so the question "what is the church supposed to be about" is a good one for us to discuss. if anything i think our church needs to be re.churched in a lot of ways. so with that said... here is the text i will be looking at. i'd love your thoughts as to what you see, what stands out, and to what hits you as you read this very early description of the church in its beginnings.
ACTS2v42-47 [NLT]42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper[a]), and to prayer. 43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity[b]—47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.
hope you have a great friday in the sun! and thanks for your thoughts!
grace and peace,
r
4 comments:
Thanks for sharing your blog with me, Rich! I'm looking forward to hearing you teach on Sunday. Here are questions that come to my mind when I read this passage in Acts (in no particular order):
What city were these believers in?
What were other models of fellowship or community in that time and place? What did this group look like to outsiders? What was their motivation for this way? Why did Luke choose to write this description? Who was he trying to reach, and why?
The word "devoted" jumps out. When I think of devoted, I think constant, whole-hearted effort... I always wondered what this actually looked like because it seems like everyone would have been close geographically (not a commuter church)and very much close with the details of each other's lives because of all the meeting/fellowship together, (almost not seeming to have day jobs). It's also quite challenging to think people sold property and possessions - not small items - to meet each other's needs. Not garage sales - selling the beach home. One person wasn't driving a BMW while another was a single mom who couldn't pay for gas to get to a job etc... Nitty Gritty obedience with joy. Are you going to have this sermon put online? It'd be great to hear it!
"fellowship" is what jumped out at me here. realizing that the "apostles' teaching" was listed first, it makes me think of following the way of love without all of the "should's". it felt like the gospel was being shared through an ease of simply being together...breaking bread, spending time, working alongside one another and then the miracles, signs and wonders came.
for me, i see the healing and "saving" coming through the relationship. sound familiar? :-)
peace.
thanks all! good stuff! i will post the link here on the blog as soon as i can. if you have more thoughts don't hesitate to send them my way!
thanks for being kind to not only read my blog, but actually comment on it too! you all are wonderful!
r
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