CCC Livestream - A Worshipping Community - Acts 2:42-47

Live Worship Gathering: 9.13.2026

Preaching: Jason Purdy

The Devotion Of Community

Jason Purdy

A Worshipping Community / Acts 2:42–47

I invite you to take your Bible and turn with me to Acts 2.

We are in week two of a  four week sermon series called A Worshipping Community, where we are thinking together about what it means to be in biblical community.

And see why we covenant together not only to be together on Sunday mornings, but also to be in a Community Group that meets in homes.

If you pay attention to our sign out front, it even says “Christ Covenant Church: A Worshipping Community.”

Our membership covenant reads this way:

Disciple and Care for One Another in Community Groups - The Gospel creates community – we are committed to living life together and challenging one another to grow as disciples of Christ. We are committed to living out the Gospel and its implications for everyday life. Together, we will spur one another on to love and good deeds. We will meet with one another consistently in community groups, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. We will also pray for one another regularly and serve one another selflessly.

I went through a period of time in my twenties where I was really questioning the way we “do” church in America.

I’ve talked to other young teens and twenty somethings that have had the same experience I had.

They get the opportunity to go overseas to do mission work, and they experience God’s church in a completely different cultural setting, and it feels fresh and new and exciting.

Maybe it was simply a worship meeting in a living room or a one room building with no A/C but everyone worshipped so passionately.

Or maybe people risked a lot just to show up to worship.

Whatever it is, when you come back to the States, and to your home church, you can feel this discontent with the way your home church “does” church.

Well, during the time I was struggling with this, a pastor named Francis Chan who pastored a huge mega church in California and wrote a lot of books stepped down from his mega church to begin planting a series of house-churches, because he felt that house churches would be a more honest expression of biblical New Testament church than the mega church he had been in.

I was intrigued to the point where I seriously prayed about going out to California and learning more about how to be involved in this house church movement.

But God made it really clear to me during that time that my discontent was not necessarily in “how” we do church.

My discontent was more about if I and others were devoted to the right things in the church.

I realized it was more about the posture of my heart and less about the outward “way we do things.”

And we are going to walk through nine things the early church was devoted to from the heart, and they are the same things we are called to be devoted to today.

Our passage today is well known, because it follows just after the Peter’s sermon at Pentecost, which was fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection from the dead,

Peter preached the gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection to save us from our sin and death to the people who were in Jerusalem for pentecost, and those who believed and received the message of Jesus were baptized, and there were added to the number of believers three thousand on that day.

Our passage picks up on what they did immediately following their salvation experience:

Acts 2:42–47 ESV

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

1. A Healthy Church Is Devoted To God’s Word

As soon as they tasted of the love of God and were saved by the grace of God through believing the gospel message, they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.

Think about it, the New Testament had not been written when the first church began to gather, but Jesus had appointed his twelve apostles who walked with him during his life, who were taught by him, who all experienced and related with the resurrected Jesus, and who received the commission of Jesus to go and make disciples and be witnesses of Jesus from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.

And now, all the books of the New Testament were either written by one of the apostles, or by one who was a very close associate of one of the apostles.

The book of Galatians tells us that even Paul, who wrote more New Testament books than anyone else, even Paul began his ministry by meeting with three other apostles, James, Peter, and John to make sure they were all aligned on teaching God’s word accurately.

You know, sometimes you may wonder, I wonder what the apostles’ teaching was like that the first church devoted themselves to.

Two thoughts here: the first is, they taught Old Testament history in light of Jesus being the fulfillment of all the shadows, types, and promises of the Old Testament.

We know that because every sermon written down in the book of Acts is made up of an account of Old Testament history in light of Jesus being the culmination of the promise of salvation, Messiah, and hope for the future.

We also know that they taught of Jesus’ life, teaching, death, resurrection, and ascension and applied faith in Christ to every area of life and faith, because that is what all the New Testament letters end up being filled up with.

So, the question must always be posed to us as a local church, and we must never assume it or take it for granted, and we must never center ourselves more around any other priority than this, the truth of the Word of God.

You may say to me, well, what about the love of God? I would respond, we would not know God’s love unless He reveals it to us through His word.

You may say, what about being filled with the Spirit of God? I would respond, the one filled with the Spirit of God is the one filled with the word of God, for the word is inspired by the Spirit.

