March 1, 2026

Acts 2:42-47

Vital Signs of a Spirit-Filled Church

Sunday Sermons

In Acts 2:42-47, Luke pauses the whirlwind narrative of the early church to pull back the curtain on the ordinary, day-to-day life of a community transformed by the Spirit of God. What he reveals are the vital signs of a church that had come alive. A people hungry for God’s Word, bound together in deep fellowship, radiating with worship of God, and devoted to prayer. Right in the middle of a culture known for its moral decay and lust for power, this peculiar band of believers lived in a way that was both strange and compelling to the watching world.

Join Pastor Tommy as we explore what it looks like when the Holy Spirit shapes a community from the inside out. Their devotion was the natural overflow of hearts that had been cut to the core by the gospel of Jesus. The same Spirit who set that young church ablaze is still doing His transforming work today.

Speaker

Tommy Bailey

Series

Acts of the Apostles

Go to Series

Scripture

Acts 2:42-47

Topics
Growth & Discipleship Worldview & Culture

Sermon Notes

Acts 2:42-47

Vital Signs of a Spirit-Filled Church

Pastor Tommy Bailey

So, why church? The short answer is because the Holy Spirit formed it to be a colony of heaven in the country of death…Church is the core element in the strategy of the Holy Spirit for providing human witness and physical presence to the Jesus-inaugurated kingdom of God in this world.
Eugene Peterson, Practice Resurrection

Vital Signs of a Spirit-Filled Church
  • A Hungry Church
  • A Loving Church
  • A Worshiping Church
  • A Praying Church
1. A Hungry Church

One of the clearest evidences of a Spirit-filled Christian is his hunger for Scripture and his humble submissiveness to the authority of Scripture as God’s written Word…For the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth (as Jesus called him). He is given us to be our teacher, and those who are filled with him have a keen appetite for his instruction.
John Stott, Authentic Christianity

2. A Loving Church

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
John 13:34-35

“Christians love one another. They never fail to help widows; they save orphans from those who would hurt them. If a man has something, he gives freely to the man who has nothing. If they see a stranger, Christians take him home and are happy, as though he were a real brother. They don’t consider themselves brothers in the usual sense, but brothers instead through the Spirit, in God…If one of them is poor and there isn’t enough food to go around, they fast several days to give him the food he needs…This is really a new kind of person. There is something divine in them.”
Aristides (117-138 AD)

3. A Worshiping Church

“Worship is the arena in which God recalibrates our hearts, reforms our desires, and rehabituates our loves. Worship isn’t just something we do; it is where God does something to us. Worship is the heart of discipleship because it is the gymnasium in which God retrains our hearts.”
James K. A. Smith, You Are What You Love

4. A Praying Church

“The strength of the kirk lies not in its numbers, but in its cries to God in the assembly of prayer.”
John Knox

“To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.”
Karl Barth

Discussion Questions

  • Read the passage together: Before today’s sermon, what did you already know or believe about this passage? Did anything in your understanding shift after hearing the message?
  • Challenge and Reflection: Was there a part of today’s message that was particularly challenging or surprising for you? Why?
  • Unpacking the Message: Pick a quote from today’s sermon notes. Discuss what it means to you.
  • Personal Impact: What’s one specific way you feel called to change or grow after hearing this message?
  • Practical Application: What’s one step you can take this week to put today’s message into practice?
  • Connecting Scripture: Are there other Bible passages or stories this message reminds you of? How do they expand or confirm this teaching?
  • Gratitude: What aspect of God’s character stood out to you in today’s message? How does it inspire praise or gratitude?
  • Pray the Scripture: After hearing the message, is there a specific area where you feel led to pray? How can we pray for one another in light of today’s teaching?

Songs, Readings & Prayer

Songs:

“On Christ The Solid Rock“ by William Batchelder Bradbury, Edward Mote,
“Lift High The Name of Jesus“ by Ed Cash, Fionan DeBarra, Keith Getty, and Kristyn Getty
“Take My Life And Let It Be“ by Frances Ridley Havergal
“I Surrender All“ by Judson W. Van DeVenter
“How Deep The Father’s Love For Us“ by Stuart Townend
“Doxology” by Thomas Ken and Louis Bourgeois
All songs are used with permission. CCLI License no. 2003690

Looking for our Hymns of the Week or resources to worship anytime? We’ve curated a playlist of hymns TVC Worship has led over the years on our YouTube Channel!

Call To Worship: At The Cross

Most merciful God, thank You for sending to us Your Son, Jesus. We remember this day His redeeming death, that we might stand forgiven at the cross. Thank You for sending to us Your Son, Jesus, to whom we belong, in life and in death. He bore our infirmities and carried our sorrows. Most holy God, thank You for sending to us Your Son, Jesus, who became sin for us and suffered the punishment due to us, that we might stand forgiven at the cross. In the name of our Lord Jesus, amen.

Classic Prayer: George Matheson 1842-1906

Dear Lord, I thank Thee that Thy love constraineth me. I thank Thee that, in the great labyrinth of life, Thou waitest not for my consent to lead me. I thank Thee that Thou leadest me by a way which I know not, by a way which is above the level of my own poor understanding. I thank Thee that Thou art not repelled by my bitterness, that Thou art not turned aside by the heat of my spirit. There is no force in this universe so glorious as the force of Thy love; it compels me to come in. Amen.

Confession of Sin

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against You this day, in thought, word, and deed; by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole hearts; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of Your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us, that we may delight in Your will, and walk in Your ways, to the glory of Your Name. Grant to Your people pardon and peace, that in Your great mercy, we may be forgiven all our sins, and serve You with a quiet and contrite heart. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

TVC Prayer Ministry

TVC Ministry:  TVC Women’s Ministry led by Lynsey Auman
Vocation: Education
TVC Mission Highlight: Missionary Miles McKee
Local Church: Immanuel Nashville, T.J. Tims Lead Pastor
Praying for the Persecuted Church: Mexico

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