Being Church?
Stop.
What makes church church? What are the most essential elements for you? Take a minute to write them down. Consider this list and pause to thank God for these parts of a faith community that connect for you.
Listen.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. – Acts 2:42
Reflect.
Our current sermon series is called “Being Church”. In it, we’re looking at readings from the earliest years of the Christian faith to learn more about what it means to be a faith community and how we’re called to serve God and our neighbors faithfully. This week, our devotions will highlight a few elements of what a faith community is and what really makes us a church.
In the book of Acts, we get the earliest stories of the first Christians. They’re new at everything: how to worship, how to serve, how to live in community, how to give, and how to hold each other accountable. It’s a lot of work. But in Acts 2, we hear about the newest converts to the faith right after the Holy Spirit comes to the apostles. In 2:42, we hear the simplicity of what their conversion meant: learning, being together, sharing, and prayer.
While this isn’t everything a worshipping body can and should be, it’s a great start. First, it highlights that a life of faith is one of learning. No matter who we are, we can never assume that we know everything there is to know about God, faith, and scripture. In pointing to the apostles’ teaching, Acts shows us that believers knew they had a lot to learn. Frankly, the apostles did, too.
Acts also mentions fellowship. There’s something vital about being around other believers. While that’s hard to do these days, it’s no less important. Even when we must be physically distant, it’s important to reach out to someone to pray for you, keep you accountable, support you, and offer compassion. This goes into what Acts calls “the breaking of bread” – it’s important to be able to share what you have with each other. This doesn’t apply only to the sacrament of communion, but likely more explicitly to actually sharing food so everyone has enough. This is both service and simple kindness.
And finally, this passage mentions prayer. Prayer is central to a life of faith. Whether it’s on your own, with a small group, or in worship, prayer must form the cornerstone of anything we do as church. It is how we hear God’s will, how we connect with the needs of the world, and how we come before our God in humility and hope. You don’t need to do it perfectly, if such a possibility even exists. You just need to do it.
These simple things – learning, being together, sharing, and praying – give us the first, wide sketch of Christian life. It means as much today as it did then. We will always return to these hallmarks of being a faith community.
Pray.
Thank you, God, for calling us together as a Christian community. Help us to stay focused on those simple acts of learning, sharing, encouraging, and praying together. May all we do reflect our love for you, each other, and the world you have made. Amen.
Carry On.
Of the list here from Acts, what’s hardest for you to do? How can you grow in that area? What might that mean for your faith life and church engagement?