You may say, what about reaching people for Christ? I would respond, the word of God preached reveals Christ, faith in Christ comes by hearing the word of Christ.

We may someday be tempted to hide or disregard a portion of God’s word with the goal of reaching more people,

But if you remove any part of the word of Christ, you are not longer bringing people to him, but to a figment of your own imagination.

Are you devoted to the Word of God?

Are you becoming ever more familiar with its content? Its goal and its purpose? The difference between the Old and the New? The difference between a Psalm, a gospel, and a letter, and how they all work to form our life and faith?

Do you have devoted time of reading and study? Are you meditating on it day and night?

A healthy church is devoted to God’s word.

2. A Healthy Church Is Devoted To One Another

Back to verse 42: they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship.

They devoted themselves to one another from the outset.

There was never a time in Christian history where it was fathomable to have an engaged relationship with God without also having an engaged relationship with God’s people.

They devoted themselves to the fellowship.

This has been the message of the Bible since the very first book of the Bible.

It is not good for man to be alone.

The great commandment that we are redeemed to pursue is to love the Lord our God with all that we are, and the second is like it, meaning you can’t have one without the other, love your neighbor as yourself.

The gospel not only reconciles us to God.

It reconciles us to one another.

It’s why we covenant together to make Sunday morning worship gathering a priority of our lives.

It’s why we covenant together to make community group participation a priority of our lives.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his classic work “Life Together” says, “It is not simply to be taken for granted that the Christian has the privilege of living among other Christians.”

The physical presence of other Christians is a source of incomparable joy and strength to the believer.

Psalm 133:1 ESV

1 Behold, how good and pleasant it is

when brothers dwell in unity!

Bonhoeffer goes on to give us a warning that I find so helpful.

The warning is to beware of the picture that you have formed in your mind about what community is going to be like.

Instead, work on being thankful for what it is.

Christian community is not a standard or an ideal that we must realize.

It is a gift given to us by God in Christ in which we are called to participate.

We must trust in God’s good providence when seasons of community change, and not compare one season or group of people to another we experienced in the past, or one we made up in our heads.

Are you devoted to the fellowship of Christ Covenant Church?

3. A Healthy Church Is Devoted To The Lord’s Supper

Verse 42 again: They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the break of bread and the prayers.

The breaking of bread here may mean more than taking the Lord’s Supper together, but it certainly doesn’t mean less.

While we hear the gospel preached from the ear, we see the gospel preached from the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Baptism is the entry rite, and the Lord’s Supper is the continual remembrance and renewal of the covenant.

We take it together once a month now. I’d be open to taking it more often, I would never take it less often.

The reason is being devoted to the Lord’s Supper is being devoted to continually remembering that the broken body and shed blood of Jesus is the only thing that makes our reconciliation to God possible and makes our reconciliation to one another possible.

What does it take for a group of sinners to live in a community of love and care toward one another for a lifetime while we encourage one another in Christ until we see him face to face?

It takes the power of the torn flesh and the spilled blood of our Savior.

Many today leave their church because of some kind of “church hurt.”

And I am sorry when that happens, but do you know who you are identifying with when you feel a measure of church hurt?

You are identifying with your Lord Jesus who was hurt for the church in a deeper way than any of us can fathom.

And when we take the Lord’s Supper, we are reminded of the pain Jesus took on himself that we deserved to make us His family and to make us a family together.

Devote yourself to the Lord’s Supper.

4. A Healthy Church Is Devoted To Prayer

The verse says they were devoted to prayer.

The early church had little earthly resources, but they knew they had full access to heavenly resources through prayer.

When we are together, are we aware that the very presence of God is among us and His throne of grace is always open to us to find help in time of need?

Our Father loves us and loves to hear us pray.

Jesus, the Son, died for us and rose again to reconcile us to this intimate relationship of access through which we can pray continually.

The Holy Spirit quickens our hearts toward prayer and prays for us with groanings too deep for words even when we do not know what to pray.

We practice corporate prayer through our Sunday services during the pastoral prayer and prayer at the end of the sermon.

Our community groups and Bible studies are the core ways we devote ourselves to prayer for one another as we share requests and praises.

Our elders pray through the families of our members and for one another when we gather in our meetings.

Just like any good relationship, some prayers are longer devoted times, while others are one or two sentences as we go throughout our day.

We pray the Lord’s prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, and we allow God’s word to inform all of our prayers.

