Series: Salt & Light – 6 “The Learning Community”

Acts 2:42

Stuff…
1. thanks to Mike Higgs for filling in for me last week – he did an excellent job talking about confession & repentance

2. this past week Henry Zweigart died. He was 101 years old. He helped start CAC in 1960 & was a faithful member for 48 years. He leaves behind his wife of 81 years, Jessie, who is 99 years old & lives at Rackliff House & his son Bill who lives here in Canby – Criag Ostbo

Review
1. Jesus intends for us to be the salt of the earth & the light of the world. This means as followers of Christ we must remain distinct from the surrounding culture AND permeate it as a transforming presence.

3. how are we going to do this, be this? The book of Acts is our guide.

4. we must be filled with the Holy Spirit. The power & presence of God in our lives. To be filled with the Holy Spirit we have to deal with the sin in our lives. Sin quenches & grieves the Holy Spirit. Sin calls for confession & repentance.

5. Ash Wednesday confession & Psalm 51…

6. the Holy Spirit will birth in our lives an attachment to God’s Word and God’s people. This is what I want to talk about today. God’s Word – learning. God’s people – community. We are to become a learning community.

Proskartereo
1. Acts 2:42-47 is a description of the first group of Spirit-filled Christ-followers. Luke reports what they gave themselves to, what they were passionate about.

2. this is also a prescription for what every church should strive after, give themselves to, be passionate about.

3. and Luke’s description/prescription of the life of the church begins with the word devoted. Proskartereo is the Greek word. This word means to be strong, to be steadfast, to carry on, to continue in. Proskartereo is a word that bleeds discipline.

4. for example:
® every morning at 6am there’s a number of ‘old guys’ who are devoted to drinking coffee together at Thriftway while they tell stories & solve the world’s problems
® Paublo shows up at 6am as well, gets his 20 oz Americano, reads the Thriftway ads & watches TV before going out to his landscaping jobs
® every week at the Canby Pool Rick shows up to swim at noon & sometimes in the evening. Dedicated, disciplined, the one person I’ve seen there more than anyone else

5. the old guys, Paulbo, Rick are devoted to something. They stick to it. They don’t give up. They’re disciplined. They carry on. They continue in.

6. 2:42: the Spirit-filled 1st church was devoted to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread & prayer. They dedicated themselves to these spiritual habits or disciplines. By the filling of the Holy Spirit.

7. here we have 2 non-negotiables for spiritual growth – the filling of the Holy Spirit & personal discipline. We can’t do this by ourselves. Prokartereo calls for the power of the Holy Spirit to help us. c
1st apostles’ teaching
1. Jesus was a teacher. The gospels are full of his teaching. He taught his followers. And now we see that his disciples, the apostles, are teachers. And the Spirit-filled 1st church dedicated themselves to their teaching.

2. the Holy Spirit opened a school in Jerusalem that day. The apostles were the school teachers. Jesus had appointed & trained them. They had 3000 students.

3. notice that these Spirit-filled Christ-followers were not seeking some mystical experience. They didn’t despise their intellect or theology. They valued the life of the mind.

4. and they didn’t think that the Holy Spirit was the only teacher they needed. They were eager to learn all they could from the apostles.

5. The Spirit of God always leads the people of God to study and honor the word of God. The church is under the authority of the Scriptures.

6. we’re not told what the apostles’ teaching involved. It’s safe to assume it included everything about Christ’s life, teaching, death & resurrection & the way of salvation.

7. over time the apostles’ teaching was collected together & it became what we know today as the New Testament. So for us the apostles’ teaching is the 27 books of the New Testament.

8. the Holy Spirit is going to lead us individually and as a church to be devoted to studying the teaching of the Scriptures. Proskartereoed to the Bible. Does this describe me? you? us?

Fellowship
1. the Greek word for fellowship is the noun koinonia. The adjective koinos means common. The verb form means to share. Koinonia refers the common things we share together.

2. what do we find these early Christians sharing together?
® 2:42 – teaching, breaking of bread (eating meals & celebrating the Lord’s Supper), prayer
® 2:43 – awe at apostolic wonders & miraculous signs
® 2:44-45 – time, possessions, goods, giving to the needy
® 2:46 – daily worship in the temple & meals in each other’s homes (large group worship + small group gatherings)
® 2:47 – worship, the favor of others, evangelism

3. this is a description of fellowship, koinonia.

4. what they did, they did together. What they experienced, they experienced together. What they were called to, they were called to together. What they learned, they learned together. What they prayed, they prayed together. What they possessed, they possessed together.

Our learning community
1. the Spirit of God leads the people of God to hunger for the Word of God. A Spirit-filled church is going to be a Bible-study church.

2. a Spirit-filled church is a learning community. Individual study is not enough. We need to study together under the leading of the Holy Spirit.

3. there’s a group of younger guys who meet at Starbucks @ 5:30am for Bible study. I sometimes run into them. Back in the corner, coffee in one hand, open Bible in the other, starting their day together. A learning community.

4. Sunday morning worship
Common ground classes – SS classes – Youth classes
Small groups – couples, women, men
Bible studies – women, men
Daily Bible study, reading