Our goal is to encourage every believer to know what it really means to follow Jesus, then take action and join a small life group or team, and practice fellowship, friendship, prayer, and outreach together.
It is important to understand how all the teaching from week 1-6 connect together like a cake recipe. Each ingredient is important, but the combination creates a whole new way of life bound together with those who follow Jesus in the kingdom of God on earth.
All the elements united form a powerful light shining as a witness to your city. A living Christian community inside a dark world provides hope to the broken and ruined sinners enslaved to their master Satan. Even if they do not recognize their plight.
Let’s review, the true follower of Jesus is:
1/ Called to die to the right to control your own life, and to live by His control.
2/ Called to die to your goals, and to live for His goals.
3/ Called to die to your will, and to live in His will.
4/ Called to die to your choice of friends, and choose to love God’s friends.
5/ Called to die to what you determine is important, and to live to make disciples (most important to Jesus).
6/ Called to die to your culture, and to live in His counter-culture.
With the Holy Spirit in every true believer all of life changes.
Acts 2:41-47 (GW)
41 Those who accepted what Peter said were baptized. That day about 3,000 people were added {to the group}. 42 The disciples were devoted to the teachings of the apostles, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. 43 A feeling of fear came over everyone as many amazing things and miraculous signs happened through the apostles.
44 All the believers kept meeting together, and they shared everything with each other. 45 From time to time, they sold their property and other possessions and distributed the money to anyone who needed it. 46 The believers had a single purpose and went to the temple every day. They were joyful and humble as they ate at each other’s homes and shared their food. 47 At the same time, they praised God and had the good will of all the people. Every day the Lord saved people, and they were added to the group.
1/ First, we must understand the power and value in following the Acts 2 example and live following Jesus’ commands.
The first 3000 converts left their culture immediately and completely changed their schedules, their habits, their lifestyles, and followed Jesus together. This is a miracle.
2/ They devoted themselves to do the following together:
Teaching of the apostles
God’s Word is the historical revelation from the all knowing God, and He demands that you accept it as literal fact. Paul warns Christians to take the Bible seriously. “Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved [tested by trial], a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing—rightly handling and skillfully teaching—the Word of Truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15 Amplified Bible
The Bible is God’s Word. Not an interpretation of what some zealous men think God says, but His very Words! The Bible is not a religious piece of literature, but a direct revelation from the mouth of the Living God. It is a supernatural book!
The Scripture itself claims this in 2 Tim. 3:16: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,…” The only God is all powerful and able to communicate with man. He not only is able, He has through His written Word, the Holy Bible. To understand the Bible is to understand what God wants mankind to know at this time. To understand the Bible is to comprehend God’s will and direction for the purpose of becoming a faithful friend and child of God.
Therefore, it is imperative that we read the Bible the same way we read a newspaper, history book or a math book. This is the only valid way to understand God and His Word. We must study it at face value, literally accepting all the natural and normal sense of the text. Obviously, we must analyze it to discover what it’s expressions and terms meant to the original audience. For example, in Matthew 6:12 Jesus says “forgive us our debts” which today we would think means “Forget about our financial debts.” But He means sin.
We learn from Acts chapter two that church is not designed to make you happy, but to help mature you into an obedient disciple of Jesus. You must deny yourself and follow Him. So the first commitment a new Christian must make is to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness …” You are to become an all out, 100% follower, worker, and ambassador for God’s kingdom. You read, discuss, and learn what God commands you to know and understand so that you can obey Him completely and fulfill your destiny.
So the early church in Jerusalem gathered together daily in the temple area as one large group to hear the teaching of the apostles. They were taught all the commands of Christ as instructed by Jesus in the Great Commission.
Fellowship
Your local church is called to be a Heavenly Community and your duty is to unite as a team to help one another and share salvation with your neighbors and friends.
