Life at Calvary : Calvary Baptist Church

Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Acts: Enlarging Our Vision

Covered Dish Christianity 08/17/08

Sermon Series: Acts: Enlarging Our Vision

Message: ‘Covered Dish Christianity’ pt.1

Text: Acts 2:41-47

Introduction:

ILL: A kindergarten class was asked to bring a symbol of their faith to class for ‘show and tell.’

· The first child to show and tell said ‘I am a Muslim and this is my prayer rug.’

· Another child stood up and said ‘I am Jewish and this is my Star of David.’

· A third child stood up to show and tell and stated ‘I am Catholic and this is my rosary.’

· The next child stood up and said ‘I attend Calvary Baptist Church and this is my covered dish.’ (Darrin Hunt)

To be fair Baptists aren’t the only protestant denomination who can lay claim to this illustration. While the ‘covered dish’ is not an accurate theological symbol of our faith, it certainly represents our desire for and call to fellowship.

Transition: And that’s what our text involves this morning, fellowship. So, turn in your Bibles to Acts 2:41 (pg. 832 in the Bibles under the chair in front of you.) For it there we’ll discover the meaning of ‘covered dish Christianity.’

I. Acts 2:41 God adds to the church

Read: Acts 2:41

· 3000 people repented and placed their faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sin and eternal life in heaven.

· 3000 people were baptized, openly and boldly identifying themselves with Jesus Christ.

· 3000 people were added to the Family of God, and to the fellowship of Believers.

· 3000 people would now go back to their homes in the countries that were represented by the 15 languages heard at the Pentecost event. They would take their new found faith in Jesus and share it with those around them. World evangelization, has begun!

And all this was the result of Peter and his persuasive sermon. No, all this was done…by God. How do I know it was God? Because verse 41 and verse 47 make up what’s called an inclusio. That’s where two verses say the same thing and what’s in between the two verses expand upon what the two outside verses say.

· Verse 41 says ‘Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.’

· Verse 47 says ‘And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.’

See the connection?

So let’s remember that it’s God who brings salvation, it’s God who adds to His Church, and it’s God who has a purpose for bringing his people together.

Transition: What is God’s purpose? It’s clearly spelled out in verses 42-47.

II. Acts 2:42 God’s people are devoted

Read: Acts 2:42

The disciples devoted themselves…devoted, faithful, loyal, dedicated, committed, single-minded, whole hearted, sold out.

The disciples were devoted…We are….well we say life is complicated. Truth is we are too easily distracted by the things of the world to be devoted…to anything.

· We can’t keep a job

· We can’t maintain relationships

· We can’t complete our ‘honey do’ list

· We can’t stay married

· We can’t stay on a diet

· We can’t keep promises

· Need I go on?

All because we’re too easily distracted. Luke tells us the early disciples were devoted and assumes that we will be too. But, devoted to what?

First, the disciples were devoted to Jesus Christ. This is shown by their willingness to be baptized, immediately after they professed faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord…3000 in one day! That’s a lot of water and very wrinkly apostles. Somehow, we have lost that kind of devotion to Jesus Christ.

ILL: Written anonymously on the wall of a medieval castle were the following words:

· You call me Master and Obey me not.

· You call me Light and See me not.

· You call me the Way and Walk me not.

· You call me Life and Desire me not.

· You call me Wise and Follow me not.

· You call me Love and Love me not.

· You call me Rich and Ask me not.

· You call me Eternal and Seek me not.

· You call me Gracious and Trust me not.

· If I condemn you, Blame me not. (Evie Megginson)

Wow…that’s a little convicting. How do we develop devotion to Jesus Christ?

· Pray for a deeper level of communion with God through prayer…then pray more regularly.

· Pray for a heightened sense of God’s presence in our lives….Then trust in his presence.

· Pray for a greater hunger for God’s Word…Then read and study God’s Word.

· Pray for a more passionate love for Jesus Christ…Then display you love for him by being obedient to what he says.

· Pray for a longing to worship Jesus Christ in the gathering of God’s people on Sundays…Then show up regularly on Sunday mornings.

That’s devotion in action.

Transition: The disciples were devoted to Jesus Christ.

Second, the disciples were devoted to one another. When we are baptized into Christ, we are not only identified with Jesus, but with that local church that baptized us.

Through the work of the Holy Spirit we are bound together in a community of faith. And this community is our God given support system.

And we will need that support because it’s not easy to be a Christian, to follow God’s Word and obey His will.

· There’s discouragement, temptation, sin, apathy, failure, materialism, unbelieving family and friends, doubts, rejection, unanswered questions….even persecution.

You realize I am talking about the lives of those first Christians? Not much has changed has it? Just as they needed the support of the Body of Christ, the church, so do we. God has not left us on our own to fight our own battles. He has given us each other to help.

Therefore, the church is no place for a "every man for himself" lifestyle. We are commanded by God to love one another, to serve one another, to bear one another's burdens, to encourage one another, to forgive one another and to accept one another as Christ as accepted us.

But we can’t be obedient to these commands…in isolation.

