The Church of Acts 2
Fall 2022 Wednesday Class @ Cornerstone
Week 13 | Favor With all the People
November 30, 2022 • Acts 2:47
The life of the early church was not lived in secret. The result of the spiritual activity of the first Christians had a great impact on the Jewish community in Jerusalem. So much that throughout the opening chapters of Acts, Luke tells us that thousands upon thousands were being added to the Lord’s body. The excitement and enthusiasm must have been enormous … on a scale that is hard for us to imagine.
Week 12 - The Were Filled with Praise
November 23, 2022 • Acts 2:46–47
It should really be no surprise that as Luke concludes this section on the first Christians that we find them full of praise and joy. These are the natural products of unity and fellowship with God and one another. At its most basic level, praise is an expression of our approval or admiration, of gratitude and devotion for blessings them, Christianity was their life. And because of their sincere devotion, they couldn’t help but give God praise. They were very aware that God was at work in their midst in a new way and that they were enjoying the benefits of being a part of God’s family.
Week 11 - They Integrated Everyone Into the Body
November 16, 2022 • George Wacks • Acts 2:45–46
Is our church community a once-a-week routine ... or a day-to-day reality? They were meeting in their homes daily. They cared for each other’s needs daily. They were studying the word of God daily. They were growing in numbers daily. It was all happening on a continual basis. They had not limited the church to two hours each Sunday morning.
Week 10 - They Held All Things in Common
November 9, 2022 • Russ Robins, Boyd Hastings • Acts 2:44–45
The main thing we should pull away from these verses is the amazing generosity practiced by the first Christians. Are we close to being as generous? The new converts of Acts 2 not only sacrificed their present reserves of cash and goods – but also their future – in acts that demonstrated sacrificial love.
Week 8 | 4th Wednesday Speaker Series | Filled With Awe
October 26, 2022 • Acts 2:43
What a revival our churches would experience if we rekindled that sense of awe before our holy God, bound together with our own sense of unworthiness. Later this text will describe their joyful and sincere hearts, 2.46. It was “unaffected joy.” It was “exulting gladness.” Their awe wasn’t over the physical. It wasn’t about buildings, church programs, or their own ability … it was over the work of God going on inside of them and outside in their community.
Week 8 | Filled with Awe
October 26, 2022 • Acts 2:43
Modern readers living in an age when supernatural spiritual gifts worked by men have ceased may be quick to read over Acts 2.43. The awe was not only in reaction to the miracles. There was more! Every Christian … was amazed at how everything was working together to demonstrate that God was with them.
Week 7 | Devoted to Prayer
October 19, 2022 • Boyd Hastings • Ephesians 6:18–19, Romans 12:12, Acts 4:24–31, Acts 2:42
The final characteristic that marked the spiritual activity of the first Christians is prayer. And while prayer might be the last thing Luke mentions in his summary, it is by no means least. The prayer of the early Christians is denoted by their eagerness, persistence, and how they saw it as critically important to the ongoing life of the congregation.
Week 6 | Devoted to the Breaking of Bread
October 12, 2022 • Russ Robins • 1 Corinthians 11:27–29, Acts 2:42, 1 Corinthians 10:16
Going back to the first part of Acts 2.42, we find the early church was devoted to the expression the spiritual actions of being faithful to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer. They had a steadfast and single-minded focus on Christ and these things were the natural expression of it. Could our devotion to the Supper and these things be compared to them? How strong is our heart connected to God?
Week 5 | Devoted to Fellowship
October 5, 2022 • Acts 2:42
Week 2 | They Asked the Right Question
September 14, 2022 • Mark Ringle • Acts 2:33–37
Have we gotten away from powerful and convicting preaching and teaching? Ours is a time where the world demands the message to be soft coated and palatable. We hear how important it is not to offend someone. Yet, Scripture goes out of its way to describe sin as a vile and polluted thing. It is pure rebellion against God. Those who are not with God are against God, Luke 11.23. There is enmity. There is no peaceful co-existence. The life of rebellion must be walked away from and surrendered to God. We need to preach and teach the word of God, without apology.
Week 1 | What Can We Learn from the Early Church
September 7, 2022 • Mark Ringle • Acts 2:42–47
Acts 2.42-47 presents the first extensive summary in Acts. It details a summary of the activity of the church in Jerusalem in the weeks and months after Pentecost. It also shows us the ideal picture of what God intended for the life of His church where the saved rejoice in the forgiveness of sin and the gift of the Spirit. Luke’s summary of the ideal here at the end of Acts 2 is worthy of our deep consideration and time. The heart of the church centered on teaching, preaching, breaking bread, and prayer. Is such an atmosphere even possible today inside a local congregation of believers?