#4 | Take Time to Think
Read: Acts 2:1-47
Meditate on your own Acts 2:42-47:
- Which qualities of the first Christian community are you the most drawn to? Why is that?
- Which qualities are you the most surprised by? Why is that?
- What verse/phrase stands out to you?
- What does it seem to say about the first Christian community?
- What truth about God or mankind do you think you can draw from this?
- Where do you see other parts of the Bible saying the same thing?
- Why is this good news, both for you and for others?
- What does this reveal about your own heart? What do you need to repent of? What do you need to ask God for?
Consider
Church is hard. If you have been a Christian long, you have likely come to recognize this as a general truth. If you’re honest, sometimes church people are just hard to be around, especially people who aren’t like you or rub you the wrong way. You may know people in the church who lie and cheat to receive praise. Or maybe people who profess Christ then turn around and act like the world, sometimes even before they leave the sanctuary!
Perhaps you’ve seen the way the church has neglected certain people, maybe even yourself. By God’s grace, no temptation has overtaken the church except what is common to mankind. In many ways, the first church was no different than the church today. Acts 2:42-47 is a zoomed-out summary of the first explosive expansion of the church. Everything about it seems to ooze joy and life. It almost seems perfect!
However, you don’t have to read much farther into Acts for things to fall off the rails. In chapter 5, a couple is struck dead by God for lying to the congregation. In chapter 6, the neglect of Greek widows by the Jews almost splits the church. In chapter 8, a man is baptized, then tries to buy the power of the Holy Spirit from the apostles. If you read the rest of the New Testament, you’ll start to pick up that people in the church did not like each other. This necessitated the apostles spend a lot of time reminding them that they were a family in Christ, even the same body, and needed to love one another as such, even at cost to themselves. You’ll also pick up that the church started listening to people other than the apostles to learn truth. Thus, a considerable amount of time is spent addressing false teaching. It doesn’t matter if you live in the 1st century or the 21st century, church is hard. But Acts 2 is a window into what the church can be by God’s grace in the power of the Spirit: devoted to sound doctrine and prayer, full of tangible love for one another, seeing people come to trust in Christ as their Lord and Savior, and exuding joy and life.
How will you pray this week for you church to be more like this? What can you do to work towards your church becoming more like this?
Pray:
Use the acronym IOUS, turning the prayers of the Psalmist into your own.
Incline my heart to you and not to prideful gain or any false motive!
Psalm 119:36
Open my eyes to behold wonderous things out of your Word.
Psalm 119:18
Unite my heart to fear your name.
Psalm 86:11
Satisfy me with your steadfast love.
Psalm 90:14
