A Manifesto for Living

When people talk about “returning to the Early Church”, these are the five verses that they are talking about.

Idealistic, utopian, and as we read through the rest of the New Testament, we can see that those ideals were often marred by the reality of Chruch life, but still, there is something essential here that we can learn from.

Our life as normal came to an abrupt halt 6 weeks ago. Like it or not, something new has begun.

How are we going to live our lives in the “New Normal”?

Luke tells us that the new-born church devoted themselves to four things:

The Apostles’ teaching

Fellowship

The breaking of bread

Prayer

Those four principles provide us with a blueprint, a template, a manifesto for living that applies just as much to our lives now as it did for those first followers of Jesus.

Apostles teaching

Jesus at the centre

A new start - reconciliation and forgiveness

A new community of God’s household

extending the kingdom of redemption through acts of sharing and love.

What aspect of the Apostles’ teaching is most significant to us now?

Greek word repeated here, but translated in two different ways koinos - fellowship and all things in common.

Togetherness.

Fellowship/Koinonia -> Breaking of Bread

Where does it come from - the breaking of bread

Something that Jesus did

Somethings that Jesus called for us to do.

The foundation of the new normal for those early disciples.

Basic need, but also intimate.

I believe that table fellowship - sharing our lives around the table will be one of the firm foundations of our life as teh comminty of Christ in the days ahead.

Will look different in different situatiions, all stems from the sharing of Jesus around the kitchen table of God’s family. And we’re all invited.

Speaks right to the heart of our vision statement as a Church: “

Living and sharing God’s love - that’s exactly what those disciples were doing as they broke bread together in one another’s homes. That’s exactly what they were doing when they were living in fellowship, sharing all things in common.

Our lives may not look very much like the lives of those early disciples, but Jesus calls us still into fellowship, into sharing our lives and his love in common.

What is one way that you can share your life and God’s love with someone this week?

What is God up to? Prayer

IT’s all too easy for us to focus on what we have to do in times like these. We’re isolated, we’re facing a unique set of challenges. Everyone’s experience of lockdown is different, but for many of us this has been a time when we’ve had to learn whole new ways of living our lives.

It can be exhausting.

In the midst of that, to think about how we can build a new normal out of the building blocks of our lives and God’s kingdom can be totally overwhelming.

It’s all too much!

So, as we finish today, I want to remind you that we are not in this on our own. This is not our kingdom, but God’s. And so that last element of the early church is so, so vital. We are invited into a lifestyle of prayer. Pray without ceasing. If necesasry, use words!

And remember, when we don’t know what to pray, the Holy Spirit steps in beside us, putting out innermost being in direct communion with God, having all things in common with him.

It is through prayer that we draw near to the heart of God. In doing so we receive not only comfort, but also purpose.

We are nto in this on our own. Let us draw near to God and invite Him once more into our lives and we take our first steps in renewed reality.

Amen.