Now, picture yourself in ancient Jerusalem.   It's Pentecost and you're in the temple court.  Throngs of people from every country pack the courtyard, pilgrims waiting expectantly to celebrate the giving of the Torah, the Jewish Law.  But now the atmosphere is charged for a different reason. The crowd was expecting the law, but they got the Holy Spirit instead. They felt the rush, they heard the wind and saw the tongues of fire, each person heard everyone speak in his own language.  Now, they are receptive . . . waiting for something to happen.

Just then, Peter leaps to the platform and preaches a powerful sermon.  3,000 people are struck to the heart. "This is it! This is what we’ve been waiting for!"  the say.  "We’re ready to follow. Tell us what to do, Peter."

Okay, stop. You’re Peter. What do you do?  Get out of there fast, that's what I'd want to do.  Poor guy!  You've just had the most incredible spiritual experience in history, preached a rousing sermon, and suddenly—you have to figure how to make 3,000 people who don't even speak the same language into the church of Christ.  Wow!

Well, I've got an idea for Peter.  Let's try this.  "If I could have your attention please.  I'll be assigning each of you 3,000 converts to your own group.  I'd like the Judeans Christians to meet here in the temple court, the Roman Christians should meet by the toga racks, the Greeks will meet out in the library, and the Swiss-Germans will convene by the coffee pot."

What do you think?  As practical as it might sound, it's a lousy idea.  Jesus had universalized the good news.  It was for the whole world, not just for the Jews.  To break into little ethnic enclaves would contradict Jesus' most radical teaching.  And so, as you might expect, the universal church started out just that way—one, large, diverse group.  With that decision out of the way, the early church leaders faced another big problem:  how to transform a large and diverse group of individuals into the community of faith.  That's a tall order.  And yet on a smaller scale it's a task that each of us faces, even today.  You and I play a vital role in making the church the faithful community Jesus is calling us to be.

But back to the text.  Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the apostles came up with a brilliant four-point solution to their diversity problem.   You know it was brilliant, or none of us would be here this morning.  Let's look at Acts 2:42 more closely.   It says, "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."  Some of your translations say "the fellowship" and while that's legitimate, I'm of the conviction that it should translated just "fellowship."  The New English Bible backs me up on this point, but instead of fellowship, they speak of sharing a common life.  For those of you who would like a clear definition of fellowship, I'll borrow that and say that "fellowship is sharing our lives with one another."

So, in Acts 2:42 we have a brief and unusual definition of the church. It lists four key elements to which members devote themselves:  the Apostles teaching— this would correspond roughly to our Sunday morning activities; fellowship—we have pot-lucks and committee meetings and softball teams; the breaking of bread—this is two-part.  First, it involves sharing a common meal in the homes of individual church members.  Second, it implies the celebration of the Lord's supper.  We do both of those things, though certainly not nearly as frequently.  And finally, prayer.  We work at that, too.  So what is so unusual about this passage?

I maintain that what is strking about this passage is the centrality of fellowship.  What a shock!  There it is in the first definition of the Christian church, beating out worship and evangelism and committees.  How can that be?  Fellowship is optional for us.  It's the thing we do when our work is done, when the house is clean, when the kids aren't sick, when we're in the mood.  It's the thing we do during the prelude and between church and Sunday School.  The centrality of fellowship in the early church is a surprise, and it deserves a closer look.

"They devoted themselves to fellowship."  When you read that fast it's easy to miss what it doesn't say.
Hey you kids out there, notice that it does not it say "they devoted themselves to fellowship with those who were popular and wore cool shoes, or even those who were cute or smart or athletic."  Everyone is included.

Adults, notice that it does not say they devoted themselves to fellowship with those with similar interests, or those who were scintillating conversationalists or those who could invite them back, or even those their own age.  It does not say they devoted themselves to fellowship with those of the same racial and ethnic background, or those who thought the same way as they did, or those with children the same age as theirs, or those of similar economic status.  The fellowship they devoted themselves to was universal.  It included everyone in the group; it excluded no one; it even reached outside the group and welcomed newcomers.  The text confirms that in no time at all, that universal fellowship was performing its transforming work.

I've identified three ways in which fellowship transformed and continues to transform the church:

First, fellowship breaks down our differences.  I don't have to know you to worship with you.  I don't even have to like you.  But when I invite you into my home, I'm making a commitment to get to know you as a person, to focus on what unites us rather than what separates us.   In the process I may discover that you are shy and not aloof like I originally thought, I may discover that we share common interests that I never knew about.  I may discover that the very differences I thought separated us actually make you a very interesting person.  Fellowship broke down our differences.

