I don't believe we will ever experience the awe of the early church unless we are willing to devote ourselves to the apostles' teaching. We must spend time with it, read it, meditate on it. We must apply a fresh interest to it. We must revere it, respect it, and realize that it is Jesus speaking to us!

Acts 2:38-47

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 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 favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (NIV)

To me the most intriguing word in Acts 2 is not the word baptism or repentance or even the number 3000, signifying those baptized into Christ after Peter's sermon on Pentecost. The word that instills within me a longing to have more is the word "awe" of verse 43.

"Everyone was filled with awe…."

Awe is an attitude of reverence as we realize God is at hand.

I want the word "everyone" in that verse to include me. I also want you to experience it. I want to be a part of that Church. I want to be filled with "awe" before my God

Not everyone does however…

"I would like to buy three dollars' worth of God, please. Not enough to explore my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough God to make me love an Indian or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation. I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy three dollars' worth of God please." - Freda Moosehunter

But I want more than that - don't you? The had wonders and signs. A glorious unity prevailed. Needs were seen and met. The enjoyed getting together. They praised God. They grew steadily in number. I want to be a part of that church!

There is a simple plan for it. It's as simple as Acts 2:42 - at least to start with. It involves the teaching of the apostles, fellowship, the breaking of bread, prayer. Let's look at the the first of these and consider what it means to be devoted to the apostles teaching. Firstly...

1. What is the Apostles' Teaching?

We know that the New Testament from Matthew to Revelation is the apostles teaching. It provides for us a glorious, life-changing, power-giving, exciting book to read.

But we are not talking about "today" in Acts 2:42. We are talking about then. What did the early Christians understand the apostles teaching to consist of?

As Jews they knew the Old Testament but there were no New Testament scrolls yet. What was the apostles' teaching to these newborn Similac Christians?

It was about Jesus - their Lord, their new King, their Savior, their Leader.

These apostles had been with Jesus since the beginning and these men who knew Him best taught this eager crowd of new Christians about Jesus.

They taught them how He lived, what He said, what He did, His miracles, His prayers, His parables, His kingdom, His death, His resurrection, the power of His blood , the joy of His love, His eagerness to save everyone, where He was at that time and what He was doing for them.

Can't you see their eyes light up; their teeth beginning to show in a smile, their heads shake as if in disbelief, as it seems too grand to be true.

They were experiencing the awe of Jesus as they heard for the first time what we have begun to refer to as "the old, old story".

To re-ignite the awe of the early Church in our lives - never stray far from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

In my first year at Bible College I received some sound advice. I was told that as we began to memorize Paul's 3 missionary journeys, as we did Old Testament Introduction, Homiletics, and all kinds of other studies, to be careful not to misplace Jesus.

Sounds like good counsel for me to pass on to you.

Secondly...

2. Where Did They Hear the Apostles' Teaching?

They met together in the temple courts….in their homes…wherever the apostles were teaching. When they assembled, they were the church, God's assembly of believers. Meeting together was very important to them.

Church meetings are as important today to our spiritual growth and inspiration as when the early church met.

It's troubling when believers in Jesus, Christians, don't want to get together with other Christians because the early Church just couldn't keep away.

Like many corporations, the Church is in a down-size mode. We want to grow in number but we want to meet less than ever before in the History of the American Church.

"I would like to buy three dollars' worth of God, please. Not enough to explore my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough God to make me love an Indian or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation. I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy three dollars' worth of God please."

Thirdly...

3. What Did The Apostles' Teaching Do For The Early Church?

Let me ask - What has it done for you? How has it affected your life? I know many of you could testify of the wonder of the Words of Jesus.

For this infant Church it changed everything. But then Jesus always does.

We too have experienced this so many years later. Every time we:

The words of Jesus never leave us quite the same. I thank God for that.

He gives us:

What did this Apostles Teaching do for them? Everything!

Someone might say, "It has never done that for me."

But have you read the gospels? Have you really spent time with these words? Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior?

I say this because this great book can grow you into a new person with a new understanding and a second chance. It can do for you all I've shared today and so much more!

Finally...

4. How Did They Grow In the Awe of the Apostles Teachings?

I don't imagine we will ever experience the awe the early Church experienced until we can come to the place where we are devoted to it like they were.

The Greek word for "devoted" according to Barnes means that they "persevered or adhered to" the apostles' teaching. According to Clarke it means that they received it, retained it, and acted upon it.

I don't believe we will ever experience the awe of the early church unless we are willing to devote ourselves to the apostles' teaching. We must spend time with it, read it, meditate on it. We must apply a fresh interest to it. We must revere it, respect it, and realize that it is Jesus speaking to us!

Like becoming acquainted with a lost friend, we need to spend time catching up on what we've missed.

Like getting a call from our spouse when they are away, we need to relish each word.

Like spending an afternoon with your grown child, we need to cherish it

Sometimes I've heard it said, "I wish I knew the Bible as well as…." With all due kindness and respect, may I say that it doesn't just happen. And it doesn't come overnight. It is when we spend to time necessary to read it and enjoy it that it makes us new people.

It is a dubious source, I know, but even MTV political correspondent Tabitha Soren got it right. Cited in USA Weekend, she said, "No matter how secular our culture becomes, it will remain drenched in the Bible. Since we will be haunted by the Bible even if we don't know it, doesn't it make sense to read it?"(1)

Yes it does make sense to read our bibles. And if even someone who isn't a Christian can understand it, why can't we?

We cannot separate the awe the early Church experienced from the teachings of the Apostles.

Read, study, learn, and apply the apostles teaching - the story of Jesus.

You'll get much more than $3.00 worth of God.

Footnotes: Please use your back button to return to your place.

1. Citation: USA Weekend ,June 13, 1999, from Perfect Illustrations for Every Topic and Occasion Copyright © 2002 by Craig Brian Larson & Drew Zahn, English US edition © 2004 by Biblesoft with permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. All rights reserved.