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

Ministering in Weakness

***NOTE: This comes from a series I've started on my blog (abidingtruths.blogspot.com) on Jesus's conversation with the woman at the well in John 4.


Continuing in our look at John 4, let's take a look at verse 6. It reads, "So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour." Jesus was wiped from a day of traveling in the hot, Palestinian sun. It is around noon, the hottest part of the day, and Jesus does something remarkable for the GodMan: He takes a break. He stops to rest. This should be a message to us in and of itself. Jesus got tired and needed rest.

However, it should also be noted that Jesus was in this exhausted state when the woman came to Him. We don't see Jesus tell her to come back another time. He does not refer her to one of His disciples. He ministers to her. But, it's a simple kind of ministry. He sits and talks to her about her life. And this doesn't appear to drain Him. Why? I think Jesus explains in verse 34 when He says, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work."

How is it that Jesus was able to continue ministering in His weakness? I suggest that we can learn a few things. First, Jesus allowed ministry to feed Him. I think all too often we find ourselves dividing the ways we serve others and the ways we are served. I think we create too much distance between ourselves and the once we are ministering to, so that we can never be fed from the experience. Ministry should happen in authentic community that feeds us all well.

Second, Jesus understood that it was the Father's work, not His. I often feel the weight that a person's soul rests on my words or actions. Actually, everyone's souls are in God's hands. We are merely able to "participate in the gospel" (Philippians 1).

Ministry is not some job that we are tasked with that weighs us down and must be abandoned in our moments of weakness. It is also not only for "vocational ministers." It is a way of life for all believers in Biblical community that sustains us as we live in the will of the Father.

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

What does it mean to be a disciple?

What does it truly mean to be a disciple?  It has taken me a lot of my spiritual journey to form a proper perspective of this question.  We have been studying the reason to initiate and multiply, pray about discipleship, the cost that comes with being a follower, and why we need to being sent out.  Jesus invited His chosen 12 to walk with Him daily, to see Him pray, evangelize, teach truth, and most of all, to see how to go out and show others how to do it.  I find in my own life it is so easy to just set the cruise control and coast…but we see that we must start taking the truths that have been instilled into us and begin to reproduce and inject it into those around us.  Luke 6:1-9 shows the disciples being “sent” by Christ for the purpose of His ministry.  I am challenged everyday by the truths of the Word to go out and truly be a “SENT” disciple and seek out where I can participate in the work of His Kingdom.  I encourage you to do the same!

Everything Disciple

What does it look like for us to follow Christ, to be His disciples, in the everyday every part of our lives? That's what we have been trying to assess through Luke over this last month and really over the last year as we have pursued teaching our students how to live intentionally with initiative in all seasons and circumstances. Since being here, I have seen my life changed through this vision, which is really just what Scripture teaches us is the Truth. It's been such a dream to watch & grow alongside my team, our leaders and our students throughout this entire year... but really the conclusion that I have come to in all of it: He defines my existence, significance, purpose, ministry, plans and anything else in between.

With no real knowledge or direction of what is next in my life, I have found great courage in the comman of Scripture to be faithful. Making all the plans in the world can be good, and I believe it's biblical, but truly the heart of surrender behind those plans is of the importance to God. Next year is not promised, nor is tomorrow; so we have to be willing as seekers of Christ, those desiring to be conformed to His image, to lay our lives before Him... everything.

Your time, your job, your family, your friend, your next big change, your ministry, the blessings, the hardships, the struggles, NONE of it defines you or holds more importance than Christ Himself. Our work as His followers is to be faithful with that which is set before us, which includes the entire above list, but it is secondary to our love relationship with Jesus Himself. He may come back tomorrow or you may die next week, and with that reality before us, we should take great comfort in His plan and not our own.

May you recognize He is enough; He is everything so that you are able to follow Him in the everyday, every part of your life... cultivating faithfulness as a disciple of Christ.

Trust in the Lord, do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Psalm 37:3.

-ew 

Assessing Discipleship

We have been studying Discipleship in Luke. The question of “what counts as discipleship” has risen. Does it have to be 1 on 1, or can it in a large group? When we have critical questions like this, it’s critical for us to look at Jesus’ strategy of reproducing Himself. We know that Discipleship is the end goal, yet even in his final commissioning we see him encouraging his men to achieve it by “baptizing and teaching” (Matthew 28). Both of these are activities associated within the body of Christ as a part of the Church. They are public affairs rather than private coffee shop dates. That said, it is clear that Jesus’ focus is to get close to a few. While we know that at times he had as many as 500 following him, the intentional investment ministry took place with only a few. Even in his “elite” group of 12, there were 3 that got more specified, set apart time. Our conclusion: Discipleship could easily be associated with our process of spiritual growth (Discipleship). This happens in multiple ways and in multiple facets. We should follow Jesus’ initiative though by getting close to a few, investing them in such a way that as the word says: “the disciple will become like his teacher” (Matthew 10:25).

Amen?

~Deep thoughts by a shallow guy~
mn

Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the Ends of the Earth

Every year, spring break seems to be a mile marker for the year. It also gives a deeper perspective of the great work of our Creator. Sometimes, the NWA lifestyle seems to suck everyone into its world and what we experience of our worship of God seems to be wrapped up into the standard NWA lifestyle. The reason that Spring Break Missions is a key mile marker for myself is because it allows me to leave my everyday life as I know it and see another culture. The God that I love and serve here is also the same God over the hurting urban communities of Memphis, or free-minded people of Portland, and even over the povished people of La Limonada, Guatemala. Acts 1:8 says “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." This passage is a great reminder that we are to be a witness…a Christ follower…to our Jerusalem (NWA)…Judea (Memphis)…Samaria (Portland)…and to the ends of the earth (Guatemala). I so many times feel like a short term mission trip is needed to keep me reminded of the work that still needs to be done here in NWA. My question to myself since I have been back is, “Am I looking EVERYDAY at opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the people around me?” I wonder how many times throughout the day that I am faced with a person to reach out to, but because of my business, lack of confidence, or just laziness, I choose to pass on by. I am reminded by this passage in Acts that I am commanded to be a committed Christ follower in all ways so that His name would be known. Will you join in this truth?

Saved by His grace,
Jarrett