OPEN: April 11, 1970, 3 men set off on an adventure.
They were the Apollo 13 crew, and their adventure was to be the 3rd manned moon-landing.
Their spacecraft look like this artists drawing
(We put a picture of the spacecraft on the screen).
• The main module (the Odyssey) was designed to be their home for the journey to and from the moon
• and attached to that was the “lunar module (the Aquarius) that would allow 2 of them to land and lift off the moon.
A little over two days into the flight, they contacted NASA with these now famous words:
“Houston, we’ve had a problem”
Now that was something of an understatement. What they’d had was an explosion. Exposed wires had set off an explosion that destroyed one oxygen tank and damaged a 2nd.
Now, they still had enough oxygen to breathe, but those oxygen tanks were also used to power the fuel cells in the main craft. With those tanks gone, the fuel cells would be increasingly depleted to the point where the crew would never be able to make reentry into earth’s atmosphere.
BUT, if they could power down the Odyssey and then move into the landing module… they just MIGHT make it home.
But that created a new problem.
The landing module wasn’t designed to hold 3 men that long.
The biggest issue was CO2.
The lunar lander was equipped with scrubbers designed to clean the air for 2 men for 2 days…not 3 men for a 4 day trip. If something wasn’t done soon, the constantly increasing CO2 in the landing module would poison their air and they’d die long before reaching home again.
Now you’d think: Why didn’t they just change the filters on the scrubbers?
Well they would have, except they didn’t have any that shape.
The scrubber filter in the lander was round… but the spare filters they had were square.
(We showed a picture from the movie “Apollo 13” which showed the two filtlers).
They literally had to fit a square peg into a round hole.
NASA worked round the clock to find a solution.
Ultimately they came up with a jimmy-rigged contraption made of, duct tape (yes they had duct tape on board), cardboard, plastic bags and hoses from their space suits.
The crew followed NASA’s instructions… and made it safely home.
Apollo 13 was 1000s of miles away from home.
The crew was in a hostile and unforgiving atmosphere.
But they survived because they had been trained in the basics.
And they survived because they asked for the help of mission control.
Thus, they overcame the impossible and they survived where ordinarily they would have died.
APPLY: Now, that brings me to our text this morning.
Acts 2 tells us all about the dynamic launching of Christ’s church.
About 3000 people were baptized into Christ and began the adventure of a lifetime.
But just a short journey into the faith – just like Apollo 13 – they faced “A PROBLEM”
Within a mere 3 years’ the church was faced with INTENSE persecution and cruelty:
• The Apostle James was executed
• Peter was jailed
• Philip was stoned to death
• And a great number of believers were arrested, beaten & sometimes killed for their faith.
Such conflict and persecution should have destroyed this fledgling church
And yet the church not only survived - it thrived.
Paul wrote the Colossi with these words: “All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.” Colossians 1:6
The church was growing and thriving “all over the world”.
In fact, even their enemies declared:
“These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also” Acts 17:6
The Church grew.
And as it grew - it bore fruit all over the place.
It literally turned the world upside down.
But how did it do that?
How did the church not only survive - but thrive in such a hostile atmosphere?
Well, the church was able to do what they did because (from the very beginning) they were trained in the basics. It was these simple things that trained them - that gave them their “Staying Power”
What did they do to train themselves to be a strong church?
Acts 2:42 tells us “…they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
Now they did other things too, but these were the basics. These were the 4 activities were what gave the early church their endurance and strength.
Now, here’s the deal: Church can be an adventure.
It can be exciting to know we’ve been part of something that really matters. It can be an exciting to know God can use us to turn the world upside down. But we live in a world that’s not excited about that idea. A world that is literally hostile to God and His Kingdom. When we find we are faced with this reality we need to realize how critical these 4 things are to us as a church.
APOSTLES’ TEACHING
What is the Apostles’ Teaching?
Well, you’re holding it in your hands. It’s called the Bible
Technically it’s the New Testament part of your Bible.
The New Testament is the collection of the writings and experiences of the Apostles.
Back in the Early Church the teachings of the Apostles was job one.
Nothing else mattered quite as much as those teachings.
For example, Acts 6 tells us of a problem that arose shortly after the church began.
The church was committed to taking care of the widows, but certain widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. It created a minor crisis because this was an important ministry. It was brought to the attention of the Apostles and Acts 6:2 says that “the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, ‘It would not be right for us (the Apostles) to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.’”
Now wait minute!