It's a historical fact that as the church spread throughout the Mediterranean world, it became more ethnic and provincial. Yet Acts 2 invites us to remember that the origin and true nature of the church is universal.  The church was committed to overcoming the hostility between Jew and Greek, and breaking down the barriers between slave and free, Scythian and barbarian, male and female, rich and poor.  Christian fellowship continues to break through those differences.

The second transforming work of fellowship, is the way it breaks through our superficiality.  Go into any casual social setting and listen to the conversation.  The great majority of it is pretty superficial.  "How 'bout those Concord Minutemen?"  says Al who is feeling belittled by his boss.  "That was quite a game." replies  Fred who is having difficulty relating to his 13 year old son.  "Can you believe this weather?" adds Elaine who is considering a career change.  "It's great.  I just hope the fruit trees don't bud yet." says Sarah who's feeling guilty about putting her aging mother in a nursing home.

I don't mean to belittle casual conversation.  It is necessary and important.  It is the grease that keeps the wheels of communication turning.  Furthermore, if I'm undergoing a crisis, I don't particularly want to discuss it out by the mailboxes.  Nor do I want to explain it to someone who doesn't want to hear it.  But if you'll spend some time with me; if you'll open up to me; you might just free me to share my struggles and triumphs with you.  Fellowship breaks through our superficiality.  It builds trust.  It says, "I care enough about you to spend time with you."  It says, "I accept you as a friend."  It says, "I want to know who you really are."  It promotes the kind of relationships which are modeled by Jesus and the members of the early church.  The example of the church in Acts is almost bewildering.  Acts 2:46 says they met everyday to worship in the temple and they ate together in their homes, and they shared everything to meet the needs of others in the group.  That is anything but superficial.  Most of us don't desire fellowship quite that intense.  But we must remember that theirs was very diverse group with absolutely no tradition of being a Christian church.  What they did was right for them.  And yet we also need see their example as a reminder to us  that there is a level of community which we have not yet experienced.  Their example invites us to move further beyond our superficiality in the direction of true community.

The third transforming work of fellowship is the way it binds the church together.  Teaching edifies the church, preaching inspires it (I hope), prayer sustains it, worship focuses its attention on God, mission shares its love and truth—but fellowship binds it all together.  Fellowship binds because it meets real human needs.  We need to feel accepted, we needed to have people we can talk to, we need to know people care, we need people to spend time with us.  If people feel their needs aren't being met, they probably won't be around for long.

To illustrate the binding power of fellowship, I need the help of some of the children.  Would the 4th-thru-6th graders come forward.  (At this point the children do a string activity, tossing a ball of string to make an interconnected web)

The time we spend together is a like an invisible thread that weaves us into the fabric of the church community.
Sometimes preachers are accused of being abstract and impractical, so I want to give you a concrete, practical challenge.  March is still young, invite someone into your home this month that you've never had before.  I know, it's home fellowship month.  Do that too. But do this on your initiative.  Then see if you can make it a monthly habit.

It's possible that there are still some people wondering why they should go to all this effort to spend time with other people they don't really know or even those they do.  Let's finish up with a look at the why's of fellowship.

It's typical to think of fellowship as something you do because its fun, and that's true.  In this sermon I've been stressing that it's something you do because it is vital and central to the life of the church, and that's true too.  But I'd like to leave you with what I think is perhaps the most important reason.  — It's a God-like thing to do.  Doing God-like things is a time honored tradition in the Christian faith.  One of the first Bible verses children learn is "We love God because he first loved us."  God is all-knowing and so we educate ourselves.  God is holy and so we strive for purity.  God is faithful and so we strive to be faithful.  But God also knows each one of us thoroughly, yet still loves us and cares for us, and desires our fellowship.  (repeat for emphasisi)  Too often we break that link between God and fellowship.

We must never forget that God's knowledge of us, God's love and care for us and the fellowship which grows out of it  is also worth emulating.

I'm glad the church in Acts didn't forget.  They put that truth at the heart of their church.  They lived out the love, care, and fellowship of God within the church.  In the process they broke down the barriers between them, overcame any hint of superficiality and were bound together in true community.  The fellowship modeled by the early church has played an important role in sustaining the church throughout it's first 2,000 years.  As we read about it today, it challenges us to model that divine fellowship, for our own sake and for the sake of generations to come.