Next, is to make a steadfast commitment to gathering with, working with, caring for, and supporting your new church family. You learn to be tighter than friends and as family members, expand God’s kingdom. Teamwork is the environment God wants the family to grow spiritually through. It is so hard to get Americans to commit to this. Most want to come see and hear the show and then go home. This is disobedient and stagnating to spiritual growth. The Bible says, “…exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. (Hebrews 13:3) You must be committed and involved to grow together with other believers, this is true fellowship.
Our fellowship together is defined as koinoônia from the Greek language of the New Testament. It means partnership, close social union, deep communication, and common distribution. Like a piece of plywood, God wants your local church families to be glued together in such a union that the pulling apart of any one Christian will hurt and scar the group. The Holy Spirit formed “original church” exemplifies this for us. This is clearly presented in the language of our text, “All who believed were together;” “all things in common;” “continued daily with one accord;” and “breaking bread from house to house.”
According to Acts 2:42-47 we are partnered together in four ways: membership, mission, ministry, and maturity. Therefore we must understand what fellowship embraces.
Fellowship is based on the “one another commands” of the New Testament. “Love one another;” “exhort one another;” “comfort one another;” “bearing with one another;” “forgiving one another;” edify one another;” “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs;” “we are members of one another;” minister your grace gift “to one another;”, and “pray for one another” are examples of at least twenty-four one another commands.
Therefore, the close social union of church membership includes the responsibility of serving and caring for one another as you gather. The fellowship of mission melts everyone into one voice proclaiming the Good News of Christ and His kingdom. The common distribution of everyone’s spiritual gifts ministers God’s love throughout your church and community cementing all believers with God’s love. And the deep communication of your loving exhortations, confessions, and testimonies matures the saints around you.
Therefore, as the local church gathers for worship it must follow the teaching and example of how the Bible guides the church to fellowship. You must interweave into your gatherings the opportunity for believers to obey these commands.
Breaking of Bread
Thirdly, we must always meet together in communion. First Corinthians 11:28 explains the importance of this event and also shows why it is a spiritual growth tool. Paul writes, “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.” We must constantly examine ourselves. Remember how a doctor examines a patient, he probes and pokes. He looks for hidden signs of problems. This same procedure is just as important for all to grow spiritually and root out sin.
Prayers
Finally, without a steadfast commitment to group prayer meetings you will not reach maturity. God promises “…where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” The Father is so concerned about group prayer He makes it clear He gives special blessing to those who obey. Jesus also said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” We all learn to depend on God as a family. The young watch the older ones and imitate their actions.
As the early church gathered together they studied the apostles’ doctrines; then they responded and affirmed God’s Word through mutual fellowship [edifying, encouraging, etc. one another as a group; they had communion together [“love feasts” according to Jude] examining themselves for purity as described in 1 Corinthians 11; and then prayed together, crying to God to expand His kingdom through His power.
Like a four legged table, it works when all legs are up and holding together the surface. The church works when, as a group, the whole church participates in all four elements together. This is the secret of spiritual growth and blessing.
Remember these people had regular lives just like us. They had jobs, and worked long hours. They had families and relatives. They had homes and family responsibilities. And yet they willfully changed their lifestyles as God’s Word reveals and became best friends, and co-workers for the kingdom.
All the believers kept meeting together. They changed from family privacy and immediately pooled their resources together and shared everything that they could, distributed money to needy Christians, accepted a single purpose to serve God and work together, went to the temple every day for Bible study, ate at each other’s homes and shared their food, and praised God constantly and together.
Because of this radical change of lifestyle, every day the Lord saved people, and they were added to the group.
3/ Are you willing to follow Jesus and commit to a complete cultural change?
Fellowship is costly and dangerous because you must open your hearts and allow others to get close to you. Fear not! Some will hurt you. But for Christ’s sake, deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow Jesus! Learn to forgive and love without receiving anything in return. Obey the God who knows us best, and truly enter the fellowship God designed for the church, before the foundation of the world!
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