Monday, March 6, 2017

Missions in our Church



“They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to breaking of bread and to prayer.  Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders were being done by the apostles.  All the believers were together and had everything in common.  Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.  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, praising God and enjoying the favor of all people.  And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
Acts 2:42-47

You get the idea that this is a really close group of people, isn’t it.  They devoted themselves together to the teaching, fellowship, breaking bread and prayer.  They met together daily in the temple courts, they helped out anyone in their company that needed help, even selling things they owned to do so, they ate together and worshiped God together.  They loved each other.  And this is an example for us, God designed the church to be a group of people who love each other, just as they are loved by God.

You see, the early church was a place where people unselfishly cared for each other and worked to make a difference in the world.  And this passage tells us exactly what our local churches should look like.  So let’s reflect for a few minutes.  Does our congregation reflect what’s happening in this passage?  If this was God’s plan for the church, what should we be doing differently?  How can we better support each other?  Think about this, let’s start a conversation.

Something else to think about:  There seem to be two focuses in this passage.  They were focused on understanding God’s Word, and on fellowshipping together.  In the early church, people came together daily, and studied the apostles’ teachings. This was the normal life of a new believer. They grew in relationship with God, and they grew in relationship with each other. So as they grew closer to God, they grew closer together as a group. When churches focus on growing closer to Christ, it will help them build stronger bonds with each other.  

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