When we do obey these commands, it will show, and the world will take

notice, they will want what we have…Jesus Christ.

Transition: The disciples were devoted to Jesus Christ and to each other.

Third, the disciples were devoted to the Apostle’s teaching

This means they

· continued in,

· persisted in,

· were diligent,

· made a habit of

listening to the Apostles’ teaching. That means they had to be where the Apostles were teaching. This has something to say about regular Sunday worship attendance.

Now, I am not comparing myself to an Apostle, but I teach the same Word of God; the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we all have the same responsibility as those early disciples, to be devoted to the teaching of God’s Word.

Transition: The disciples were devoted to Jesus Christ, to each other and to the Apostle’s teaching.

Fourth, the disciples were devoted to fellowship

ILL: Mamie made frequent trips to the branch post office. One day she confronted a long line of people who were waiting for service from the postal clerks. Mamie only needed stamps, so a helpful observer asked, “Why don’t you use the stamp machine? You can get all the stamps you need and you won’t have to stand in line.” Mamie said, “I know, but the machine can’t ask me about my arthritis.” (10,000 Sermon Illustrations, electronic ed.)

The Greek word for ‘fellowship’ comes from a root meaning ‘common’ or ‘shared.’ So, basically, fellowship means participation in something that is shared or held in common by others.

True fellowship can be had by participating in

· Car, motorcycle, book, dinner, art, gardening or any other of a myriad of clubs and civic organizations.

· Christian fellowship is a specific kind of fellowship.

As Luke uses it, Christian fellowship is a partnership: shared participation, shared responsibility, in a shared community of faith.

God designed us to live in fellowship with each other and where there is no fellowship God’s Church becomes anemic….and His people withdrawn and lonely.

ILL: 30% of Americans say they have experienced long periods of painful loneliness. 70% of Americans don’t know their neighbors. Bars are filled with lonely people looking for someone to listen to them. (Darrin Hunt)

· Where is God’s family?

· Where is the community of faith?

· Where is the fellowship of Believers?

People outside the church and inside it as well, are lonely and looking for shared participation…in life, within a community they can trust and call home. They are looking for God’s Church. Will they find what they are looking for if they come here?

ILL: In a song Paul McCartney wrote ‘All the lonely people. Where do they all come from? All the lonely people. Where do they all belong?

I don’t know about all the lonely people but some of them belong here.

We close our PowerPoint presentation each week with a slide that says …Calvary Baptist Church…a place to belong.

I pray you feel like you belong here. If you don’t I want you will talk to me and together we’ll find your place here at CBC.

We need to spend time with each other, outside these four walls on days other than Sundays. When we are devoted to doing that, I promise God will do wonderful things in your life, here at CBC and in our surrounding communities.

Transition: The disciples were devoted to Jesus Christ, to each other, to the Apostle’s teaching and to fellowship.

Fifth, the disciples were devoted to the breaking of bread

OK..here’s where the ‘covered dish’ comes in. Most commentators believe ‘breaking bread’ here means common meals…supper, lunch, even breakfast, perhaps…this tells us they were eating together, regularly.

· Calvary Café meets some of our need to be devoted to the breaking of bread. I hope you all take the time to participate in sharing your life with your church family within our special Calvary Café community.

But devotion goes further than just getting together on Sunday after worship…it means we need to get together to eat during the week…Come on, think about that for a moment. How bad could that be?

· Food that you don’t have to cook

· and dirty dishes that you don’t have to clean and put away.

· It’s a win-win situation.

Transition: The disciples were devoted to Jesus Christ, to each other, to the Apostle’s teaching, to fellowship and to the breaking of bread….One more then I’m done for today.

Sixth, the disciples were devoted to prayer

I have spent a great deal of time in my messages over the years on the topic of prayer.

There is one thing I do want to look at. Most Bibles translate this verse as ‘They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.’ Is that what you have? Oddly enough, most Bible translations leave out what I think is an essential word… ‘the.’

‘And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.’ ESV

It was the habit of the Jews and the early Christians to pray at specific times throughout the day. This habit was called ‘the prayers.’

Being devoted to prayer means that we pray more than just once a day.

Read: 1 Thessalonians 5:17 ‘pray continually’

The idea is to be in an attitude of prayer during the day and to pray often throughout the day.

Someone once said ‘Whenever God’s work is done, God’s people are praying.’ If we want to see God working in our lives, in our church and in our world, then we must be devoted to prayer.

Conclusion

The founder of the Methodist church, John Wesley once said

I want

· the whole Christ for my Savior

· the whole Bible for my book

· the whole Church for my fellowship

· and the whole world for my mission field.

I think he understood what being devoted meant…how about you?

Prayer

Our heavenly Father, open our hearts toward one another and toward you. Break down and melt within us the resistance that we erect against each other and against you. Make us to be of one heart and one mind and one accord, generous in giving, glad to participate in anything that advances this marvelous work going on in the midst of a world which is rapidly drifting into darkness, emptiness and coldness. We thank you, Lord, for the warmth of your Spirit, and for your power and your grace among us, and we ask that you will strengthen us in it, in Jesus' name, Amen.