We take anything and everything to our loving Father because He cares for us.

5. A Healthy Church Is Devoted To Generosity, Especially Within The Church

Verse 44-45: All who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.

I want you to consider that in the ancient world, religious life, social life, and economic life were all melded closely together.

There were no equal employment laws that would not discriminate based on religion.

So, many of these first followers of Jesus lost their ties to their religious, social, and economic community all at one time by becoming Christians.

So, we see that the followers of Jesus all pulled together and made sure they started taking care of one another’s needs.

It is a picture of glad hearted generosity toward one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.

I know in our American context, for most people, finances are a very private matter.

We are tempted to experience either a lot of pride or a lot of shame around finances.

But, the gospel frees us from pride and greed, as well as shame and fear.

So, we can be free to have open handed generosity toward one another.

As a local body of Christ, if one is suffering, we all suffer.

Something that should characterize followers of Jesus is good stewardship of our finances, making sure everyone’s needs are met in our local church, and generosity toward the larger church and the mission of God in the world.

We also want to be generous in ways that supports people financially in the long term, so we have many in our body with finance backgrounds who would love to provide good counsel on healthy Christian practices of tithing and living within your means.

6. A Healthy Church Is Devoted To Gathering In Large And Small Groups

Verse 46: And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts.

Notice that the church had daily interactions with one another.

We were never meant to be a people who only connects with one another one time per week.

Part of becoming a member of the church is having constant interactions and relationships within the church.

Texting, calling, getting together in our formal times and also informally.

And notice, they gathered in both large and small groups.

There are some aspects of New Testament church life that must be done as a whole local church like when we gather on Sunday mornings.

But, there are also a lot of “one another” commands that will never be pursued if we only meet as a large group.

To love one another, pray for one another, carry one another’s burdens, confess sin to one another, admonish one another, we must be in relationship in ways that will never be cultivated through just Sunday morning service.

That’s why our Community Group life is not only encouraged, but it is part of what it means to be a member in covenant with the church.

7. A Healthy Church Is Devoted To A Spirit Of Awe, Gladness, and Praise To God

Look back up to verse 43: And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

The Holy Spirit of God worked through the apostles to perform wonders and signs such as healing a man who was lame.

It happens in the very next chapter.

They did the same kinds of wonders and signs that Jesus did throughout his ministry.

And these miraculous wonders and signs were like God putting His stamp of approval on the message of the gospel they were preaching.

It was a God given validation of the truth of the message.

The early church was in great awe and wonder over these displays of the power of God, and it grew their faith, and led others to believe the gospel message.

And you may say, well, why aren’t we seeing those same kinds of wonders and signs now?

Pastor Jason, we’ve never seen you heal anyone or exercise a demon from anyone.

Is our faith not as authentic or genuine as that of the early church?

No, that’s not it at all!

Instead, just like God used wonders and signs to authenticate the message of the gospel in the early church,

God now uses the written New Testament, brilliantly documented, miraculously preserved through the centuries, saving a global church, expounding the message and promises of an eternal salvation kept in heaven by the power of God, all the while having a church history of martyrs of the faith who were unwilling to recant their faith even unto persecution and death to continue to authenticate the message today.

Church, are you in awe of a God who reveals himself to us in a finished New Testament as the God whose love for us is perfect and complete?

For nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus!

Not only that, we have a completed New Testament that makes clear that any suffering we experience in this life is light and momentary compared to the glory that will be revealed at the coming of Jesus Christ.

We have a New Testament that ends with the people of God, in the unhindered presence of God in the New Heaven and New Earth in the midst of the New Jerusalem.

And nothing inside or outside the universe can stop God from bringing us to this glorious end!

Church, are you in awe of the great message of the gospel, and the glorious future that awaits?

Not only was the first church in awe.

Verse 46 says: they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God.

The great love, grace, and freedom we experience of God in the gospel leads us to be a glad hearted people.

Following Jesus with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ is supposed to be fun, joy-filled, and life-giving.

We should be able to be our true selves with one another more than with anyone else because of the great freedom and grace we share together!

Do you entrust the details of your life to God’s good providence in a way that allows you to enjoy life and express joy and happiness?

The preacher Martyn Lloyd Jones used to say that an unhappy Christian is a contradiction of terms.

