After a lead-up (with these same verses) in the previous article, let’s take a look at four key practices of the early church that are identified in the second chapter of Acts.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.
Acts 2:42-43 NIV
The apostles’ teaching – Today, we have access to 22 books in the New Testament after Acts that were probably all written by apostles. In the early days after the Pentecost when the sermon in Acts 2 was preached, though, these books hadn’t yet been written. To make things even more challenging, Jesus had returned to Heaven, so listening to Him teach directly was no longer an option. However, the apostles – who had not only the teachings of Jesus to share, but also the Holy Spirit to help them out (as Jesus had promised: see John 14:25-26) – could provide teaching.
I don’t know if the apostles were the only ones doing the teaching in the first days of the church, but over time, the message could be passed on from one believer to another with the Holy Spirit and Scripture to help keep it accurate.
Fellowship – I don’t know about you, but when I was younger, “fellowship” within the church usually meant “potluck”. Families and individuals would bring food, eat together, and maybe hear a lesson. While I think that a friendly potluck among believers can bring fellowship, I don’t think that fellowship is limited to sharing a meal (although food definitely seems to feed fellowship).
On the other hand, two people can be in the same room and not have fellowship. In fact, I feel like our fellowship in a worship service can fall short when we focus too much on worship leaders, and forget that we are sharing the experience (i.e., of worshiping God) with others of like mind around us.
For friends that I know at church, we catch up in the lobby and in the hallways, as well as within groups that meet on Sunday or throughout the week, but I feel badly for those who walk straight into the sanctuary on a Sunday morning and scoot out at the end of service without finding fellowship with other members of the family of Jesus Christ.
Breaking of bread – Some people might debate whether this means just eating a meal together (which would probably have included bread as part of the normal meal), or partaking of the Lord’s Supper (Communion). I’m not sure if it even matters, though: Bread and wine would have been part of normal meals together, and Jesus was having a meal – albeit a Passover meal – when He instituted the practice in the first place. It seems clear that the early believers ate together and remembered Christ’s death, regardless of which is meant here.
I wonder if the early church ate together (probably not all of them at once, which would require room for thousands of believers, but rather in smaller groups) and while doing so, they remembered Jesus’ body and blood that were given for them. Maybe there was a moment when they paused with the food in front of them to remember, or maybe it was just an attitude with which they ate and drank their food. Or maybe, as a commentator suggests [Reese, p.83], it was a special event for which they met separately, rather than part of what they were doing together anyway.
Now, I’m not trying to judge any congregation’s practice of taking the Lord’s Supper at a special time (usually in a formal church service). I do so regularly myself. However, when any group of believers is getting together and enjoying a meal, perhaps we should use that opportunity as a reminder of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. We, as the church, couldn’t be the body of Christ without Jesus Christ, after all. So, I’m not suggesting that we formally “take communion” with coffee and donuts (or iced tea and burgers), but perhaps we should regularly remember why we get together as we eat and drink…every time that we share a meal with fellow believers.
Prayer – Does anyone here not know how important prayer is? I suspect not, so I won’t belabor this point too much. In this passage, it isn’t necessarily clear whether the early church’s prayers were mainly individual or more corporate, but both are valuable, so again, perhaps it doesn’t matter which was meant here.
In summary, when someone tells you that the three keys to the Christian walk are, “Read your Bible, Go to church, and pray”, they aren’t too far off from these practices of the early church. Since we don’t have the apostles still living among us, we study the Bible (both individually and in groups). And, while I hope that we are meeting together outside of just church times, Sunday morning is definitely one good time to fellowship. And, praying is usually appropriate no matter where and when you find yourself.
Not a bad start for a healthy start to the church, as well as healthy practices for followers of Jesus today!
From Sunday School lesson prepared for September 24, 2023
References:
- The Lookout, October 1, 2023, © 2023 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- New Testament History: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Acts, by Gareth L. Reese. © 1976, College Press Publishing Company.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – Acts, by Dennis Gaertner. © 1993 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 