Acts 5:12-16 "Snapshot of the Church"

We started NewChurch in February of 2015. I had just been laid off as the worship leader of my previous church and was trying to figure out what God wanted me to do next. They said it was for budgetary reasons, not performance related, nothing personal—felt pretty personal to me. A lot of people were not happy with the decision. Seven or eight people approached me separately and asked if I would be interested in planting a new church in Katy. 

Let’s see, I’m 50 years old—do I want to start a brand new church from scratch? Hmm. No, I do not. Kim was like, “Um, how about let’s not and say we did!” 

We had been part of starting two churches previously. It was hard. I had also been very involved in starting two campuses at that previous church. Again, very hard. Plus, none of those churches or campuses made it. They no longer exist. Neither does that previous church for that matter. Why would I want to do something so doomed to failure?

I invited the people who had asked me about it to come over to my house to talk about what it might look like if we planted a church and pray about whether God was leading  us to do it or not. After they left I said, “God, I don’t really want to do this but if You want me to give it a shot, You’re going to have to make it really obvious.”

I don’t believe God promises to speak to us in dreams or visions but sometimes He does. That night I dreamed we planted a new church. I saw it in great detail. It was in a big green room with a portable stage, lights—it was indoors but the floor was made of grass, and I recognized some of the people in the congregation.

I woke up and thought, “Well, that would work.”

I recognized the place. It was called The Athletic Performance Lab, or The Lab—an indoor football field where they trained high school, college, and semi-pro athletes. David Wallace and I played some blues for their grand opening about a year before. I didn’t personally know the owner but I knew who he was—He and his family were members of my previous church. 

I said, “Okay God, I’ll give him a call. If he’ll take my call, and if he’ll meet with me, and if he says “yes,” then I’ll move forward with this church idea. But if not, then I’m going to find another job.”

I called. He took my call. I met with him and his wife that same day. The meeting started with them saying they had just decided to leave the church that had laid me off, and ended with them giving me keys and alarm codes. They wanted to be part of whatever God was leading me to do next. NewChurch met for our first worship service two weeks later with about 25 people. 

The story of NewChurch is filled with all kinds of signs and wonders and little miracles. Beginnings are often accompanied by an extra outpouring of God’s power—just to get things moving and encourage the people doing it. At first, Kim and I were reluctant to start NewChurch but once we got a taste of what God was doing, we were all in—we’re still all in.

We’re going through the Book of Acts line by line, we’re in chapter five…

Last week we told the story of Ananias and Sapphira. Two members of the early church in Jerusalem who got all excited about their new faith, sold some property and gave the money to Jesus. Problem was, they said they gave it all but that was a lie to make themselves look super spiritual and generous—they actually had conspired to keep some of the money for themselves. When they presented the money to Peter and lied about it, God struck them dead on the spot. It’s probably the weirdest story in the New Testament, if you have questions about what the heck… listen to last week’s message.

Anyway, the news got around and it definitely had people’s attention… 

Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened. Acts 5:11

This is the first time the word “church” is used in the Book of Acts. Jesus had used the word in His teaching to refer to His followers who would continue His ministry after the resurrection. Jesus said He will “build His church and the gates of hell will not be able to stand against it.” This is what we’re seeing happen in the Book of Acts—Jesus was building His church—He still is.

There’s a lot of weirdness around the word “CHURCH.”

In English we sometimes use the word to refer to the place where we meet for worship—church buildings. But we also use it to refer to worship in general—like, “We have church on Sunday.” Plus, I think we all understand that the church is made up of the people who are gathered to worship, like when a preacher or worship leader says, “Okay, church, listen up!” 

So, people say things like: “The church isn’t the building, it’s the people.” Which, I know what they mean, except in English, it’s also the building—which makes it a dumb thing to say. Ha.

And people are like, “You don’t have to go to church to be a Christian. Or, “My church is when I spend time with God in my backyard, or in nature, or whatever.” But here’s the problem with those ideas—the Bible doesn’t know anything about Christians who are not part of a local church.

The Greek word that’s translated as “church” in the New Testament is “ecclesia.” It’s the same word that’s translated in the Greek version of the Old Testament as “congregation.” At the time of Jesus, the Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint, was used as much as the Hebrew Old Testament. Almost all of the Old Testament quotes in the New Testament are from the Septuagint. In the Bible, ecclesia always means a congregation assembled to worship. An assembly of people who come together for a specific purpose: to worship God and fellowship with other believers.

