SERMON: How Should We Worship Together? (Acts 2:41–42)
How
Should We Worship Together?
(Acts 2:41–42)
Series: Questioning the Church #5 Text: Acts
2:41–42
By: Shaun Marksbury Date: February
9, 2025
Venue: Living Water Baptist Church Occasion: AM Service
I.
Introduction
The Anglicans and the Baptist preacher,
Charles Spurgeon, sometimes had some interesting interactions. Since Baptist churches were not part of the
Church of England, no one could admit to liking him. It is said that once, even Queen Victoria
came in disguise to hear the Prince of Preachers.
Spurgeon had some words over the years about
how the Anglicans conducted their worship services, but that didn’t stop church
clergy from borrowing from Spurgeon’s material.
In fact, there was a limerick going around Anglican churches:
There was a young man named Spurgey
Who didn’t like our liturgy
But his sermons were fine
So I make them mine
And so do the rest of the clergy.
We’re returning to our “Questioning the Church” series, and
to do so, we’re talking about a word that makes many Evangelicals uncomfortable:
liturgy. Many, even today in Baptist
churches, have a visceral reaction to anything that seems too liturgical. And this is sometimes for good reason,
because many have noticed, like Spurgeon, that additions have crept into
Christian worship service, mysterious elements built more upon tradition than
upon the teaching of Holy Scripture.
Other churches might express other reasons. They might make spontaneity the aim of their
services to give a sense that something truly authentic is happening. They might have no clue what might happen
during the worship hour on any given Sunday, opening for anyone to be a
preacher or to lead a song.
Interestingly, other church plan for “spontaneous” moments. While this may give the sense that there’s
room for the Holy Spirit on paper, some have learned through experience other
spirits might also fill that time.
If you use the word “liturgy” as a pejorative, you really
shouldn’t, though. At its base
definition, a liturgy is merely an order of service. It can be a complicated liturgy with smells
and bells, or it can be a simple one. So,
the truth is that we all have liturgies, even if it’s a plan to sit in silence
and watch what happens. Sure, we don’t
conduct ourselves quite like some high churches do, but a prayer, three songs, and
a sermon is an example of a liturgy.
Would the Holy Spirit call us to have a liturgy? That brings us to our Spirit-inspired passage
today. We don’t want to find ourselves
adding our own traditions to the worship of the Lord, and we certainly don’t
want to miss something that the Lord would have us include.
In the early days of the church, we see a pattern to
follow. For instance, Scripture reveals
that Christians began meeting on the first day of the week or the Lord’s Day,
and according to second-century writers, Sunday worship was the norm for
Christians. Because Jesus had risen from
the dead on Sunday, the church quickly settled into Sunday worship.
We also see the particulars of Christian worship in the text
we’ve read, elements that marked the early church at the day of its birth. As we consider what a church should
incorporate in its worship service, we see the importance here for baptism,
Scripture, fellowship, communion, and prayer.
Let’s consider what the Lord instituted together.
II.
First, Church Worship Should Include Baptism (v.
41)
So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day
there were added about three thousand souls.
This verse comes on the tail of Peter’s sermon exalting
Christ. You’ll remember that the people
responded with the question, “Brethren, what shall we do?” (v. 37). Peter then proceeded to tell them essentially
how to become Christians — repent, turn and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as
the Savior. Then, follow in obedience,
becoming baptized as a testimony of the forgiveness of sins.
Well, the Holy Spirit was active that day. The crowds gathered because of His sound and
the wonder of the disciples speaking in the tongues of the crowd. As Peter delivered this message, He delivered
that great revival on Pentecost, resulting in three thousand receiving the Word
and coming to Christ.
Now, of course, that they “received the word” has two
different perspectives. On the one side,
we have human responsibility. All those
hearing the call to repent and don’t will be held accountable on the day of
judgment.
On the other hand, we recognize that human depravity is such
that man will always resist the gospel call, so the Lord must create a new
heart within the believers. We notice
the passive voice here — “that day there were added.” That thought repeats in v. 47, where we read
that “the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being
saved.”
The Lord is growing the church. We must remember the sovereignty of God in
evangelism and church growth. Sometimes,
He will allow a missionary to minister for a while without seeing any visible
fruit, and churches may contract and not experience growth. At other times, there will be a seeming
explosion in growth. He will do this for
His glory; He says in Matthew 16:18, “I will build My church,” and we must
trust Him for the fruit.
Now, we’re going to talk more about church membership later
in this series, but it’s worth noting that the disciples noted those who came
to Christ. As we’ll see later in this
chapter, these converts remained in Jerusalem, so many began selling property
to support the needs of those who might not have the means. The disciples were going from house to house
(v. 46) because the crowd was likely too large to have consistent meetings
otherwise. They were keeping track of
members.
For our purposes today, note they baptized converts who
received the Word, counting them.