Not long ago in my Christian journey, I used to think that experiencing joy and happiness would somehow betray all the darkness and sadness in the world,

I would somehow be betraying the weightiness of sin or the desperate need of people to experience salvation.

But, I have come to realize, the heaviness I felt I must always carry was a heaviness Jesus Christ had already carried and defeated in my place.

I came to realize that a commitment to gloom, sadness, and heaviness does not honor the bad sinful things that happen,

It dishonors the God who defeats all those things and will finally bring all darkness and gloom to an end.

Awe, gladness, and praise to God.

8. A Healthy Church Is Devoted To An Attractive Faith

Verse 47: they were having favor with all the people.

This doesn’t mean that everyone liked the early church, and certainly not everyone is going to like the church today.

But, throughout the New Testament, we read that God causes those who come against the church to be put to shame, and have no evil to speak of them that would be able to stick because of the nature of its love, goodness, and good works.

Remember the words of Jesus in:

John 13:34–35 ESV

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The early church sacrificially cared for one another and others.

Listen to this letter a man named Aristides wrote to Emperor Hadrian about the Christians only a few years after the book of Acts was written:

Exalting Jesus in Acts Displaying an Attractive Faith (2:47b)

If one or other of them have bondmen and bondwomen or children, through love towards them they persuade them to become Christians, and when they have done so, they call them brethren without distinction. They do not worship strange gods, and they go their way in all modesty and cheer-fulness. Falsehood is not found among them; and they love one another, and from widows they do not turn away their esteem; and they deliver the orphan from him who treats him harshly. And he, who has, gives to him who has not, without boasting. And when they see a stranger, they take him in to their homes and rejoice over him as a very brother; for they do not call them brethren after the flesh, but brethren after the spirit and in God. And whenever one of their poor passes from the world, each one of them according to his ability gives heed to him and carefully sees to his burial. And if they hear that one of their number is imprisoned or afflicted on account of the name of their Messiah, all of them anxiously minister to his necessity, and if it is possible to redeem him they set him free. And if there is among them any that is poor and needy, and if they have no spare food, they fast two or three days in order to supply to the needy their lack of food.

Exalting Jesus in Acts Displaying an Attractive Faith (2:47b)

Another ancient document describing the compelling nature of Christianity comes from the mid-300s. Emperor Julian angrily tried to stop the spread of Christianity. He said that a reason for its growth was due to Christians’ “charity to the poor”: “The impious Galileans not only feed their own poor but ours as well,” he complained, “welcoming them to their agape; they attract them, as children are attracted, with cakes”

It seems too oftentimes we are too deeply concerned and downcast about the state of the world, whereas we are called to be joy filled and displaying the worth of our Savior by entrusting the world to him while seeking to joyfully, love, serve, and care for one another and others in our lives.

Finally,

9. A Healthy Church Is Devoted To Daily Evangelism

Verse 47: And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

How were people being saved?

No doubt, the church was sharing the gospel with others as they were asked about their peculiar joy, happiness, sacrificial love, care, and service.

For most of my life, I have treated evangelism like this huge awkward weight on my shoulders that I had to do or else.

But, I have come to find through passages like this one, evangelism is a natural outflow of having hearts satisfied in God and living peculiar lives of love and service to others that leads to the opportunity to simply share why I have such joy and hope.

Maybe I also saw it as such a weighty burden because I did not take seriously the truth in the words of this verse: the Lord added to their number daily.

It wasn’t the evangelists or apostles who added to their number.

It was the Lord.

Simply living in the joy of the Lord and the good works he calls us to walk in, and sharing the hope of Jesus with those in our lives is enough.

We can rest our heads on our pillows at night with complete trust in God’s good providence that God is the one who draws hearts to himself.

And God is the one who saves.

And God is the one who adds to and builds his church.

We simply get to participate by sharing what great things God has done for us in Christ.

Are you experiencing God’s church through this local body like the early church did in Acts 2?

If not, what is keeping you from it?

Jesus has done everything necessary to save you from the wrath of God toward your sin through his cross and resurrection.

Through the gospel, he has also filled you with His Holy Spirit to bask in his perfect love for you and to show that love back to him and to others in your life.

So allow His great love, grace, and care to lead you to devotion to his word, his people, his cross, and prayer.

Allow it to lead you to be generous, awe, gladness, and praise to God as you live a peculiar life of love to God and others that allows you to share the gospel with them and invite them into the life of God and His church.

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