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.
– Acts 2:46-47
Dear HBIC Family,
The Book of Acts serves as the second half of Luke’s major work, chronicling the rise of the early Church. The first half, is the gospel according to Luke, where the author shares about the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah and God’s plan for salvation for all the world. Acts begins with Jesus’ ascension into heaven, Matthias being chosen to replace Judas, the Holy Spirit coming down at Pentecost to birth the Church, and then Peter’s famous sermon that added to their number and sent the church into the world. For most of us, that’s where we stop in Acts, or perhaps all that we can remember.
For others, it is the end of Acts 2 that marks the benchmark of the book. There are now Acts 2 networks, churches, and even denominations. Modern Christianity upholds what we see in Acts 2:42-47 as the Church in its most pure state. This is the Church that many have called us back to, sought to model, and still look to as how to follow God. Nevertheless, there is more to the story of the early Church than what we read in the first two chapters of Acts. There is much more to the Church than what we were in our birth and infancy. The question for us, over the next few months is simply, what do we learn from the early Church as seen in Acts that spurs us on today?
Years ago, I thought the best way to answer this question, was to help start a new church. I was disillusioned by “established” churches. I felt like we as the universal Church had lost our way. I increasingly felt as though our values had strayed from what God desires from us. As I reflect on that season, I am convinced that I was both right and wrong. Disillusionment is natural when you feel like the Church as a whole is not being who we are called to be. Nevertheless, no one person has a full grasp on the Church or on all that God is doing locally, and in the world. Furthermore, the Church locally and universally is not only a body, but a community and a family.
This week, we will begin a new series, working our way through the book of Acts. My hope is that through these stories, we learn about the early Church, and also ourselves. My prayer is that in these passages, we meet a God who meets people where they are, a God who calls people to working for the kingdom, which isn’t confined to early Christianity but stretches into our world today, and the future to come. To prepare for this week’s services, I would like to invite you to read and meditate on Acts 2, especially verses 42-47. As you reflect, I would like to ask you to focus on the following questions:
What does this passage say about God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)?
What does this passage say about followers of God?
How does this passage invite you to become more like Jesus?
What is one thing God is calling you to, from this passage?
One of the things that unites us to the early church and the universal church is communion. In this simple practice, we are being obedient to Christ’s command while remembering his sacrifice for us. We are invited to come before the Lord humbly, and I love that we as a church, a body, a family…do this altogether.
The Church that is born in Acts 2 is still alive today. It reminds us that we’re not meant to just dream of the ideal, but in our reality today, we are to work for “on earth as it is in heaven.” Sisters and brothers, we sit on the shoulders of titans of old from which we can learn what God wants from us today. Praise God for all these saints, for their lives and lessons, and for our God who worked in them, as God is working in us now!
God bless you all.
Love in Christ,
Pastor Hank (Acts 2:46-47)