Small Groups Part 3: The Two-Winged Life That Soars

The Two-Winged Life That Soars

Acts 2:42-47 (NKJV) And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

Once upon a time, God created a church with two wings. One wing was a large group wing, and one wing was a small group wing. With these two wings, the Church could soar high into the heavens, come into the presence of the Creator, and do His bidding over all the earth. 

One day, the wicked serpent that was stripped of his wings came to the Two-Winged Church and said, “Do you know you can fly with just one wing?” 

• “Yes! You can fly with just a large group wing.” 
• And so the church that had been created with two wings began to try to fly with just the large group wing. 
• And sure enough, if it beat that large group wing long enough and hard enough, it could get somewhat of the ground but couldn’t soar. 
• It never flew very high, never went very far from its original take-off point, and as one-winged things are prone to do, many times it went in circles and fell to the ground. But it could fly.

Illustration: Helicopter seeds, botanically known as samaras, are winged seeds produced by trees like maples, elms, and ashes that spin like propeller blades when falling. This autorotation mechanism delays their descent, allowing wind to disperse them far from the parent tree, reducing competition for resources. 

But for 1600 years, the church has tried to fly on one wing. 

• This began sometime in the 4th Century. And so from that time forward, the church that had been created as a two-winged church used only the large group wing. Finally, the small group wing atrophied at the side of the two-winged church.

From time to time, the church remembered those days in the past when it had been able to soar high into the heavens, come into the presence of the Creator, and do His bidding over all the earth. But now it was too late. The Two-Winged Church had become a one-winged, earth-bound institution.

• From Homes to Basilicas: Before the 4th century, house meetings were the norm, often comprising fewer than 20 people. After 313 AD, the Roman basilica (an official public audience hall) became the standard venue, enabling much larger congregations.
  • The came Monasteries, Abbeys, Cathedrals, but the Small groups that met in homes were lost. 

What was this CHURCH like in the First Century?

I.  It was a growing church

• Let me take you through the book of Acts to show you the extraordinary growth of the church. Then, I will show you where they put all those people, how they cared for them, 
• First, let’s look at the growth of the church in Jerusalem. In Acts chapter 1, notice that there were about 120 believers. Acts 1:15 states: “In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty).” 

• This is in the upper room, prior to Pentecost, so we know that they were starting with about 120 people.

• Now look at Acts 2:41, it says: “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” 
  1. That means on the first day of the church, they became a megachurch—they had 3,000 members on the first day of the church.
• Now look at Acts 2:47, which says: “praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” 
  1. If you’re adding one person a day, how many is that a year? That’s 365 people a year at a minimum. So they’ve got 3,000, plus they are adding at least 365 a year, and we know it’s far more than that.
• Because in Acts 4:4 it states: “But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed was about five thousand.” 
  1. Think about this: wherever you’ve got 5,000 men, how many women and children have you got? At least 10,000 more. So now, by this time, you’ve probably got a church of at least 15,000 people worshiping in Jerusalem.
• Now look at Acts 5:14, it says: “Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.” 
  1. 1. It mentions that a multitude—that’s the Greek word “plethos“—was added. 
     2. How do you know when you’ve got a multitude? 
     3. You can’t even count them all. You say, “Well, how do I know when I’ve got a multitude?” You can’t count them. 
     4. And it says there were more and more believers, and a multitude was added to the church.
• Finally, we get to Acts 5:28, where the critics of the church say: “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.
  1.  Well, no wonder. People say, “Well, how big was the Church of Jerusalem?” 
  2. Well, maybe 100,000 members within 20 years. 
  3. How big was Jerusalem? Maybe at the most 200,000, maybe 250,000 people at the most. 
• Now look at Acts 6:1, it says: “In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.” 
  1. 1. Notice we’ve moved from addition to multiplication: 3,000 were added, they were added daily, 5,000 men added, a multitude added—now we’ve gone to multiplication. 
     2. Now we’ve got exponential growth; the number of disciples is rapidly multiplying.
• And in Acts 6:7, notice this verse: “So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.” The number of believers increased rapidly. I could keep on going. 
• Let’s skip on over to chapter 21. In Acts 21:20, it says: “Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.”
  1. ” That’s ‘myrias,’ from the word we get ‘myriad,’ and it literally means too numerous to be counted.
  2.  So we’ve got rapid, exponential growth in this church. 

II. How do you get New Testament growth 1st century church growth? 

• You must use New Testament methodology. 
• The next question we have to ask is: if this church was growing to 50, then 60, then 100,000 people, where did they put all these people? 

Well, the Bible tells us. Turn to Acts chapter 5. Look at verse 42, which says: “Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.” 

• Now circle that in your Bible: temple courts—and by the way, notice it’s plural, courts; it’s plural courts, not just one temple court—and from house to house.

1. Now, it doesn’t say they met in the temple, because they didn’t meet in the temple. If you know anything about the Jewish temple, only the priest was allowed in the temple, and he was only allowed in the temple on the Day of Atonement. 
2. So they certainly didn’t meet in the temple, but they met in the courts, and there were multiple of these courts around the temple.
3.  If you’ve ever been to Jerusalem today and you’ve seen Solomon’s Temple, you know that those courts there could easily hold 50,000 people standing, because they didn’t use chairs in those days—people stood for worship. 
4. And with multiple services—two services—they could easily have 100,000 people at the temple courts. But they also met, it says, from temple courts to house to house.

Now, this dual strategy of large group worship and small group fellowship is the biblical strategy and structure for the church—not just then, but for today. 

• If you want to be a New Testament church, if you want to be successful, you must have temple courts—that’s “come and see”—and you must have house to house—that’s “go and tell.” 
• You must have attractional and missional, 
• You must have both large group worship and small group fellowship. 
• That is the biblical model in the book of Acts.

In large group worship, we see this in Acts 2:46, which says, “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.” 

And again, notice it’s plural—not one location, but multiple—which, by the way, makes a good case for multiple venues or multiple campuses. 

• And of course, all through the New Testament, you can find examples where Paul says, “Greet those who are meeting in the house of this person,” or “Greet those who meet in the house of that person.” 
• In Romans 16:5, Paul writes to the people in Rome, and he says, “Greet also the church in their house. Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia.”

III. What was the 1st Century Church that met in homes all about? 

1. It was a church of prayer—they were praising God, praying together, breaking bread in meals that included the Lord’s Supper. 
2. It was a church of share—they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, committed to renewing their minds in the Word of God, because doctrine is the heart of the life of the church. 
3. It was a church of care—they met in the temple and from house to house, enjoying real fellowship with one another. 

TWO WINGS OF Spiritual LIFE: 

• Personal and Public,  Corporate and Close, 

• Organic and Organized, Go Tell and Come and See,  

• Nurturing and Inspiring, Deep and Wide 

Conclusion: Corporate Prayer for the Holy Spirit to Direct: 

• Holy Spirit, would you have me open my home for a Life Group? 
• Holy Spirit, would you have me attend a Life Group? 
• Holy Spirit, would you have me someday lead a Life Group?