The Early Days of the Church - Acts 2:42-47

©March 9th, 2025 by Rev. Rick Goettsche SERIES: Acts

When I was a child, I always wanted a house that had pillars in front. In my mind, pillars were fancy, and they looked majestic, so I thought they looked cool. As I’ve gotten a little older, I still think pillars look cool, but I’ve also come to realize that they are an essential part of a structure that has an overhang of any size. I have what could be considered small pillars on my front porch now, not because they are cool-looking, but because without them, my front porch would fall down!

Today we are going to look at some of the pillars of the early church. These things were not there for show, but rather because they undergirded the church. While much has changed in the intervening 2,000 years, I would contend that the pillars that supported the church in the early days are required to support the church today as well. My hope is that we will not only understand these practices in the early church, but that we will see their importance today and work to implement them in our own context as well.

Pillar #1: Teaching

Our passage begins with a rapid-fire list of traits that were part of the early days of the church.

42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. 43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. (Acts 2:42-43, NLT)

The first essential pillar was that the early church was devoted to the apostles’ teaching. These believers needed to learn all that Jesus had said and done. They surely needed to work through the way they had understood much of the Old Testament. They needed a new lens through which to view the world. When someone becomes a new believer, they have to re-learn how to think and act in almost every sphere of life. That takes time, and solid teaching is essential. This was likely the kind of teaching the apostles were engaged in with this massive group of new believers.

This is one of the marks of a genuinely converted believer—an insatiable appetite to learn the things of God and to submit their lives to what He teaches. Sometimes people will make a declaration of faith because they think it will benefit them. They walk an aisle in hopes that God will make their lives easier, make them rich, heal them of some disease, or something else, but have no interest in actually following Jesus. But a true believer wants to follow the Lord and therefore will seek to learn all about Him.

Obviously, we do not have the apostles to instruct us today, so what would this pillar look like in the modern world? The answer is Bible study! The books of the New Testament were recognized based on several criteria. One of those was connection to an apostle or an apostle’s approval of the book or writer. As such, the Bible is the teaching of the apostles, and should be our source of truth and teaching today

As a church, we believe everything we do should be based on and focused on God’s Word. In many churches today, preaching, Sunday School classes, youth programs, and small groups are more focused on sharing an individual’s perspective or on having fun than they are on studying and applying God’s Word. We believe one of the essential duties of the church is to teach God’s Word, so that is our emphasis in each of these areas of ministry. A healthy church studies the Bible, both as a body and as individuals.

Pillar #2: Fellowship

The second pillar Luke mentioned was that the believers were devoted to fellowship. But he doesn’t really define that term in the opening verses. Fortunately, we get a bit more of a glimpse in the verses that follow.

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. (Acts 2:44-45, NLT)

The believers shared everything they had and some sold their property and possessions to share with those in need. This is the epitome of what fellowship means. It literally means sharing or holding in common.

Now, there is sometimes confusion over this passage (and others like it). Sometimes people read this and conclude that the early church practiced communism! I will admit to making such a connection earlier in my life. But let me explain why what happened in the early church is not communistic in nature.

The first big difference between communism and the early church is that communism removes the idea of individual ownership. Communists say everything should be collectively owned and distributed equally among the members. That wasn’t what was happening in the early church. Everyone maintained their ownership. The church didn’t take over everyone’s property or resources. Rather, people chose to share with others as they saw fit.

The second big difference is that where communism and socialism are compulsory, the sharing we see in Acts is voluntary. No one made anyone share what they had. Instead, their sharing was motivated by love and by seeing needs they could meet.

This is what biblical fellowship is all about—it is about sharing life, about taking an interest in others, and in being willing to make sacrifices for the good of those around us. When we recognize what we have received through Christ, we ought to become generous in our dealings with other people.

Sometimes we look at passages like this and say, the “rich people” in the church ought to share the wealth so we can all have the same things. But that’s not what this passage is talking about. It doesn’t say everyone had the same amount of money; it said that no one was in need. It’s talking about people who cared about each other, people who got to know each other, and then met each other’s needs when they arose. When someone you love has a need, you meet that need to the best of your ability. If we are reading this passage and thinking about what we should be receiving, then we’re missing the point entirely!