Gathering with other Christians for worship and fellowship—that’s what ecclesia means—that’s what church means. So, can you assemble by yourself in your backyard? No. You can pray by yourself, you can read your Bible by yourself—and you should—but that doesn't have anything to do with church. Sometimes people say they feel closer to God in nature than they do in church. No one said you had to “feel close to God” when you go to church—maybe you will, maybe you won’t. Church isn’t about how you feel, it’s about worship and fellowship. It’s about being challenged to grow in our faith and comforted with the promises of the Gospel. It’s about encouraging the other people who show up—we all need to be encouraged, and the way that happens is by encouraging each other. Sometimes people say, “I don’t like church people, they’re a bunch of hypocrites.” Okay. Are there sinners here? You bet. Hypocrites? For sure. People who drive us crazy, who are hard to love? Absolutely! It’s part of the qualifications for being a member of the church—you have to be a sinner saved by grace.

We’re here to worship God and love people—which is not the same thing as saying, “feel God and like people.” Worship God and love people—that’s what church is all about. Worshiping God means we submit our life to Him. Loving people means we’re patient with each other, kind to each other, show each other grace—it’s not always going to be easy. 

People say, “I love Jesus, I just can’t stand His followers.” I get it. I have a hard time with a lot of Christians, too. Whether it’s because they act like know-it-alls, or judgy McJudgefaces, or Imma more holier than you types. I struggle. But Jesus has a lot of followers—like two and a half billion scattered all over the world right now—it doesn’t make any sense to pretend like it’s just me and Jesus, like I’m the only one, and try to ignore the other two and a half billion people. We’re all part of something much bigger than ourselves and what Jesus told us over and over is “love one another,” “encourage one another.” Do not forsake the gathering together, you are all part of one body. 

Next time someone says something dumb about how they don’t think they have to go to church to be a Christian, please remember these things. We are members of the body of Christ, if we don’t assemble as the church, in a church, to have church—we are dismembering ourselves. And dismembered body parts are gross.

So, the death of Ananias and Sapphira showed that God was serious about what was done in His name when people came together for church. “Great fear gripped the church,” but not just the Christians—also everyone else who heard about it.

The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Colonnade. 
Acts 5:12

This is a little snapshot of what the church was like in those early days. It’s the honeymoon phase. Miracles were happening left and right, and the church was meeting every day at the temple in a section called Solomon’s Colonnade or Solomon’s Porch. It was a large shaded area that ran along the eastern side of the temple’s outer court—a perfect place for the church to meet. It’s one of the places Jesus had used for teaching when He was in Jerusalem. 

But no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them. Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women. 
Acts 5:13-14

Hmm. No one else dared join them… yet more and more people were brought to the Lord. Say what? Isn’t that a contradiction?

Ananias and Sapphira definitely got people’s attention—so did all the miracles. People had a lot of respect for the massive congregation that was meeting on the temple’s porch. Everyone saw them gathered there—singing, praying, listening to teaching. The power of God was obvious, and people were too intimidated to just casually walk up and check it out like a sideshow at the circus. No one was brave enough to heckle the preaching or mock what they were doing. No one dared join them just to gawk at the spectacle. Not unless the Holy Spirit was calling them, not unless they were brought to the Lord and brought to faith.

Only people who were sincerely interested in the message of Jesus, or hoping to be healed, were bold enough to gather with the worshipers. And those who did were amazed and joined the church—meaning they believed in Jesus, were baptized, and brought to the Lord. They were saved. Crowds of both men and women. The church is inclusive of all people, it doesn’t discriminate based on gender or race or nationality. It’s one of the only places where people of all ages and backgrounds come together in a united purpose. 

Luke had estimated the church was about 3,000 people in Acts chapter two, and then about 5,000 men in chapter four—which probably meant there were over 10,000 members. But now it’s beyond guessing, he just says crowds of people joined. This is a massive church. And they were coming from all over… 

As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by. Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed.
Acts 5:15-16

The apostle’s work was preaching the Gospel—proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus. Telling people that the Messiah was killed on a cross, three days later He rose from the dead—and that means something for you. Your sins can be forgiven, and you can receive the promise of eternal life by calling on the name of the Lord. Then to back up what they were saying, people were being healed—hundreds of people, maybe thousands. They were bringing their loved ones on stretchers and lining the streets with sick people, blind people, cripples, people who were demon possessed. Imagine what that must have been like. They came from all the little towns around Jerusalem. Everyone was so excited, so eager to get what they needed. So hopeful. 

There were so many people, they knew Peter and the apostles couldn’t see everyone, so they lined up hoping to just get a glimpse, just close enough for a miracle—hoping that if even Peter’s shadow fell across them it would be enough.

It says that everyone who came was healed. All of them. 

It wasn’t Peter’s shadow that healed anyone, or Peter or any of the apostles—all the healing was done by God. All the healing pointed to Jesus. That’s always what miraculous healing points to—who Jesus is. 

