What Is The Church Supposed to Do?

This is my favorite time of year. Late February to the end of May in South Carolina is the season of which dreams are made! Beautiful sunshine, warmer weather, and flowers starting to bloom. In the words of Psalm 19, God is showing off his glory right now!

As we discussed Sunday, Acts 2:42-47 gives us a remarkable description of how the earliest Christians built their church on the Lord Jesus in such a way as to have a tremendous impact in their world. The description we find there also sheds light on their congregational and ministry priorities and activities. They devoted themselves to “the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (vs. 42), and they involved themselves in ministries of mercy, generosity, and outreach. 

If we were to break each of those congregational priorities and activities found in Acts 2:42-47 down in detail, it would take pages upon pages to complete. And, that is NOT my desire! I want to remind us of what we called, on Sunday, the early church’s essential components of congregational life. These are the things that we must emulated if we are to be faithful and effective in the 21st century. The Bible and our culture demands a church that is focused on worship, community, service and outreach. 

1. Worship — The Christian church is a worshipping family of faith. Therefore, along with the early church, our desire is to worship our Savior in such a way that is intellectually and emotionally stimulating. We are devoted to the apostles’ teaching, and so, we gather to hear God’s Word preached, sing Psalms and hymns, and offer ourselves as one in our prayers. Our worship extends to every aspect of our lives, for we are created to worship God. 

2. Nurture — The Christian church is a family. God refers to the church as his family on several occasions in the Bible. Therefore, we seek to follow the early church’s example of building one another up in love by encouraging one another’s spiritual growth through fellowship, faithful stewardship, gracious generosity, christian nurture and education. We want to encourage, equip, and inspire all our brothers and sisters in Christ, young and old, to be growing and faithful disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, reflecting him in the world.

3. Service — The Christian church is called to respond to the needs and brokenness in the world. This response isn’t to be overly planned or programmed; it is to be spontaneous, personal and organic. The early church simply responded to needs within and without their congregation. They did it generously and joyfully. So should we. We are to share God’s love by loving and caring for others in a way that brings them to Christ and allows them to flourish spiritually and personally. 

4. Outreach — The Christian church is a sharing community of faith. We share the hope of our salvation with others. We let it ooze from our veins. We witness to the glory of Christ by words and deeds. Acts doesn’t specifically tell us of outreach/evangelistic programs that the early church used, but it does tell us that they had “favor with all the people,” and that “the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (vs. 47). There is only one way to be saved — believe in Jesus — and there is only one way to hear of Jesus — someone telling the gospel story. Therefore, we share his love, grace and mercy with all people in all places.

The earliest Christians lived and breathed in times that were very similar to ours. They were certainly no strangers to the ideas of societal relativism and cultural narcissism. They also suffered from another deadly “ism,” syncretism, which wreaked havoc on their spiritual and religious climate. Yet, they found their balance and we are to learn from them. May we commit to being a faithful congregation that worships our God, nurtures one another in the faith, serves Christ, each other, and those of our world, and witnesses the glorious salvation that Christ gives through his grace and love.