Wouldn’t taking care of the widows have been a vital ministry?
Of course it would have.
But the Apostles were saying: OUR job is teach.
Nothing must distract us from that mission.
Other have to step up and do this ministry because we don’t have the time to give.
This idea of the value of God’s Word in the church was so critical that Acts 17 tells us “the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Acts 17:11
God put great emphasis on the value of knowing the Scriptures
Why?
Because the written words of Scripture are the ONLY place that you and I are going to
• know God’s will.
• learn anything about Jesus.
• understand how we are to live our lives to please God.
Thus: any church that does not hold the ENTIRE Bible to be the flawless Word of God betrays and weakens its people. Once a church begins to doubt the Bible… they begin the slide into heresy and worthlessness.
That’s why THIS church puts such a high priority on Sunday School, Bible Study, Preaching, etc.
In fact, did you notice how often the Bereans studied the Bible? EVERY DAY! You can’t get enough of God’s Word into your heart and mind. We live in a hostile world and we need the assurance of the Bible can supply.
FELLOWSHIP
(We showed a meme showing a scene from “Mama’s Family” where Mama’s son Vinton was telling her that you didn’t need to go to church to get to heaven. Mama replies: you don’t need a parachute to jump out of a plane either, but it certainly helps).
Now is that a true statement?
Of course it is… but even in its truth, there is a trap.
Because Mama’s statement implies that going to church is the act of going to a building and going thru religious rituals.
That’s not true!
Biblically going to church is the act of going to be with other Christians.
You can do that in a building, or in someone’s house, or in a park, or even out in the middle of corn field. This building is NOT the church! We are the church! And anywhere we gather is that is where the church is.
When you and I go to church we are going to be with other Christians.
And Fellowship is at the heart of what being a church is all about.
If a church doesn’t fellowship it’s not a church – it’s just a bunch of people meeting in a building.
Fellowship lies at the heart of what makes a church a church.
Why is that?
Because we live in world that is hostile to God and His Kingdom.
We NEED Fellowship – because we NEED each other.
Ecclesiastes 4:12 puts it this way:
“Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.”
Now how does that work?
How does fellowshipping with YOU defend ME in this world?
If you have a troubled marriage – church is the group of believers that can give you encouragement and advice.
If you are out of work – church is the group that can help you find a job and get food and assist in many other ways.
If you are in the hospital or you’ve lost a loved one - Church is the group of people that can come sit with you and pray with you and cry with you.
Just to be clear… the Elders and the preacher should be doing that too.
But true fellowship is where the CHURCH (that’s you) does stuff like this too!!!
That said, I’ve got some bad news for you.
The church won’t always do that for you.
That’s not right… but it happens.
And do you know why it happens?
It happens because the church is made up of sinful people.
Look at the person next to you. They make mistakes, they fail, they fall short.
Look up here at me… I make mistakes, I fail, I fall short.
Just because we OUGHT to step up and do the right things for each other doesn’t mean we’ll always do it… and that’s the BAD news.
The good news is this: YOU are the church.
If nobody else does what they should do… YOU do it!
You say to yourself - If it’s going to be it may be up to me.
You CAN create fellowship.
You CAN step up and help, and guide, and listen to folks.
Because that’s what this adventure is all about.
And if you are willing to accept this adventure then you need to have the attitude that says: I don’t care if someone does it for me – if I’m the only one doing it, I will be the church.
Even if everyone else fails I will step up… and I will be God’s man/woman.
3rd – BREAKING OF BREAD
There are churches out there that don’t seem to think Communion is very important.
I’ve heard of churches that put the communion table in a side room – no room for it.
I’ve heard of churches that don’t take of communion during the church service because it interferes with the “flow of worship”.
I’ve heard of churches where Communion isn’t EVEN offered on Sunday morning because they are afraid non-Christians must might take of it.
That’s a grave mistake.
That’s not what the early church did.
Acts 20:7 says “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them…”
Why was the church gathered together?
They’d gathered to break bread
They’d come together as a church to take of the Lord’s Supper
Paul just happened to be there and he taught as well, but the MAIN reason they’d gotten together was for this (table)
(I went to the communion table and took the tray filled with cups and held it as I spoke)
Communion was the center of their worship… and do you know why???
Because THIS was WHY they were a church.
The Apostles were powerful teachers, but the Apostles didn’t die for them.
The church was a place of safety and strength, but church didn’t die for them
If it weren’t for THIS TABLE and what it meant to them the early church would have crumbled and fallen apart. Because the cup and bread were constant repeated reminders that Jesus died for them.