Believer’s baptism was practiced by the early church, obeying our Lord’s
Great Commission (Matt. 28:19). However,
this also includes the concept of making disciples, i. e., those old enough to
decide to follow Christ. Moreover, as
the Greek word from which we get baptize literally means “to dip,” and
we always see converts in Scripture going into the water, it seems that
anything else is simply tradition to be shed.
Baptism is meant simply to point us back to the work that Christ has
accomplished on our behalf through His death, burial, and resurrection.
Archeology has uncovered the large accommodations unearthed
around the temple mount which Peter and the others could have used to baptize
so many. Moreover, early church
baptistries were often large, obviously constructed to immerse an entire
person. While some started baptizing
babies a bit later, the original mode was immersing believers soon after their
professed conversions — the same day, in fact!
So, we rightly think of baptisms as part of worship, and
since baptism was part of disciple-making, it’s linked to church membership. Unfortunately, churches treat this ordinance
flippantly. Concerning baptism,
sometimes we see big stage productions with pastors dunking people excessively
hard and jerking them back up, all the while yelling like it’s a football
game. There was a kerfuffle a few years
back at Elevation Church under Steven Furtick; it was advertising “spontaneous
baptisms,” people coming forward unexpectedly to receive baptism, and internal
documents revealed that these were plants in the audience to emotionally
manipulate others to come forward and do the same.
While nothing mystical is happening in water baptism, it is
a visible reminder of the baptism in the Spirit, of the salvation of the
soul. A person is also not only
testifying to personal belief in Jesus, he’s also publicly identifying with the
local congregation. It should bear some
reverence in the local church, then!
That’s why we often place it with our worship services when there are
baptisms.
What does a disciple do once baptized? He should learn the Word of Christ. That brings us to the next point:
III.
Second, Church Worship Should Include Scripture
(v. 42a)
They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching
Consider again the Great Commission. Jesus’s words in Matthew 28:18–20 are, “All
authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with
you always, even to the end of the age.”
The command is to make disciples or learners.
Of course, we already saw a bit of that command obeyed in v.
41, didn’t we? The disciples were making
new disciples, and that was demonstrated through their willingness to be
baptized. These new disciples also
needed teaching, so we read about their commitment to it here. And, since the apostles were teaching about
Christ, they were fulfilling the Great Commission.
Now, it starts with the devotion of the 3,000 new
converts. They were devoted just like
the apostolic disciples were (Acts 1:14).
That they continually meet means that this was a regular and systematic
practice — v. 46 says “day by day.”
These days, we’re happy just to get people to come to church once
a week!
They were serious about being disciples. That’s further evidence of the work of the
Holy Spirit. Jesus said in John 8:31,
“If you continue in My word, then you
are truly disciples of Mine,” and these new converts were proving themselves to
be just that.
Churches that don’t preach the Bible don’t preach about
Jesus and the apostles’ teaching. Some
might open the Bible, but they then teach life lessons or little
pick-me-ups. They have doctrine — make
no mistake — but it’s the doctrine of man.
Churches should teach the Bible, and all of it. The (in)famous Georgia pastor, Andy Stanley,
got into hot water a few years back when he said Christians need to unhitch
from the Old Testament. Well, the
apostles would have taught the Old Testament as much as Jesus did. When Jesus was on the road to Emmaus,
“beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the
things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27). So, the apostles would have taught it, and so
should we.
Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:13, “Until I come, give
attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and
teaching.” It was Timothy’s job as a
pastor to lead the church in this. We
considered this in 2 Timothy 4:1–2, where he says, “I solemnly charge you … preach the word; be ready in
season and out of season; reprove,
rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.” Preaching and teaching of Scripture must be a
part of worship.
In teaching Scripture, we develop sound doctrine. God’s people need godly theology. And they need something else:
IV.
Third, Church Worship Should Include the
Fellowship (v. 42b)
and to fellowship,
They were dedicated to the fellowship of the saints. This doesn’t necessarily mean what we make of
it today, such as “doing life together.”
They were together, but fellowship implies a commitment to one
another. Why do I say that?
The word, koinonia,
speaks of a partnership as well as a sharing.
We see this literally played out in the following verses. Whenever a Christian had a need in Jerusalem,
someone with money would meet that need.
They were so generous that we read none had any needs. This is why the early church developed the
practice of weekly collections; Christians showed their brotherhood through
whatever financial support they could.
You might ask if giving is an act of worship, and of course
it is! We see in Scripture the practice
of gathering money once a week, and it is linked to personal worship. As 2 Corinthians 9:7 says, “Each one must do just as he has purposed in his
heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful
giver.” Churches shouldn’t coerce people
into giving, but it should arise out of a sense of joy and thanksgiving to the
Lord.
Now, of course, the koinonia
or sharing meant more than simple financial giving. As the New American Commentary notes here of
“fellowship,” “In secular Greek it could involve the sharing of goods, and Paul
seems to have used it this way in 2 Cor 9:13.
It was also used of communion with a god, especially in the context of a
sacred meal; and Paul used it in that sense in 1 Cor 10:16.”[1] The commentary goes on to note that’s how it
seems to be used here, appositionally with the breaking of bread and prayer.