We live in a world that has become increasingly insular and self-focused. But the Christian faith calls us to take a different approach to the world. It calls us to see each other, to take an interest in one another, and to use our gifts, abilities, and resources to help each other out.

Too often, the term “fellowship” is thrown about very loosely in the church. Fellowship is not just about sharing a meal (though it may be about that), it’s about sharing life. We are designed to work together, to be devoted to one another, and to love one another the way Christ has loved us. The connection we have to each other is not based on shared interests, skillsets, or anything like that. It is based on the fact that we share the same Savior in common. He loves you, so I should too!

Pillar #3: Meals

Luke also records that the believers shared meals together, including the Lord’s Supper. Verse 46 says this in a slightly different way.

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 (Acts 2:46, NLT)

There is debate on whether the disciples were gathering in their homes for actual meals or whether it was primarily for the Lord’s Supper. Personally, I think it was for both. This teaches us a couple of different things.

First, there is a certain level of intimacy that comes from sharing a meal with someone in their home. When you invite someone into your home, you invite them into a part of your life you don’t share with everyone.

This is something I think is often lost in our society today. We can barely find time to share meals with our own family in our home, let alone doing so with other people! But we know sitting around a table with people binds us together in a unique way. In our world today, not having the distraction of phones, the TV, or other things is rare. Sitting around a table with nothing to do but eat and be face to face provides the necessary space for conversation and relationship to happen.

At first blush, it seems kind of strange that Luke would include sharing meals together as a pillar of the early church, but I think it was part of the key to their fellowship. It’s difficult to really care for a person, to really know them without taking time to be with them. When they shared meals together, they got to know each other, care for each other, and love one another. This practice opens doors for deep relationships to form.

The modern church tries to facilitate this with events, potlucks, and the like, but this should also be something we work at individually. I love that we’ve got a group of people who regularly get together for a meal after church. We could all regularly make plans to invite someone over for a meal. Invite people over to get to know them and learn their story. The more you know people, the more you’ll be able to love and appreciate them This builds relationships that are foundational to genuine growth in the church. The early church understood this simple but powerful truth.

The second reason they got together was to share the Lord’s Supper. It is interesting that they began to celebrate the Lord’s Supper together at this early stage, but it is not surprising. The point of the Lord’s Supper is to help us to rehearse the truth of the gospel. It brings us back to the essentials of the Christian faith and helps to ground us. This is why the Lord’s Supper is so important.

Some people point to this passage as evidence that Christians should celebrate the Lord’s Supper every time they gather. But Luke doesn’t say they celebrated it every time they got together, only that they celebrated it in each other’s homes.

While there is value in celebrating the Lord’s Supper every time we meet as a church, as a reminder that we need to come back to the cross, there is also a danger—namely that we can allow it to become a routine devoid of meaning. Different people may approach this in different ways—and as long as they are keeping the emphasis correct, I think whatever frequency they’ve decided on is probably ok.

The point, however, is that celebrating the Lord’s Supper is important, and celebrating it with other believers builds relationships too. The thing that binds us together is Christ, and taking the Lord’s Supper together reminds us of this fact each time we do it.

Pillar #4: Prayer

The last item in Luke’s list is prayer. The original language, however, says they devoted themselves to “the prayers.” I think this indicates some degree of structure to their praying and to their times together. There are many ritual prayers the Jews regularly prayed, and I suspect the early Christians continued saying those prayers. It’s possible that they regularly prayed the Lord’s prayer together. We may not know exactly how they prayed, but we do know they viewed praying together as an essential practice of the faith.

Regardless, we know the disciples spent time praying together. Again, there is a unique intimacy that comes from praying with other people. When we bare our hearts before them to the Lord and they do the same, we find a common bond that nothing in this world can match. But I think they spent time praying together because they also recognized their corporate need for the Lord’s help! They had a huge task ahead of them, and they needed the Lord to guide them, so they spent time praying together.

What did they pray about? I suspect they prayed about all sorts of things. They probably prayed for healing, as we still do today, but I imagine they asked for God to bring others to faith, to help them as they battled sin, to grant them understanding and wisdom, and to guide them as they tried to serve Him. These are all things that should regularly be a part of a healthy church.

