A New and Growing Church

 All scripture is from the New Living Translation.

Acts of the Apostles 2:42 - 'All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.’

In this passage of scripture, we find ourselves at what is technically the beginning of church, the body of Christ.  Now, it was not anything like we know it to be now, not having buildings called churches.  There were temples that the Jews met in, but they were not used by the body of Christ, as far as we know. They met in the members’ houses.

At this point in time, new believers in Jesus were not even called Christians yet. In fact, the majority of the first believers in Jesus were Jews.

The service was brand new.  It no doubt had occurred to them at some point, “Hey, we’ve never done church like this before!” And you know what?  They hadn’t done church like this before.  If they had ever been to synagogue before, they were used to something completely different.  Before Jesus was crucified, died and arose again, the way “services” were held in the synagogue was likely very much the same for hundreds of years.  So, the new believers had to learn everything from the apostles as they went along guided by the Holy Spirit.

In this passage of scripture, I think we can see outlined for us four things that they did to grow and be a healthy, vital church.  I also think that they also apply to the body of Christ today.

Notice that it pointed out that they devoted (continued steadfastly in) these four things.  The dictionary defines devoted as: zealous or ardent in attachment, loyalty, or affection.

 Devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teachings.

New believers in Christ Jesus did not have the Bible to read as we know it now. So, people had to rely on the teaching of the Apostles as the Holy Spirit guided them on what to teach. 

They did have the Old Testament, so the Torah and the other books were available to read.  We don’t know how many people those days were literate and could read and write.  I don’t think it would be unrealistic to assume that there were many who could not.  So, most scripture was learned by hearing it repeated until it was memorized.

In this new “Way” as it was called, living their lives to serve Jesus was something that most knew very little about. They had to have uniformity of belief concerning the things of God through Jesus, and that’s what they had.

Just as in those days, we need to be devoted to the study of God’s Word as well.  Why? For one thing, its teachings help our faith grow.  In Romans 10:17 it says, 'So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ. ' In other versions it says “and hearing through the word of Christ.” The more we hear the Word of God and apply it to our lives, the more our faith is increased.  Along with that, our knowledge of the Bible increases.  Growing in our knowledge is a very important part of the Christian life.

2 Peter 3:18 '… you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.'

It is plain to see from this passage that it is something that God wants us to do.

Peter also tells us in 2 Peter 1:3 - 'By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. '

We have come to receive all the things we need for living a godly life, but it is through our “KNOWING” Him that we do so.  This is an interesting issue, considering so few people who claim to be Christians do not put the time into reading and studying their Bible, spending time in prayer and being disciplined in devoting ourselves to the instructions of our Bible teachers.

 Knowing and studying the scripture is such an important part of our growth in Christ.  2 Timothy 3:16-17 helps us to understand the importance of reading and studying scripture.  It says: 'All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.' 

There is so much more for us in creating the discipline of studying the Bible than we can ever imagine.  It is something that we come to know by doing it.

Colossians 3:16 says, 'Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. '

The interesting thing in this passage is the word “Let.”  Let implies that we must ALLOW something to take place. Consequently, let also implies that we can NOT allow something to happen.  Ask yourself, what do you think is what Satan wants us to do and what do you think God wants us to do?’ It’s up to us to choose.

 Devoted themselves to fellowship.

The second thing the new church devoted themselves to was fellowship.  Now, if you are someone like me who is a bit of an introvert, there is something kind of scary about this. We may even have a hard time believing it is a necessary part of being a growing Christian.  But one thing we have to pray for God’s help with wrapping our minds around, is needing to be with fellow believers.

Fellowship is often thought of these days as simply talking with one another, whether over a meal, coffee or whatever.  We often feel that we’ve had fellowship with one another if we have participated in those activities. That is a very small part of what true Biblical fellowship actually is.  It is so much more.

The Greek word that is translated fellowship here means, “sharing in the lives of other believers.”   Uh oh.  That sounds serious and WAY more personal than I ever want to get with someone.  However, truly sharing in the lives of other believers takes a lot of commitment and devotion AND it can truly get messy at times.

You see, coming along side a weaker brother or sister in the faith, may require us to get into the muck and the mire of their lives to help them.  1 Thessalonians 5:14b says …Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.

Galatians 6:2 tells us to Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Do you mean that, to “bear one another’s burdens,” I have to go into the icky parts of people’s lives!?!?  Yes, sometimes God does ask us to do such things, because there’s no one else to love on that particular person.  Sometimes, we have to have the strength to turn away when God requires us to as well.  That is why it’s so important for us to constantly be seeking God’s direction about such matters and not simply fall back on the old “pharisaical” dogma that we’ve been taught our whole church lives.

You see, to act out of love toward one another the way God expects us to requires us to love people anyway.

First John 4:7-11 tells us 'Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. '

You say, “yeah, but that’s awfully hard to do that for someone in a mess.”  OK, but let’s look at one more passage.  1 John 5:5 - 'And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.' If God is for us, who can be against us?

Devoted to sharing of meals.

While this is listed as a separate item of what we are discussing here, sharing a meal really is a part of fellowship, at least in my opinion.  There is something about fellowshipping around a meal that creates a much deeper sense of belonging than just drinking coffee.  Ideally, as the meals are enjoyed together, the walls that we hold up tend to come down; and there is a sense of ease involved.  I realize that’s not always the case, but if we are experiencing true Biblical fellowship, we are able to experience a spiritual intimacy that isn’t experienced around any other activity.  I believe that’s why the sharing of meals is such an important thing for churches to do.

 

Devoted themselves to prayer.

The Bible says so much about the importance of prayer.  We often focus our mindset on just individual prayer, but there’s much to say about corporate prayer.

Jesus said in Matthew 18:19-20 ' - “I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.”

There is power when a body of believers gets together simply to pray.  It seems that largely, this is something few churches in America do much anymore — especially on a regular basis.  I can’t help but wonder if believers truly understand what they are failing to do.  Truly, personal prayer in important, but a praying body of believers who are of the same mindset and desiring the things God desires, is a force to be reckoned with.  I cannot help but also wonder if the lack of desire of churches coming together to pray is something the devil has done to keep us from realize the moving of God this type of prayer can create. 

Out of all the things we “ought” to do, let us strive as churches and individuals to gather again on a routine basis and lift up prayers to the Lord God.