Much of society has a bad taste for institutions and structures, but remain extremely hungry for real community and thirsty for spiritual connection, meaning, and purpose.
This past Sunday, I preached out of Acts 2:42 - 47. Take some time this week to read the passage again, alone or with your family, and ask yourself the following questions:
Do any words or phrases stand out?
Where do you see yourself in the passage? What do you see about God in the passage?
What thoughts or emotions are evoked while reading this passage?
Does this reflect our experience of church today? Why or why not?
Was this just during birth of the church or should this still be characteristic of church today?
Check out this Coke ad. I think it conveys a similar synergy that we read of in Acts. It speaks to our need for connection and expresses the longing for the kind of community we read of in Acts. But what really defines community? In the ad, it’s the sharing of a Coke. In Acts, we see community formed through consistent rhythms of worshiping, learning, praying and sharing meals together. We also see their commitment to one another through their practice of hospitality, and sacrificial giving to care for one another, flowing out of their love for Jesus and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.
It is possible to be committed to keeping an organization running, without being committed to one another. The church is the people, not the building. Structures are necessary, but secondary to help facilitate the ministry.
Much of society today has a bad taste for institution and structures but remain extremely hungry for real community and thirsty for spiritual connection, meaning, and purpose.
They are hungry for what God intended to offer through the church. Verse 47 says they had favor with all of the people, and the Lord added to their numbers daily those who were being saved. God’s power is being poured out in proportion to their unity and partnership. What we see here is the public proclamation of the gospel backed up by the public demonstration of the kingdom through their shared life, and presumably the opportunities their life together created for personal witness. People were being saved daily as they saw God’s church operating in a healthy way.
Let’s strive, in the Spirit’s power to be a church that lives God’s will on earth as it is in heaven.