Admittedly, this isn’t something we do particularly well as a church. We share prayer requests about people dealing with health struggles, and I know we regularly pray for these things in our worship services, our Sunday School classes, and our Bible studies. We pray before our meetings too. But I don’t think this is the same as what the early church was doing. As I read this, it doesn’t sound like one of the apostles stood up and prayed, but that the early believers spent time praying together. They shared their hearts and lifted the concerns they had together up with each other. I believe there is great power in this kind of small group prayer. I think it is something we could do much better in our own church as well. The early church understood their need for God’s help, so they regularly met together and asked for it!

Pillar #5: Evangelism

The fifth pillar doesn’t appear in Luke’s list at the beginning of the passage, but I think it’s implied at the end of the passage.

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. (Luke 2:47, NLT)

Each day, the church was seeing new people being saved. It’s possible that people were just hearing about what was going on and decided to believe, but the more likely explanation is that these believers were talking to their friends, family, and neighbors about what they were learning and inviting others to trust in Christ as well. I imagine this outreach emphasis had to be a core aspect of the disciples’ teaching since Jesus had told them to be His witnesses everywhere.

A healthy church is always looking for ways to share the message of the gospel with people around them. Churches can sometimes grow through other means, but generally speaking, people end up coming to church because they were invited by a friend. Statistics show that most people believe in Christ because a friend told them about their faith. The reason the church was growing daily was because the people were telling others about Jesus! But notice who they gave the credit to—Luke said God was adding people to their fellowship. The believers may have been sharing the gospel, but they recognized only God can change hearts.

One of the things that helped to make their evangelism effective though, was the witness of their lives. The people saw a difference in these new believers. They saw the love that came from their dedication to Christ. They saw people’s lives being changed, needs being met, and the joy that was present in the lives of these believers. This lent credibility to the message they proclaimed and made the gospel intriguing and attractive to the watching world.

Sadly, I think the world today does not think of love when they think of the church. And I think we have lost much of our distinctiveness as well. The way we live often does not stand out from the world. Our language, our commitments, and our actions are very similar to those outside the church. Many today have little interest in the gospel because they don’t see that it makes a difference. Our lives should be transformed by Christ such that others can see something is different about us. When they see a difference, they’re much more willing to hear what is behind it.

Conclusion

These are 5 of the pillars of the Christian Church. These are not the only things that are important, but each was an essential part of the early church. While our context is a bit different, these practices should still be part of the modern church in some way, shape, or form. But let’s draw some concluding lessons from this passage.

First, the Christian life is a team sport. The Bible consistently teaches us that God has designed us to need each other. While we must each take responsibility for our own faith and walk with God, we will find greater strength and growth if we will do it together! When we are not part of a church, when we absent ourselves from the body, or when we come to church but don’t make the effort to build real Christian relationships, we’re missing out on a huge piece of what God intended for us. We will find much greater strength, encouragement, accountability, and growth when we do it together.

Second, the church is about serving, not just being served. Sometimes we take a selfish approach to the church—looking for how it can meet our needs. But God calls us to look around and see how we can meet the needs of others. Fellowship is about sharing with others. That means we need to work at seeing the needs of the people around us and doing what we can to meet them. Look for practical ways to alleviate the burdens others are carrying. Look for those who are going through difficult times and come alongside them. This is what the church is supposed to do. The more we look for ways to serve others, the more we get to experience the joy of service and the lessons He teaches us as we serve.

Finally, love should undergird everything we do. Jesus said the mark of His disciples to the watching world would be their love for each other. Some people will be easier to love than others. There will always be friction in the church as sinful people brush up against each other (this happened in the early church too), but the love of Christ commits us to each other in a way nothing else does. We should look for the good in each other and seek to build each other up, rather than tearing each other down. It’s not going to be easy, but it will be worthwhile. And when we love in this way, we model Christ’s love for us—and we show the world the difference He makes. When we work to make love the center of our fellowship, we give credibility to the gospel—and when that happens, there’s no telling how the Lord may grow our fellowship too.

©March 9th, 2025 by Rev. Rick Goettsche SERIES: Acts