Committed to Community

What can you give to God to show Him gratitude? How do you say thankyou to Jesus Christ? Let’s look at how the first Christians expressed their gratefulness for God’s grace.

Acts 2:42–47 NIV84

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 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 favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

On the day of Pentecost we read that after Peter’s speaking to the crowd about 3,000 people were added to the church. We know that they were from many different countries. They also probably came from different social backgrounds. How did these assorted people come to be united into a community? It was more than just making a commitment to Christ.

There’s a difference between being committed and being devoted. When I signed the papers for the mortgage on our house I was committed – to paying a certain amount to the bank each month. I knew that I needed to do it, but that doesn’t mean I was happy about it. Being devoted, however, involves the heart as well as the head.

What they did

The early Christians devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching

What they had learned from the Lord Jesus himself, They wanted to know Him better so they could understand

The early Christians devoted themselves to the fellowship

The early Christian fellowship undoubtedly centered on intimate worship, sharing and learning the Scriptures. We later learn that this took place in the area of the Temple know as Solomon’s Portico. It was public.

Several preachers have told of a deaf member of a church and a rather typical-minded American churchman who asked, “Why do you come to church each Sunday when you cannot hear the service?” The humble man replied, “I come each week to let people know which side I am on.”

The early Christians devoted themselves to the breaking of bread

sharing a meal together, in their homes

The early Christians devoted themselves to prayer

Colossians 4:2 NIV84

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

The early Christians devoted themselves to having everything in common

The early Christians acknowledge that Jesus owns both them and their property

Acts 4:32 NIV84

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.

The early Christians devoted themselves to giving to anyone as needed

Acts 4:34–35 NIV84

There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.

How they did it

These were not things they did out of obligation, they weren’t guilted into acting this way, it wasn’t just something that was habit, and they weren’t trying to earn points with God. These were the actions of people devoted to God, seeking to show their gratitude for what Jesus had done for them and desiring to grow as His disciples. They wanted to be together, to share their lives as well as their possessions.

They realized that the best way to show devotion to God was to devote yourself to the community of God’s people. We show love for Jesus by loving one another, the Body of Christ.

With power

Apostles do many wonders and miraculous signs. Their devotion made them open to God working through them.

With glad and sincere hearts –

They experienced the joy of the Lord

With praising God

They expressed that joy outwardly in praise

The result

The Lord added to their number daily – God causes the church to grow, not our programs or efforts. He may use these, but it is His Spirit working through them.

The basis of this community was faith in Jesus Christ and devotion to Him as Savior and Lord. The apostles had learned these practices from Jesus, now they were passing them on to the new disciples.

It was formed through the working of the Holy Spirit.

It enabled them to not only survive persecution but continue growing.

A man asked his young son to break a bundle of sticks. He returned a little later to find the lad frustrated in the task. He had raised the bundle high and smashed it on his knee, but he only bruised his knee. He had set the bundle against a wall and stomped hard with his foot, but the bundle barely bent.

The father took the bundle from the child and untied it. Then he began to break the sticks easily—one at a time.

So it is with the church: united we are strong, divided we can fail or be broken.

Do we have the same depth of devotion as those first believers?