Give

Lead Where You Are – Day 3 of 7

by | Jan 3, 2018 | Bible Reading Plan

Acts 2:42-47

42 They spent their time learning from the apostles, and they were like family to each other. They also broke bread and prayed together. 43 Everyone was amazed by the many miracles and wonders that the apostles worked. 44 All the Lord’s followers often met together, and they shared everything they had.45 They would sell their property and possessions and give the money to whoever was in need. 46 Day after day they met together in the temple. They broke bread together in different homes and shared their food happily and freely, 47 while praising God. Everyone liked them, and each day the Lord added to their group others who were being saved.

PRAY: Father, your Son Jesus offered a prayer to you on behalf of his followers, praying that we would all be one even as you and he are One. Please bring your church into complete unity as you desire and help me to not only live out my faith but to do so together with the family of God, this glorious community.

One of the greatest challenges of church leadership and pastoring is measuring spiritual growth and vitality in our own lives and in the lives of those we seek to disciple and equip. How do we know we are actually growing spiritually and helping others to grow? What are the signs?

In order to grow spiritually as leaders and as followers of Christ, we need an effective context for that growth, namely – authentic community. Among the key elements of the Early Church God has set before us in Acts 2 is this sense of strong relationship, or in other words, fellowship or authentic community. Acts 2:42-47 is a model of a healthy and authentic faith community; a context in which people of faith not only grow, but grow together.

Vitality oozes out of the paragraph (above) from Acts 2. One way to observe it is just to consider the verbs: _“learning”_ …_“broke bread … together”_… _“prayed together”_ … _“met together”_…_“shared everything they had”…“give … to whoever needed it”…“shared their food”…“praising God”…“being saved”…_

Do you know what that sounds like? Life, real life together, that’s what. A vitalized community of people full of God’s grace, Spirit and of good works. But, these all depict the gifts, graces and practices that poured FROM this vital congregation of Christ-followers. What was it that was first poured into them that helped to foster this strong community of faith? Here it is:

“They spent their time learning from the apostles …” (v. 42). The first characteristic Luke (the writer of Acts) cites is this. The primary practice of this vital Church of Acts 2 was spending time in and around the Word of God. Their practice was engaging God’s Word and its result was a sense of authentic community and connection. The people’s devotion to learning from the apostles drew them together in powerful and authentic unity; better said –community.

Of course, at the time of Acts 2, there was no formal New Testament as we know it today. The words of Christ were communicated by the apostles who had learned under his teaching and example. So, the Christ-followers drew upon the Word of God by devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching. This practice was the foundation of an exciting and compelling community experience that resulted in spiritual fruit and harvest: “each day the Lord added to their group others who were being saved” (v. 47b).