More thoughts from the church

As we have been digging into Acts 2:42-47 this past week, we have seen a good model of what the Church should look like.  People encouraged one another, opened their homes, sold possessions to give to another member, broke bread, had a ton of fellowship, and prayed.  1 Corinthians 12:12-25 shows that the Church is made up of many members and that those members are one body (the Church)!  Each member has a role and has a purpose to be used by God.  One of these members that we would like to expound on is someone that I have become friends with over this past year.  This particular individual has been completely redeemed by Christ and is constantly being transformed in his faith.  This persons name is Josh Sarahan and he has been living out a strong mission for the past 4 months.  This mission has been a calling to walk a cross over 2400 miles!!!  Yikes…does that sound extreme?  You bet it is, but because God pressed it so hard on Josh for this mission, he was faithful and available to do this work.  There have been so many people that have wanted to know his story (believers and non-believers) and the name of Christ has been seen because of this.  As we look at the Church and see our self as a member, God desires to see us faithful to His call no matter what it is.  When we do this, we experience the full gift of what God has to offer…His Church!!

lessons from the early church

In Acts chapter 2 we find one the greatest descriptions of the early church given in the New Testament. Luke wrote, “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teachings and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42). He later goes to say, “And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as everyone might have need” (Acts 2:44-45). As I have been praying and thinking about what it looks like to be the church, I’ve noticed a few characteristics of this early church.

1)     1) They were devoted to the Scriptures. They learned from the apostles’ teachings and let it shape their lives.

2)     2)  They were devoted to each other. Church was not a place to attend; it was a group of people among whom to belong.

3)     3) They were devoted to eating together. This is simple sign of sharing life and community.

4)     4) They were devoted to prayer. This recognized God as God as they sought His will and provision as well as His praise.

5)     5)  They sold their possessions to meet the needs of their own. The needs of the body were always met.

This is just a short list, but I wonder what would happen if we devoted ourselves to these things. Notice that the action in verse 42 begins with “continually.” This was not something they did at a gathering once a week; it was a way of life. What was the result of this? Verse 47 tells us that “the Lord added to their number daily.” The result of this kind of deep, Bible centered, people valuing community was that people were saved! So the question for us, church, is do we look like this?

For His glory and our joy,

NR

Patterns

If you missed this last Saturday, you missed what is quietly becoming one of our favorite gathering environments.  It’s a time where families worship, look at God’s word, celebrate communion, and simply belong…together.  In fact, now that I am in my Monday morning reflection mood, the night itself lined up with the topic we spoke about.  We looked together at:

 “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me,

in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”

2 Timothy 1:14 

We all know and agree that there are patterns that enslave us, and there are patterns that set us free.  As we look at our own lives, we would be fools to be living in results that are not fruitful, without looking back at the patterns that have gotten us here. 

There was a critical point in the night where we presented to all families present a pattern within our ministry that has been causing a check in our spirit.  For years, we have become a church that has grown accustomed to worship with families silo-d between multiple buildings.  While there is much benefit in getting with your peers to seek God with specific application, there is also some fallout to this pattern.  It has become a common thing for students to feel completely disconnected from the church body, at times even saying: “I don’t belong to that Church”.  This is painfully revealing of many of our students ecclesiology (understanding and philosophy of the church). 

We want to address this pattern first hand with an experiment. For 12 weeks, throughout the course of the summer, we are going to adjust our worship pattern by joining as families (grades 7^th through adult) to worship as one. We are pursuing this very humbly, carefully, and above all…prayerfully.  We are also doing it with a big safety net, sensing the support and backing of our pastors and elders.  We don’t know where this will take us, except to our knees where we will be seeking God together.  At the end of the 12 weeks, we will gather together to seek what the Lord has taught us, and where the Lord will take us. 

We hope you will prayerfully join us in this journey!

~Deep thoughts by a shallow guy~

mn