.

Dennis Wholey says, “Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is a little like expecting the bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian.”

                      Bad news: tragedy happens.

Good news: if you are a member of the body of Christ and His church, you don’t have to go through it alone.

Do you know what happens when a church loves to be around each other this much, and hardship comes on one who is part of the family?

           Encouragement is given, prayers are offered up, sometimes checks are written.

                      But the body of Christ does exactly what it’s name implies,

                                 we become Jesus to that person.

Maybe you feel like you’re going through the ringer.
At this church you can find a group of friends who will help you.

           So when someone gets a job promotion, or a raise, or if they’re pregnant, or getting married,

                      we all celebrate together.

           If something bad happens, and they lose their job, or a loved one dies,

                      we all mourn together.

C. Real Followers are devoted To The Mission.

Notice the last verse in our story today. “The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

           The fellowship or community that we’re talking about, is attractive.

           Remember how lonely people are.

When they see the friendships that we have as Christians, and the spiritual satisfaction that we have, they will be drawn like a magnet to Christ.

Notice in the passage, that the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

           It’s ultimately the Lord who adds to our number.

                Our job is not to be the Savior, our job is to be proclaimers.

Every day this church was in the temple courts talking to people, worshiping and sharing Christ to those who didn’t know Him.

In true community, we see people for who they really are, people desperately in need of God’s grace.

            In true community we see people needing a relationship with God, in Jesus Christ.

            In community, we see God desiring to have a relationship with all people.

In community, we see the true friendships that God desires among believers..

When people see these three things, they are going to want what we have.

                      And a tide of growth will sweep this area like we’ve never seen.

You don’t have to feel lonely any more.

Do you want to be a part of a community that desires to be in God’s presence?

                      That are dedicated to each other, and that are devoted to the mission.

Bob Russell has said, “The church exploded in growth because the people loved being together. When you get a group of people together who genuinely believe something and who really enjoy each other, it’s such a contagious atmosphere that you can’t keep people away from it. People assume that smaller churches must have better fellowship and stronger relationships because everybody knows everybody. But churches that genuinely love one another don’t stay small very long.”