Church Unleashed: As Family – Acts 2:36-47 – Rev Andrew Fitzgerald

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“Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:46-47)

Families, including my own, all look different and none are perfect. This is no different of the Church Family, as we should expect in the broken world in which we live. But Acts 2 offers a really helpful template for what church family could or should look like:

1) They were a spiritually diverse group of people – There were some that walked and served with Jesus, as well as new believers convicted by the words of Peter and recently baptised.

2) They had everything in common – Perhaps we shouldn’t take this verse quite so literally but rather learn from Acts 4:32 which tells us, “All the believers were one in heart and mind.”

3) They were united – United in their effort to share everything they had and give to anyone who had need.

4) They were united in their devotion – Their devotion to the apostles’ teaching, their devotion to fellowship, their devotion to the breaking of bread and their devotion to prayer.

In this difficult time for us all and for the church at large, can we find a new devotion for the fellowship? Nicky Gumbel says, “Stop looking for a perfect church. It does not exist. Join an imperfect church and serve in every way you can to make it nearer perfection.” So how can you learn from the example of this early church in Acts, devote yourself to the church and give towards a better and healthier body? Can you devote yourself to the leadership of this church and our teaching? Can you devote yourself to the fellowship and the breaking of bread, even in your homes (when and if it is safe to do so of course)? Can you devote yourself to praying (either online or in person)? Can you give from what you have for the benefit and blessing of those in need? Because if we devote ourselves in this way, meet with glad and sincere hearts as we praise God, then perhaps The Lord will add new believers to our number as He did to the early church. And let’s pray that the Holy Spirit will do this work in us by His grace and mighty power to become a Spirit-filled community to the glory of God.