The thing about Peter’s shadow is pretty cool. Pretty strange, too. They were hoping that if his shadow fell on them that would be enough to heal them. Like when the woman with the issue of blood pressed through the crowd to touch the hem of Jesus’ robe. Maybe they were healed when his shadow touched them, maybe they weren’t—it doesn’t actually say. It just says that’s what they were hoping would happen. I like to think it did, though. That’d be awesome. Whether it had anything to do with his shadow or not, it says they were all healed.

Just like with Ananias and Sapphira last week, there’s something special about the power of the Holy Spirit in this brand new church. We don’t usually drop dead when we try to look super spiritual in church—and not everyone is healed on the spot when we show up at church, either.

There seems to have been a very concentrated outpouring of the Holy Spirit and power on the apostles in those early days. It seems to fade quite a bit as we go through the Book of Acts and read through the rest of the New Testament. Miracles still happen but not as much.

It seems that God wanted to really flex and show His power to help kickstart the church. We believe miracles still happen but like this. All the people who showed up for church were healed—for a while. Eventually, those people got sick again and died. The apostles all died.

The point of the Gospel message was never just to relieve sickness and suffering temporarily. The point of the Gospel is to save people from their sins so that when they die, they will rise again in the resurrection and live forever with Jesus in the world to come when He returns at the end of time. Then everyone will truly be healed. All miraculous healings in this life are only temporary—they only serve to point to Jesus and His message of hope.

God still heals. Miraculously, even. But He doesn’t promise to heal us in this life. He might! He wants us to ask but we need to have enough faith and trust in Him that if His answer is, “Not yet”—we need to be okay with that. It’s a terrible lie to say the reason someone wasn’t healed is because they didn’t have enough faith. That’s such a crushing and discouraging misuse of Scripture. Jesus said, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,” any faith is enough faith. The father who said, “Lord I believe, help my unbelief”—that was enough faith for Jesus to deliver the man’s son. Don’t doubt your faith. Don’t believe you have to faith harder or Jesus won’t help you. Ask for your miracle and trust that God knows what He’s doing.

Also, it seems like when the Gospel breaks into new parts of the world, there’s usually a lot of miracles that accompany it. Remember, I said there were about two and half billion Christians in the world—well there’s more than eight billion people on earth. That leaves about six billion people who don’t know about Jesus. We have a lot of new people to reach. If you want to see miracles—go try to reach some of those lost people. You’ll see some things. Miracles seem to happen the most at the front lines. Read Kemper’s dad’s book “Servant of the King”—that’ll open your eyes to modern day miracles.

Next week we’re starting a new chapter for NewChurch when we move to Faith West. Beginnings are often accompanied by an extra outpouring of God’s power. It’s our job to show up and put our faith in Him, to be faithful in doing our part. But it’s His job to do the miracles.

So, over the next few months, look around your life, notice all the people you have contact with who aren’t in church with us. Invite them to come and see what God’s doing at NewChurch. Even if you’ve invited them in the past. Even if they used to come but stopped for whatever reason. You do your part, tell them, invite them—let God do the heavy lifting and actually get them to show up and receive what He has for them. You do your part by being bold, with gentleness, to let them know you think they’d love it and get a lot out of it.

As we change locations, let’s make sure we don’t leave anyone behind. Of course we’re hoping to attract new people but not at the expense of losing anyone. Think of it like a school field trip—you don’t have to hold hands, but look at the people around you and make sure everyone gets back on the bus. Ha.

We’re a church. Ecclesia. A congregation. We exist to worship God and fellowship with His people. Worship and fellowship. Let’s take seriously our commitment to submit to God by showing up and encouraging each other. Show up like those people waiting for Peter’s shadow, hoping and expecting to receive what God has for us each week. 

God is still in the miracle business. And He still works those miracles through His church when they come together for worship. He will heal and restore. He will give you forgiveness and grace. He will fill you with hope and joy and peace. Jesus said, “"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." This is the promise of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter—the One who pours out His love and power on the church to fill it with hope and joy and peace. Even this church. Even you. 

We started NewChurch nine and a half years ago. Not many church plants make it past the four year mark. God has been very kind to us. There have been little miracles all along the way. It certainly hasn’t been easy but I’ve never looked back and I’ve never been more excited about the future of our church. Next week we start a new chapter when we move into a custom space designed specifically for us to do the ministry God has called us to do. I believe it’s going to kickstart the best season we’ve ever had. A new honeymoon phase. A time of growth and joy—worshiping God, loving people. A time of more and more people believing and being brought to the Lord. You ready to do this?