Why the Church? To glorify God in all things. (Part 1)
How does this happen? Through placing worship first in the church. (Part 2)
All of the church’s life is about the expression of God’s love toward us and our love toward God and neighbor. In Acts 2:42-47, we find a summary of the church doing what the church is meant to do. This life summary of the church is instructive to us, especially verse 42.
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.” Acts 2:42
This verse is not just part of the whole summary, but the thesis statement of this summary. What was going right about the church at this time? What was true of the church? How did they live out the filling of the Spirit? What made this church ‘the church’?
Being devoted to the Apostles’ Teaching, to Fellowship, to the Sacraments (breaking of bread), and to Prayer.
The Apostles’ teaching: We can best understand this not just as ‘right belief/wrong belief’ teaching, but rather to instruction on the life of Jesus, on how to live rightly in the Kingdom, on the way of the Kingdom, etc. Basically, whatever was taught to the Apostles during the life of Jesus from Jesus himself was being passed on into the community. This is the community’s beliefs, ethics, habits, belonging, and group identity. This formed people, shaping them into the people of God. This instructed them on everyday life, at work, at home, and beyond. And this was (and is) an essential part of the life of the church (then and now) because it defined the way of God’s loving relationship with His people.
Fellowship: Fellowship is a word that has been stripped of most of its meaning today in our churches. To have fellowship as a church is to be ‘of one another’. This is more than occasional gatherings with food. It’s more than greetings and quick check-ins with one another. Fellowship includes mutuality, accountability, and community. It is a community that cares for one another in a deep and profound way: praying for one another, caring for needs, sharing of possessions, calling out sin where it is seen, asking for and receiving forgiveness, support for one another in temptation and struggle, discipline of the community on individuals that do not follow the way of the Kingdom as revealed in the apostles’ teaching, and so much more. It is the expression of the love of God in the community of God for one another.
Sacraments: The breaking of bread is a clear indication of participating in the Lord’s supper together. It is important to understand this beyond the specific act of the Lord’s supper and to include baptism as well. In context, the community being summarized here is the community of the baptized believers (see Acts 2:41, just one verse back). To participate in baptism and in the Lord’s supper is to participate directly in the life of Jesus. Through these sacraments, one participates in the revealed love of God through the acts of the incarnate Son of God. In baptism we participate in the initial love of God by dying and being brought back to new life, in Him and in His church (see Romans 6). In the Lord’s supper, we participate in the ongoing love of God by receiving His body and blood through bread and wine/juice. This is active participation in the life of the community as it knows itself within the story of God.
Prayer: Prayer is the active, ongoing, and intimate expression of the relationship between God and His people, both individually, and corporately. It is the communication between God and His people. It is both expression and listening. It is love expressed in gratitude, praise, and thanksgiving. It is love expressed through confession of sins. It is love expressed in intercessions and requests. It is love expressed through yielding and listening for the presence and direction of God.
These are the primary acts of the church. These are the expressions of worship that leads to the glorification of God. This is how the Church acts like the Church. Without these, any other activities of the Church are mis-placed.
These are the rightly ordered expressions of love in the relationship between the Church and God.
Keep Going… Read Part 4 Here
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