Sermon Acts 2:42-47 “A Compassionate Church”

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon Acts 2:42-47  “A Compassionate Church” 

New Covenant Church

May 7, 2017

            This is my third in a series of sermons drawn from the second chapter of the Book of Acts.   The Holy Spirit had come upon the disciples of Jesus enabling them to read scripture with new eyes.  They understood that the prophets of old had been talking about Jesus all along.  They proclaimed this with great joy to a crowd of believers who had assembled in Jerusalem for the festival of Pentecost.  The crowd, who heard Peter’s message, somehow in their own languages, was moved to respond with repentance and baptism.  This resulted in 3000 converts and the birth of the church.

            This first church was a spiritual church because it was formed by the Holy Spirit.  Today we will look at some of the characteristics of a spiritual church, but first let’s pray.

            “Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

            Let’s begin our look at the first church and see what they did.

Acts 2:42  They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 

            So the program for the first church was to gather together to listen to the apostle’s teaching.  Eventually they would do this weekly on Sunday mornings, the day of resurrection, before going to work.  They would gather in someone’s home and Peter or one of the other disciples would read from a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible and explain it as being fulfilled in the work and person of Jesus Christ.  After work on Sunday they would once again gather in someone’s home to eat supper together and remember that Last Supper when Jesus gathered his disciples for a meal just before his death and resurrection.  And so we see from this the beginnings of preaching, teaching, fellowship, and celebrating the sacraments of Communion and Baptism.  These remain the marks of a spirit filled church.  And we are still doing all these things 2000 years later, here at New Covenant.  And so we too are a Spirit filled church.

            So let’s turn now to what was happening in this first church when they gathered together.

⁴³ Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 

            So, we see that these apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and able to continue to do what Jesus did, healing the sick and casting out demons.   There are those who think that miracles ended long ago.  But I have seen prayers answered.  I have seen the Holy Spirit do some amazing things that just can’t be explained.  So I think the Holy Spirit is still here to empower us.  And that is good news, because we can pray for miracles when we need them with the expectation that God still performs miracles in our day.

            As the followers of Jesus Christ continued to meet in the first church, they were moved to respond.  And here is what they did.

⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵ They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who 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.

            The members of the first church were moved to care for each other and the people in their community.  They had compassion for the poor, the needy, the widow and the orphan, and gave generously to care for them.  They became a compassionate church.  And this led directly to the growth of the church.

            Today is Compassion Sunday, and you have heard about the children being cared for by Compassion International.  I urge you, like the first church, to be compassionate and care, out of your resources, for at-risk children around the world. 

            Over sixty years ago, the Reverend Everett Swanson went to South Korea to minister to U.S. troops fighting the Korean War.  As he did his work in Korea, he became increasingly concerned about children, orphaned and abandoned, as a result of the war.  One day he saw a worker scoop up what looked like a pile of rags and put it in the back of a truck.  When he looked closer he realized that these were not rags, but the frozen bodies of Korean children who had died overnight on the streets.  Rev. Swanson was moved to act.  He established a Christian orphanage in Korea and funded it with a unique appeal to American Christians to sponsor individual children providing them with Bible based education, food, clothing and shelter for just a few dollars a month.  Compassion International was born and continues to this day.  (https://www.compassion.com/history.htm)

            I urge you to support the work of Compassion International.  Sponsor a child who needs to know that someone cares.  Help to provide at-risk kids with Christian education, food, clothing and shelter.  God has blessed you richly.  Christ told you to love your neighbor.  The Holy Spirit empowers us to be a compassionate church.   So with compassion, sponsor a child who needs your love.

            Let’s pray.  Father in heaven, like the first church we hear the Word of God read and proclaimed and we break bread together.  And bless us with compassionate hearts so that we may care for others in need.  This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.