Fully Devoted - 4

Subject - Fully Devoted To Breaking Of Bread

by Rick Welbourne

Acts 2:42-47 (NIV) 

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.

–So far we have looked at being fully devoted to the teaching of the Word of God, to the fellowship, and to prayer.

–We have seen the blessing of being in fellowship with Christ and with each other. We have also looked at the benefit for missions when we are in fellowship together.

–Today we want to look at being fully devoted to the breaking of bread...people have argued for centuries and still do today...is this the Lord’s Supper or just eating together?

–I personally believe that these verses are all encompassing when it comes to breaking bread...I believe it is speaking of Christ’s body and His blood...What we call Communion.

–I also believe it is speaking about the body of Christ (the Church) and I also believe it is speaking about those who are hungry and are not yet in the body of Christ...let’s look.

1. Being fully devoted to the breaking of bread is a recognition of the body of Jesus...the Bread of Life!

–When you look at the body of Jesus (His physical body and sacrifice) it demands a response.

–I do believe this is a direct reference to recognizing what Jesus instituted and what we refer to the Lord’s Supper or Communion.

Luke 22:19 (NLT) 

19 He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me."

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: They frequently joined in the ordinance of the Lord's supper. They continued in the breaking of bread, in celebrating that memorial of their Master's death, as those that were not ashamed to own their relation to, and their dependence upon, Christ and him crucified. They could not forget the death of Christ, yet they kept up this memorial of it, and made it their constant practice, because it was an institution of Christ, to be transmitted to the succeeding ages of the church. 

–They broke bread from house to house or house by house; they did not think fit to celebrate the eucharist (Lord’s Supper) in the temple. Why?

–Because it was recently established by Jesus and was unique to the Christian Church...it would not have been accepted in the temples or synagogues.

–Where two or three are gathered Jesus is there and therefore you have church...their private homes were their churches...early house churches before it was popular.

–What I find so cool about this is that they were simply following the Word from Jesus:

Luke 22:19 (NIV) 

19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."

–The breaking of bread is something we do to help us remember Jesus and the price He paid for us.

Thru The Bible with J. Vernon McGee - I have a little booklet called the Spiritual Fingerprints of the Visible Church. How can you identify a real church? Notice the four marks of identification...The third, breaking of bread. Breaking of bread is more than just going through the ritual of the Lord's Supper. It means being brought into a fellowship and a relationship with Christ.

–I truly believe that during a time of communion as we will have in a little while that it should be a time of revelation of Jesus Christ.

Luke 24:30-35 (NKJV) 

30 Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.

31 Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.

32 And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"

33 So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together,

34 saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!" 

35 And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.

–He was known to them in the breaking of bread...how awesome is that. Listen to what happens when they repeat their story:

Luke 24:35-36 (NLT) 

35 Then the two from Emmaus told their story of how Jesus had appeared to them as they were walking along the road, and how they had recognized him as he was breaking the bread.

36 And just as they were telling about it, Jesus himself was suddenly standing there among them. "Peace be with you," he said.

1 Corinthians 10:16-17 (NLT) 

16 When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ?

17 And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body.

2. Being fully devoted to the breaking of bread is the recognition of the body of Christ...The Church.

–When you look (I mean really look) at the body of Christ (the Church) it demands a response.

Romans 12:4-5 (NKJV) 

4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,

5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

–Remember this entire series is about the importance of the Church and how much we need each other...The Body comes together to partake of Christ...the Bread of Life.

1 Corinthians 12:12-14 (NLT) 

12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ.

13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 

–Paul begins to talk about the different parts...if the foot said I am not a hand...if the whole body was an eye where would the hearing be...each of us are all parts of the same loaf.

–We realize we are all parts of the body of Christ and how foolish would it be to cut off a hand, a foot, even a little toe which gives us balance...we need each other. What pain!

–When we do this the world looks at us as though something is missing...why? Because we cut off the end of the loaf that is a heel.

1 Corinthians 12:25-27 (NLT) 

25 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other.

26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.

27 All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. 

–If Jesus is the head of the church and He is the Bread of Life that means that we are connected to Him...we are part of the same loaf even if you only feel like a crumb.

–We need each other...we need the flavor you bring...we need your nourishment...to operate and to support missions we need your dough.

–God has given us gifts to build up the body of Christ and we need to be careful how we treat them.

Ephesians 4:11-12 (NLT)

11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.

12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.

3. Being fully devoted to the breaking of bread is the recognition of those who are hungry having no Shepherd.

–When you really look at the hungry, the hurting, and the lost it demands a response. Don’t you believe they deserve the Bread of Life that you have.

Mark 6:34-44 (NLT) 

34 Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

35 Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late.

36 Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat."

37 But Jesus said, "You feed them." "With what?" they asked. "We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!"

38 "How much bread do you have?" he asked. "Go and find out." They came back and reported, "We have five loaves of bread and two fish."

39 Then Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down in groups on the green grass.

40 So they sat down in groups of fifty or a hundred. 

41 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. He also divided the fish for everyone to share.

42 They all ate as much as they wanted, 

43 and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftover bread and fish.

44 A total of 5,000 men and their families were fed from those loaves! 

–It is so mazing to me how much these principle keep showing up that we are talking about.

–Jesus had compassion on them and what did He do...He started teaching them...they were lost...sheep with no shepherd.

–The disciples (let’s say the church) recognized the hunger in the people but they had no answer or solution...send them away so they can feed themselves.

–There are a lot of problems with that...the first is that the disciples (the church) had no compassion on their condition.

–There second answer to the problem was to simply send them away and let them fend for themselves...They did not see their hunger was deeper than just physical hunger.

–Jesus instruction to the disciples (the church) was "You feed them!" Why does your pastor try so hard to support more and more missionaries around the world...Jesus said You feed them!

–Another problem the disciples (the church) has is that they do not understand their source. We do not have food and we do not have money...Oh, but who they had was Jesus and He is the Bread of life.

–Jesus says "Give me what you have"...well I don’t have much...ok, give me what you have...I can’t do much for missions...do what you can and Jesus will do what you can’t.

–You see when Jesus teaches the body (the church) to be broken and given out miracles take place.

–How can I say this...the Bread of Life blesses the bread He already has (His body and His church) and they share Him with them they become part of the same loaf.

–It is a miracle of multiplication. From His hands to our hands and then to theirs...they break bread together and salvation comes.

–How do you reach the lost...You feed them...break bread with them...buy them lunch...take food when they are sick or recovering.

–People will sit down and eat with you when they will not come to church...people will tell you their life stories when you feed them.

–You want people saved...You feed them! Have a House of Hope and feed them...I recently had one of our new church attenders say the way I was introduced to your church body was thru the House of Hope.

–You feed them! Remember the first week...what are you eating? You can’t feed them unless you are partaking of the Bread of life.