That means that, as the church meets together, eating and
praying, that was also Christian fellowship.
We tend to think of fellowship only as something happening outside
the church walls, or outside the corporate worship services. Perhaps it happens in at-home Bible studies
or in retreats, or as we watch a football game together. However, we see that fellowship happens every
Sunday morning, in the service. Again,
that’s why it’s so important that we meet together.
Find a church that takes its Sunday morning and evening worship
seriously, and you find a church that’s taking its fellowship seriously. That doesn’t mean that should be the extent
of fellowship, as the next part of the verse implies. Let’s consider that next.
V.
Fourth, Church Worship Should Include the
Communion (v. 42c)
to the breaking of bread
This could be considered part of the fellowship (there’s no
conjunction here). So, the first thing
we should say about the breaking of bread was that the early church seems to
have often enjoyed a common meal known as agape
feasts. They gathered with food and
wine to build more community around the table.
Of course, it didn’t always work that way — Paul had to get onto some of
the Corinthians for hoarding portions of the meal, not sharing, and becoming
gluttonous and even drunken at the agape feasts. While that obviously went against the Spirit
of the Lord, we know that great fellowship happens around the breaking of
bread. That’s why so many churches have
meals together. It’s an ideal that
transcends culture and is quite biblical!
Still, that’s not all that was happening with the breaking
of bread. The love feasts usually
started with communion, or the Lord’s table.
Along with baptism, this ordinance of our Lord is an essential part of
worship. Jesus instituted His Supper as
a remembrance of His death (Matt. 26:26-28; 1 Cor. 11:23-26). As the Heidelberg catechism puts it, “as
certainly as I see with my eyes, the bread of the Lord broken for me, and the
cup communicated to me; and… as assuredly as I receive from the hands of the minister,
and taste with my mouth the bread and cup of the Lord, as certain signs of the
body and blood of Christ.”[2] The
bread and cup serve as another tangible reminder of the gospel.
The bread and the wine of the Lord’s Supper is a “sharing of
the body of Christ” (1 Cor. 10:16).
Verse 46 here says they were doing this “day by day,” but by Acts 20:7,
it becomes once a week. During the
Medieval Period of the church, the meal dropped back to only a yearly
observance, and the priests kept the cup from the people. During the Reformation, it became quarterly
and then, in some areas, monthly, and some even weekly. A proper observance would be to balance
reverence with frequency — it shouldn’t be withheld for long periods of time,
but it also should be something that invites reflection.
Unfortunately, churches also treat this ordinance
flippantly. After the death of Travon
Martin in Florida, one church offered skittles and sweet tea to underscore a
political message rather than remember the death of our Lord. Since some churches chose to remain closed
during the COVID scare, pastors have encouraged their people through live
streams to use whatever they have at home by themselves for the bread and wine,
even if it’s a Cheese-It and Mountain Dew.
There’s no holiness or communion in such a practice.
So, join a church that will take the ordinances
seriously. Finally:
VI.
Fifth, Church Worship Should Include Prayer (v.
42d)
and to prayer.
The literal rendering here is “to the prayers,” which are
essential for the worship service as well as in individual lives. Obviously, Christians should give themselves
to pray continually, but so should the church.
It’s important for the congregation to pray together on issues, as that
builds fellowship. Moreover, it’s
important for the people to hear their pastor praying for them.
Churches will typically pray. What we see, though, sadly, is that prayer
isn’t a priority. We’re seeing fewer
prayer services and the prayers in services have grown fewer. Sometimes, it seems like prayer only serves
as a convenient buffer so the church crew can reset the stage, transitioning
from the band to the pastor and then back again. It doesn’t seem like it’s an important
enterprise, and some of you may have found yourself slipping out services on
the final prayer so you can avoid the traffic.
We try to make prayer a priority. On Sunday evenings, we have a prayer of
confession, as well as one of blessing.
On Sunday mornings, we have a pastoral prayer that incorporates both
elements as we pray for the whole church.
We also offer up praises, as v. 47 says.
Prayer is a precious and sweet time when we know the Holy Spirit is
active in the life of the church.
VII.
Conclusion
You might ask, what about music? Isn’t singing a part of worship? Of course it is, and we’ll focus on that next
week. Until then, the LBC 1689 defines
worship in this way, “The reading of the Scriptures, preaching, and
hearing the Word of God, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms,
hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord; as
also the administration of baptism, and the Lord's supper, are all
parts of religious worship of God” (22:5).
This is what church life led by the Holy Spirit looks
like. There should be people who are
saved, baptized, and gathered together.
They devote themselves to Scripture.
They fellowship, breaking bread together and praying. Folks, it’s that simple.
[1] John B. Polhill, Acts,
The New American Commentary, (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers,
1992), 26:119.
[2] Historic Creeds
and Confessions, electronic ed. (Oak Harbor: Lexham Press, 1997).
