Impact on the Wider Community

A message from Acts 2:47 by Phil Rogers 9/12/07

To listen to Phil's message click here mp3

Ten Characteristics
As we have worked our way through these verses in Acts 2 we have seen ten characteristics of the early church, the church that the Lord wants us to be.
1. They were a very devoted people - devoted to the Lord, to each other and to 4 things:
a hunger for
   •2. The Apostles’ teaching - all about Jesus.
   •3. Fellowship - being together much of the time
   •4. Breaking Bread - eating meals together
   •5. Prayer - many hours in prayer together,
consequently they had:
6. An amazing sense of awe, God was in their midst.
7. Signs and wonders regularly performed
8. A tremendous love and unity of heart & purpose
9. Remarkable new attitude to possessions - willing to sell even their inheritance in Israel because they were looking to inherit the world, not the land. Such were the beginnings of a global perspective.
10. Such care for the needy amongst them that in time ‘they cared not only for their own poor but also the world’s as well.’ Jesus taught his followers much about care for the poor based on OT teaching about duty to the poor, orphans and widows. Jesus said “blessed are the poor”, he owned very little and materially could be seen as poor. Did he consider poverty a virtue? Not at all. He saw God his Father as the ultimate provider and he had a great deal to say about our use of money, our attitude to wealth and about materialism. “Give and it will be given to you..” So the early church adopted his attitude and gave generously to support others.
We will conclude by looking at two results of all this.
a) Their impact on the wider community and their
b) Evangelistic growth, which Dave will look at next week.

1. Praising God
Compared to the general materialistic way of life of the Roman Empire, Jewish community life was quite radical and caring. But even to the Jews these ten characteristics of the early church community life were even more radical and distinctive. The believers were a very happy people - “praising God. Shouldn’t the followers of Jesus be the happiest people on earth? What can make anyone more happy, more blessed, more full of praise than knowing all your sins are forgiven because of the amazing sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. Instead of living under the condemnation that law brings, grace sets us free to love and serve God in a Father-child relationship, to have the Holy Spirit living in your own heart, filling you with love and joy and peace and patience, healing the sick, seeing God providing for all our needs! No wonder they were praising God!! Are we?

2. Enjoying the Favour of all the People
Consequently the Jewish community amongst which this new sect arose viewed them very positively. They were ‘enjoying the favour of all the people’. They had favour with the whole community. Popular opinion was on their side; they were seen as an improved version of Jewish life and values. What had become a bit heavy and stuffy and rigid and formal and dead had suddenly taken on a new lease of life - because of the Jewish teacher Jesus of Nazareth. Life for those who followed him was vital, dynamic, warm and vibrant. “See how these people love each other” they said. See how they worship God, what passion they have for God and each other, and for us! Look at the signs of God’s presence with them; what stories they tell, the healings, miracles, answers to prayer, amazing provision as people sell all they have accumulated beyond their needs. No wonder there was such a sense of awe amongst these folk.

So when the Jewish authorities felt challenged by the miracle of healing that happened to the lame man by the Beautiful Gate to the Temple, they let Peter and John go because of the people who were all glorifying God for what had happened. (Read Acts 4:15-22)

While our society on the whole believes that a soft, benign, sentimental God does exists somewhere out there, it has generally little time for the pomp and the pomposity of the established church. The church does not in any way 'enjoy the favour of all the people'
in 21st C Britain. While in Jesus’ day the Jews still practiced their national religious observances, even though they found them dull and dead, most British citizens have turned their back on all dull and dead religious traditions. They need to see something as vibrant, dynamic and radical as these early believers appeared to their fellow Jews.

If we could only get hold of all ten of these radical 1st C distinctives, then we may well have the same impact on a community that has lost any real faith - and yet there is a hunger out there, a desire to know God, but not if it means dull rites and rituals! Can we offer a real dynamic alternative to what so many in the world think Christians to be, “Patronising.. misfits.. begging for money.. colourless.. boring.. self- centered.. goody-goodies.. holier than thou.”?

I believe we can. But, as Steve said the other week, we have to do more than pray about it we must act on it. We have undertaken BYC this autumn to equip us to overcome such barriers. We have looked at the basic elements of the gospel, set about praying for those who don’t yet know the Lord that are our friends or acquaintances, we have tried to understand where each of those people might stand in relationship to knowing God and how not to witness inappropriately to them. We have looked at the power of our own story to impact others and of living a Spirit-filled godly non-religious in front of them and this week we will look at overcoming the fear that so often makes us quite ineffective in helping other people to find a relationship with the Lord. All of this is important if we want to ‘enjoy the favour of all the people.’

Serving the community socially has its place - and Christians have always led the way in education, social justice, acts of mercy, care for the poor and care for the sick. But the church is not there to meet earthly needs alone, but to help people see their urgent need of forgiveness and to get right with God, living to serve his purposes rather than their own. Which is better for a hungry person to have his stomach filled and go to hell, or for a hungry person to meet Christ and go to heaven? For a hungry person to have his stomach filled and meet Christ through the care of his people and then go to heaven.

As we come to the end of 2007, we leave the year behind and move on. But don’t let us leave BYC and “A People full of God” behind. Leave behind what is in us that makes people thing of us as boring misfits, patronising goody-goodies, those who only talk about what we believe but don't listen to what others think. But let us move forward to actually become a people full of God, blowing our cover and enjoying the favour of all the people, for God is with us and everyone can see him in us.