Acts 2: The Church Gathers, Demonstrates the Gospel and Grows

Introduction

"I'd be bold enough to say you can't follow Jesus on your own. It's not a solo enterprise." With these words, Nigel Savage, one of the two senior pastors of Woodlands Church in Bristol, closes a series on four practices that serve as foundations for the Christian life.

The church has already looked at the Bible, generosity and prayer. Each foundation builds a house: the Word builds a house of truth, generosity a house of blessing, prayer a house of God's presence. This Sunday, the theme is community. And what it builds, according to the pastor, is "a house of welcome and life."

From Acts 2:42-47, a portrait of the very young church, he draws three realities: the church gathers, the church demonstrates the gospel, and the church grows as it fulfills God's purposes on earth.

Message Outline

1. A Foundation of Community

• Community is not first a Christian matter, it is a human one, because we are created in the image of God.
• God himself is community. He is love, and he expresses himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When you choose to follow Jesus, you are invited into this divine community: "the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and you."
• This belonging is then lived out in a human community, the people of God, the church. "If you don't know what it looks like, look around you."
• Many say, however: "I believe in God, I like Jesus, but church? No thanks." The pastor admits it: community is complicated, because it is made of people like you and me, with their joys, their flaws and their failures. God knows this, and he still wanted us to follow Jesus together.
• He also acknowledges that, for some, the road with the church has been painful and they still need healing. To those who are searching or watching from a distance, he says that everyone can find a place to belong: "Come be with us."

2. The Church Gathers

• "You'll say I'm stating the obvious. Yes." But the church does not gather like a social club: it gathers around the person of Jesus, to meet him.
• Jesus promised it: where two or three are gathered in his name, he is among them (Matthew 18:20). This has been the mark of Christian community for two thousand years.
• The Greek word ecclesia does not mean "beautiful buildings." It means "gathering of people." For about three hundred years, the church had no official buildings: it met outdoors or in homes. "Another meeting? Yes, because we gather."
• In verse 46, believers meet in the temple courts, with thousands of people, and break bread in their homes. Big and small at the same time: a city on a hill that cannot be hidden (Matthew 5:14), and house groups during the week where you can be known and walk alongside others.
• "Every day": following Jesus is a way of life, seven days a week, not a box to tick on Sunday.

3. The Church Demonstrates the Gospel

• "The church demonstrates. No, we don't march in protest." The church shows the good news: Jesus lived, he died, he rose again, he is alive, and in him we find forgiveness, freedom, a relationship with God and eternal life.
• We are not only called to say it, but to show it is real. Jesus pours out his Spirit on believers to form a community of the kingdom: not only messengers of the kingdom, but its firstfruits, "a little foretaste of heaven on earth."
• Concretely: we forgive one another, we pray for one another, we care for one another, we feed the poor, we do what Jesus does in the way he did it. We are faithful, we are present.
• We also suffer together. That week, the pastor met with three people from the church who had each just lost their father. We celebrate God, and we walk with those who are hurting. "It was a great comfort to me."
• People must not only understand the gospel in theory, they must see it in practice. The bar is high, but by God's grace and the power of the Spirit, it is possible.

4. Two Signs: Baptism and Communion

• In verses 42 and 43, believers devote themselves to the apostles' teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayers, and wonders and miracles take place. The church is a sign of the kingdom, "not just a signpost."
• Baptism is the initiation for anyone who says yes to Jesus as Lord: this is how you become a member of the universal church. That very evening, two young men were due to be baptized.
• Communion is the meal Jesus instituted. We look back: we remember his life, his death and his resurrection, and we refocus our hearts on that story.
• We also renew our covenant with God: "By your Spirit, meet us now, renew us in forgiveness and lead us further forward."
• And we look ahead, to the day when God will make all things new. Paul writes that we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes (1 Corinthians 11:26). "At its heart, it is an act of worship."

5. The Church Grows by Fulfilling God's Purposes

• The church grows every day around the world: we don't always hear about it, but everywhere people are giving their lives to Christ.
• "Between us, if I were God, I wouldn't have done it this way." Entrusting his mission to people like you and me is a bold gamble. It would have been simpler for him to do everything himself. But God wants to be our partner. "He stayed with us, and thankfully, we stayed with him."
• What stands out throughout Acts 2 is intentionality: they devote themselves, meet every day, and sell their possessions so that no one is in need. "They weren't bored of being Christians yet."
• They knew God wanted to draw people to himself through them: the Lord added to the church every day those who were being saved (Acts 2:47). Even today, we are saved by calling on the name of Jesus and confessing with our mouth that he is Lord (Romans 10:9).
• So the right question is not "God, look at what we're doing," but "God, what are you doing, and how can we bless what you are doing?"
• A concrete example: hundreds of teenagers are praising God within the walls of the church. The pastor calls us to sow into this generation. "You don't need to be an expert." They want to be noticed, to have people know their name, to be prayed for and to be told that God has great things for them.

6. In Practice: Getting Connected, Even When It Costs

• Getting connected starts with a simple step: an Alpha course over a meal for those exploring faith, a gathering for newcomers, a house group, a place to serve in the church, or baptism for those who follow Jesus but have not yet taken that step.
• In short, a community committed to gathering to meet Jesus, to demonstrating what it means to live with God, and to letting God use it to accomplish his purpose in the world. "It's a high calling."
• The pastor's confession: on Friday, he was leaving for a twenty-four-hour men's retreat in Wales. He didn't feel like going, he had too much to do, but he was the organizer. The group got lost in the Brecon Beacons, then spent the day sharing, reading the Bible and praying for one another. "It was wonderful."
• "Community always has a cost. It will always take effort." It would be easier to stay home. But it is when the church gathers and we meet one another that God meets us.
• He ends by praying for children, teenagers, young adults and students, and that each person would go toward those on the margins.

Key Takeaways

• We don't follow Jesus alone. God is community, and he invites you into his community, then into that of his people.
• The church is a gathering of people around Jesus, not a building. It lives out its life both large and small, every day.
• The church does not merely announce the gospel: it makes it visible through forgiveness, care, faithfulness and shared suffering.
• Baptism and communion are the two signs of a community shaped by Jesus.
• God chose to accomplish his mission with us. Community takes effort, but it is where God meets us.

Personal Application

1. Are you trying to follow Jesus on your own? What is holding you back from committing to a community?
2. Have you been hurt by the church? What healing do you need to find your place again?
3. Are you part of a small group where you are known and walk alongside others during the week?
4. How does your life demonstrate the gospel this week: a forgiveness to give, a grieving person to walk with, a need to meet?
5. In your church, what is God doing right now, and how can you bless what he is doing, for example among the youngest?

Verses Cited

• Acts 2:42-47
• Matthew 18:20
• Matthew 5:14
• 1 Corinthians 11:26
• Romans 10:9

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you follow Jesus without belonging to a church?

For Nigel Savage, God himself is community, and he invites you into this divine community, then calls you to live it with the people of God, the church. He admits, however, that community can be difficult, and that some have been hurt.

What does the word "church" mean in the New Testament?

The Greek word ecclesia does not refer to beautiful buildings, but to a gathering of people. For roughly its first three centuries, the church had no official buildings: Christians met outdoors or in homes. The church gathers around the person of Jesus, to meet him.

Why are baptism and communion so important for the community?

They are two signs that mark a community shaped by Jesus. Baptism is the entry into the church for the person who says yes to Jesus as Lord. Communion calls to mind the death and resurrection of Jesus, renews the covenant with God and turns our eyes toward the day when God will make all things new.