It reminded them they didn’t deserve to be there.
You don’t deserve to be here.
I don’t deserve to be here.
But God so loved the world… He so loved you and I… that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever should believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
It’s because He loved us that we are here.
It is because He loved us that He allowed His body to be broken and His blood to be shed.
It’s because He paid the ultimate price that we are allowed to be in His presence.
That’s what this table is all about.
And it’s because of this “meal” that the early Christians stood strong when faced with persecution and death.
(Pause)
LASTLY – PRAYERS
Do you remember when Apollo 13 had their explosion?
What was the first thing they did?
They called NASA – Houston – we’ve had a problem.
They could have tried to fix the problem on their own.
They could have said “We don’t need to bother Mission Control” – we can handle this.
But if they had – they’d have died.
They couldn’t handle that on their own
They needed a power from outside of their little world to reach in and help them.
That’s what prayer is for us.
It’s a realization that (as Christians) we NEED a power from outside to help.
There’s a story in the book of Acts that illustrates this.
The Sanhedrin had arrested Peter and John for preaching about Jesus. They told them if they continued to do so they would face their wrath.
Now, I tell you what I might have done if I’d been Peter and John.
The moment they freed me, I’d be right out on the street the next day and I’d DARE them to stop me!!! You can’t stop me. I have a right to speak and preach as I please!
But they didn’t do that.
You know what they did?
They went back to the church… and they held a prayer meeting.
Acts 4:31 says “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”
ILLUS: That story from Acts 4 speaks to me.
It speaks to me because I was faced with a very similar situation… and I didn’t do that.
When I graduated from Bible College I didn’t preach for the first couple of years.
Our local paper, however, had a “Pastor’s Corner” where preachers from the community could write articles of faith and I approached the paper and asked permission to be one of those writers. They graciously accepted.
I think it was my 2nd article that got me into trouble.
I wrote about Jehovah Witnesses and Mormonism and said that they were both cults (true) but then I also said that Mormonism did not believe that Jesus was God (untrue). But Mormons do believe Jesus is God… they just teach that He is one of many gods… and that when a good Mormon dies they also can become gods – even greater gods than the Father, Son and Spirit.
It’s pure heresy, but I stirred up a real hornet’s nest. Letters to the editor dominated the paper’s opinion page concerning my article for the next 3 or 4 weeks. The paper’s editors then explained to me – since I was not an ordained minister and did not preach at a local church (and, the unspoken reason: I had caused them more trouble than I was worth) that I would not longer be able to submit articles for the paper.
In my pride and my arrogance I thought to myself – you can’t do this. I’ll show you! And I began to take out ad space to place my articles in the paper. And guess how I paid for those ads? With my tithe money.
But I never bothered to ask God’s opinion on what I should have done.
I didn’t pray, I simply acted. And thus I sinned.
I SINNED because I didn’t pray. I did it all on my own.
And I SINNED because I took the tithe I should have given to the church and I paid for MY agenda, for my personal mission.
And the only thing I accomplished was proving that I was a proud and arrogant man.
CLOSE: My point is this: God has called us to a great adventure. But it is an adventure that we need to train for.
We need the APOSTLE’S DOCTRINE
We need FELLOWSHIP
We need COMMUNION
We need PRAYER
Without those 4 basic elements we would be weak and helpless.
They were so important that God spelled them out in this verse for us to know how valuable they were.
In our brotherhood we have a belief that God set up the early church just the way He wanted it and it is foolish to believe that we can improve on what God established.
But there are churches who think that’s foolish.
They believe they are wiser than the church of the 1st century.
I even had one denominational preacher tell me once
“That was the primitive church. We’re more advance now and we know more.”
In other words, because we are bigger and badder than the early church we have the wisdom to improve on the things of God.
But here’s the deal: it doesn’t matter how big and bad the church may believe it is, they (and we) are still insignificant compared to God and His wisdom.
Former astronaut Jim Lovell told of the time he was in space:
“At one point I sighted the earth with my thumb — and my thumb from that distance fit over the entire planet. I realized how insignificant we all are if everything I'd ever known is behind my thumb.”
We need to remember – compared to God and His wisdom we are insignificant.
God does quite well without our insights and improvements.
But because of His love for us and His kindness in forgiving us… we have been given the opportunity to take part in a great adventure and to be part of something that can change our lives and the change the world around us.
INVITATION.
