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.
A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 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— 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. Acts 2:42-47
You know as a person growing up in the United States, I look at these texts and wonder “What did that look like?” And then I look at the way we “do church” now and wonder what needs to change….because it really doesn’t look like or do what the Bible says it should.
I used to look at this text and think this was a small group of people sharing together and taking care of each other but if you read verse 41, you see this was not the case. It says “Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.” More than 3,000 people used this method to do church. 3,000 people!
What did they do exactly? They shared Jesus both in the Temple (church) and at home. It wasn’t an either/or. It was a both/and. They celebrated Jesus together at church and they studied Jesus and his teachings together at home.
They bonded together by living life together. They shared meals, they hung out, they talked to each other, shared their happy times and their difficulties. During these times, they recounted what Jesus said and they prayed together.
They noticed their neighbors. They heard about people (probably from others in their group) that needed help and they helped them. They loved on and shared what they had with anyone who needed it. Because they lived their lives like this, people noticed. People were drawn in by their love and their caring. People wanted to know Jesus because of it.
Do you want to hear the crazy thing? They did this because they wanted to. There was no agenda. There were no goals to “grow the church.” This was just life. Living life like Jesus did. The formula is really pretty simple. Accept Jesus as your Savior. Live life like you mean it and love on each other.
Maybe it’s time we get back to basics. Notice what verse 47 says? And the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. Not us. Not the program. The Lord. We just need to live like we mean it and God will do the rest.