“Then they that gladly received the word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them three thousand souls. 42. And they continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers,”
Verse 42 gives us a pattern of the fellowship of the first Christians. It is a pattern that we still follow- or should follow today. Here is the pattern: First, they “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine.” What was the “apostles’ doctrine” based upon? It was based upon Old Testament scriptures, particularly those scriptures that pointed to the coming of the Messiah. It was also based upon the teachings of Jesus that became what we call “the New Testament.” Today, we call this “Bible study.” At the heart of the fellowship of Christians is the study of God’s word. This is done today through what we call Sunday School (or small group if you prefer.) Whatever we call it, it is the study of the Bible. This is also done through the preaching of the word by the pastor. Second, they were in “fellowship.” We might refer to this as “having fellowship.” However we say it, it means that Christians were in Koinonia with each other. “Koinonia” is a Greek word which means “partnership.” Having fellowship did not mean that they just met, had snacks and had a good time. (This was part of it, for they did, “break bread” together.) But on a deeper level it meant that they were in partnership with each other as they studied the Bible, and as they reached out to the world. The church, God’s people, is in partnership with each other, not just to get together, but to reach out to the world. Third, as they met together in partnership with each other, they prayed together. We can refer to this as worship. At the center, the core, of church fellowship is prayer. We pray when we are alone, but we should also pray as we meet together. It is through prayer that we are able to demonstrate the power of God to the world. For example, in Acts 4 when the church discovered that the chief priests and elders had forbad them to preach in the name of Jesus, “they lifted up their voice to the Lord.” This is an example that we should follow in our fellowship. We need to lift up our voices to the Lord, and expect Him to do great things among us as He did in this early church. We should meet prayerfully on any occasion when we meet together. We should live prayerfully when we are not together. Here is our biblical pattern of church life: We should study the Bible together and individually. We should be in loving partnership with each other. We should worship and pray together and individually. To quote Jesus: we should “go and do likewise.” Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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