'Committed to Jesus, each other and God’s mission' 

Baptists were invited to reflect on three elements of the early church following the arrival of the Holy Spirit - and consider how they relate to us today

 
The early church was 'committed to Jesus, committed to each other and committed to God’s mission', said Carl Smethurst, regional minister with the South West Baptist Association who delivered the sermon on Pentecost Sunday, taking Acts 2: 42-47 as his text.
 
This was the 'business end of this chapter', said Carl, showing what happened with the early church in the wake of the coming of the Holy Spirit. 
 
Carl invited participation from the congregation by asking different sections to repeat one of the three elements at his prompting.
 
The first was being 'committed to Jesus'. To be imitators of the One we follow, they needed to know something about him, said Carl.
 
Verse 42 shows those who had come to faith “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching”.

'There was a hunger to know how Jesus lived, what he taught, how he interacted with others, how he reacted in different sets of circumstances,' said Carl.
 
From this there was a voluntary sense of feeling the need to bless others in Jesus’ name. This means that following Jesus is 'radical, life changing, and community transforming'.
 
Encouraging delegates to be committed Jesus, Carl said, 'You are salt – be salty in all the best ways! Let the flavour of heaven be tasted on earth.'
 
The second element we learn from the early church was how they were 'committed to each other'.
 
In verse 42 we’re told they were devoted to 'the fellowship'. In Greek this is koinonia, which expresses a deep relational connection with each other; of partnering together.
 
But before we fall into the trap of reading these verses 'through rose-tinted spectacles', Carl continued, 'it’s worth pausing for a moment to consider what this new community may have looked like in reality... reading further into Acts shows things were not always so idyllic amongst them! They didn’t always agree on everything.'
 
So, what is Luke trying to get across to us when he writes these words about the first church in Acts 2?
 
'I believe he’s trying to communicate the importance of living out our faith in community as an essential element of the Christian Church,' said Carl.
 
'It's costly and sacrificial. But despite their differences, the early disciples still chose to love one another.'
 
Relating this to today, Carl said, 'It’s costly to maintain a sense of community when we don’t all agree. If it was easy, it wouldn’t be much of a witness.
 
'But what a witness if we can demonstrate a different way to be.'
 
And finally, the new believers we read of in Acts 2 were also 'Committed to God’s Mission'.
 
The final two verses of Acts 2 read,
 

“46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

 
Carl highlighted several missional practices that this first church employed which got her noticed and made her so attractive to those looking in from outside…
 

• Blessing others - we’ve read that the church community was sacrificially generous towards those in need.
• Hospitality – they opened their homes to each other and ate together.
• Loving one another, even though that may not always have been easy – they took seriously the new commandment Jesus gave to his disciples shortly before he was crucified to, “Love one another… by this, everyone will know that you are my disciples”, Jesus said (John 13:34-35).
• Supernatural signs of the Kingdom of Heaven here on Earth – we read of many wonders and miraculous signs that were done by the apostles, empowered by the Holy Spirit.
• Joyfully praising God – this was a joyful bunch of believers… and others could see it.

 
As he had with each of the elements, Carl asked 'So, what about us today?'
 
'I believe we stand at moment of immense opportunity as God’s Church in this nation,' he said.
 
Stories are being told of a growing hunger amongst those in the UK for ‘something/someone beyond ourselves’. Younger generations particularly are acknowledging a spiritual dimension to life and are beginning to seek spiritual fulfilment.
 
He said this Assembly there examples of blessing others in missional ways, citing our involvement the Telford Parkrun and Chris Duffett leading a session on prophetic art in the community. He asked delegates, 'What does that look like daily?'
 
Even among our difficult conversations in recent months, he said God has been at work among us. He'd heard stories of 19 young adults coming to faith at a Baptist church in London, of other Baptist churches not closing their baptisteries.

Many of our established churches are reporting growth, baptistries are regularly in use, small communities of faith are springing up, meeting in cafes, community centres, pubs, in forests and on beaches, in online chat rooms…
 
'The spirit of God is at work powerfully in our nation,' said Carl, 'Are you open to receiving that gift of the Holy Spirit?'
 
Concluding his address, he stated, 'Everyone is invited to get involved. Jesus’ Great Commission to us is reflected in the words of our Baptist Declaration of Principle which says, “That it is the duty of every disciple to bear personal witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to take part in the evangelisation of the world.”
 
'We don’t go alone; we go filled with the Holy Spirit:
 
Committed to Jesus,
Committed to Each Other and
Committed to God’s Mission
 
…empowered and emboldened to demonstrate and proclaim the Kingdom of God to Everyone, Everywhere.'