God’s Pattern For The Church

REFERENCE: Acts 2:42-47 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to breaking of bread, 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-- 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.

Observation: This is the clearest definition of what the church of Jesus Christ ought to look like. There has been so much discussion over the centuries trying to define the Church. For some, it has to be small, for others, the bigger the better. Some are only satisfied with a defined liturgy, others can not stand to have a service too pre-defined.

Here we see a pattern in the early church that does not tell us how to do church, but just what ought to be a part of our life together. We ought to study God’s Word, we ought to fellowship in the large group and in the small, eat together, take communion, see people healed, share with each other, worship well and impact the world around us positively. This passage suggests that if we do those things well, people will get saved and the church will grow. I think it is a great place to start--a good measuring stick.

Application/Confession: Of all these areas, the thing I hunger for more of the most is signs and wonders. It seems that the church in America today is not as spiritually powerful as it ought to be. I so desire to see God's power restored to His Church. 

PRAYER: Lord, we can not make signs and wonders happen--only You can do that. Please show us how we can see Your power demonstrated in our midst. We need it. The world needs to see it.