How the Church Works

Acts 2:42-47

I have always found this passage intimidating.  My Christian life doesn't look like this. I don't share everything in common with other believers. And I don't see people coming to Christ in huge numbers.....daily.

I tell myself that, well, it's okay, because that was the experience of the early Church. We can't expect things to be like that in 2020.

Perhaps not. Yes, Acts is a history book - the writer, St. Luke, is telling us what happened in those early days. It's not necessarily prescriptive. But there are definitely things we can learn from these brand new believers.

Fellowship was critical to their growth as a brand new church. They broke bread together DAILY.  They worshiped together DAILY. They saw amazing miracles DAILY. They shared ALL of their possessions.

Is worship an important part of your week? What about fellowship with other believers? Are you experiencing what it is like to share prayer requests, to pray for others, to read God's word together?  I would encourage you that if you are not, that you not delay - go to ualc.org/smallgroups and check out the small group information.  Once you experience small groups, you will never go back.

And take heart that when the first Christians broke bread together, they did so with "glad and sincere hearts" (v. 46). This is not a burdensome task. God will bless you when you make worship, fellowship, and prayer a priority.

Thank you, Lord, for the church, imperfect as it is - that's because it's filled with sinners just like me. Thank you that you long to bless me, and that as I experience your grace and truth, I will be a blessing to others.

ACT.2.42-47 NIV

What’s on Your Checklist?

Acts 8:26-40

(Use the link below to read the verses.)
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+8%3A26-40&version=NIV;MSG

 

 

There are a few small advantages to being slightly OCD. For instance, every morning before going to work, I go through a checklist. Wallet? Got it! Phone? Got it! Nook? Got it! Keys? Got it!

 

Each of these items are very important for my day, but none more important than my keys. That’s why when I get to work, before locking my car door, I do an abbreviated checklist. Keys? Got it! Then I know that I can get back into my car at the end of the day, as well as get into the office. Like I said, a few small advantages.

 

Keys are important. They unlock many things in our lives. The Word of God is key in unlocking hearts and opening people to God’s Spirit. Nobody knew that better than Phillip.

 

The setting of Acts 8 was a chaotic time of persecution for the followers of Christ. But little did Saul realize that he was actually playing right into God’s plan of redemption to take the Gospel to “Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth”.

 

And Saul just went wild, devastating the church, entering house after house after

house, dragging men and women off to jail. Forced to leave home base, the followers of Jesus all became missionaries. Wherever they were scattered, they preached the Message about Jesus. Going down to a Samaritan city, Philip proclaimed the Message of the Messiah.            Acts 8:3-5 MSG

 

Phillip went from one outcast people group (the Samaritans) to another (an Ethiopian gentile) sharing the Word to the “ends of the earth”.

 

Billy Graham in his sermons, was well known for the phrase, “the Bible says”. For him, the Word of God was the key to open the hearts of people searching for purpose in their lives. Not a magical key, like Simon the sorcerer was looking for, but a key that was “alive and active; sharper than any double edged sword”.

 

Maybe I should change my morning checklist. Wallet? Got it! Phone? Got it! Nook? Got it! Keys? Got it! Word of God? Got it!

 

What’s on your checklist?

 

 

 

 

 

Ham & eggs

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.... And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” Acts 2:42, 47

I’ve heard it quipped that the difference between “involved” and “committed” is seen in the ham & eggs breakfast: the chicken is involved ... but the pig is committed!

The early church flew past “involved” as though it were standing still. These people were committed; they were devoted. And what they modeled for us in their devotion was alignment with each other and with their God.

For by adhering to the apostles’ teaching, the earliest believers subjected their thoughts to God's truth. (Paul’s resolve in 2 Corinthians 10:5 comes to mind: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”) Committing themselves to each other in fellowship, they lived and acted together as one, loving their neighbor as themselves. Steadfast in partaking of the bread and the wine, they participated in the body and blood of Christ who had become life for them and in them – “Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).” And persevering in prayer, they spoke openly and freely with the God who loved and redeemed them.

In short, these men and women were devoted to all the right things and aligned in all the right ways. And what came of it? Much! For “everyone was filled with awe” ... there were “many wonders and miraculous signs” ... the believers “[enjoyed] the favor of all the people” ... and “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

And all of this was answered prayer. For on the night in which he was betrayed, and knowing the brutality that lay immediately before him, Jesus yet took time to ask his Father this for all who would believe in him: “that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me (John 17:22-23).”

We are called to align what we do with who we are. We who place our trust in Christ Jesus have been made one with him and with each other through him. And so we subject our lives to his life, our will to his will. And he will do the rest.

Alignment is a daily thing. And as for the level of commitment, the early church set the standard for us: “devoted” ... or “whole hog,” we might say. (Let’s leave “involved” for the chickens.)