Sunday, February 17, 2019

Together: Acts 2


Our congregation has been spending some time in the book of Acts recently, looking at the early church and applying it to our church today.

Acts 2:42-47 has always been a powerful example of what it means to be the church. It is a simple formula, really. The Word, fellowship, bread and wine, prayer.

In other words, they did life together.


"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need." Acts 2: 42-45

The Christian life is not meant to be solitary. We are not meant to live as Lone Rangers. We come together. Worship together. Pray together. Sing together. Eat together. We hear the word together. We confess together. We receive forgiveness of sins together. We praise God together. We take care of each other.

And that, in a nutshell, is church.


Today, our pastor told the story of speaking with a visiting nurse this week, who said that she hasn't been to church in a long time because church can seem so judgmental.

Yes, church can be that way. The Word convicts us, because we are sinners. But we can look to the cross to remember that Christ died for our sins, and for our neighbor's sins, too.

As the popular saying goes, the church isn't a hotel for saints, it is a hospital for sinners. We go to church for the healing that comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

"And day by day, attending temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." Acts 2:46-47

I love these words because they remind us of one important fact. It isn't the pastor that grows the church with his dynamic sermons. It isn't the youth program with their sports leagues and their pizza parties. It isn't the women's group with that popular speaker and author.

None of those things grow the church.

The Lord grows the church. Period.

What can we do? We can receive God's blessings with glad and generous hearts. We can praise God at every opportunity. We can go to worship and open our homes to others. We can bear witness to the amazing things that God has done for us.

Together. What a beautiful place that is!

{Today's Brew: Concord and 9th Perfectly Penned stamp set,  PTI die cut, MFT stencil, PTI inks}

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