The First Church

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. And day by day, attending the 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 2:42-47 ESV).

 

According to some, the list of the “most famous churches in the world” is Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain; St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome, Italy; Notre Dame de Paris, Paris, France; Basilica of Bom Jesus, Goa, India; Westminster Abbey, London England; Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, Israel (pictured below); Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem; and, Las Lajas Sanctuary, Marino, Columbia. I’ve been to half of those, as well as hundreds of others in my travels. Some of them I merely visited, others I’ve preached in; some of them have been active, vibrant communities of faith; others were little more than museums of the past.

 

The key in our passage today is to focus on the community of faithful, rather than the building. Our reading also serves as a warning. When we recognize the distance between this picture of the early church and some of our own church practices today we ought to take great care to return to the practices of Acts. The encouragement comes when we understand that the church is still alive, thanks to the Holy Spirit.

 

The key element we see in this picture of the church is devotion. We see devotion toward God and toward building community, in following Jesus’ teaching and in calling on the Lord in prayer. This devotion is seen; it is visible. In the Old Testament, God called his people together to display his blessing and care to the nations (cf. Genesis 12:3; 28:14). This continues in the New Testament. Then and now, the church is to display God’s love and grace to a world that wonders who God is and what God is about. In Acts 2 we see a church that has open hands, hearts, and homes for others. Their praise to God and enjoyment of one another is contagious and ­attractive. I imagine it was also messy. Can you imagine going from 120 people in fellowship to more than 3,000 in one day? And then growing more and more as time went on? In the midst of the mess of being together, God keeps building his church, one life at a time. Be a part of that kind of making your church that kind of church more each day.