A Devoted and Radical Community
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Have you ever joined a group of people who share the same interests and hobbies as you? What was that experience like?
โข Tell us about a memorable meal you shared with someone close to you. What made it special?
โข Can you think of a time when a family member or friend made a big sacrifice for you? How did that make an impact on you?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ, ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ด, ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ข๐ท๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ.ย ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ฎ:๐ฐ๐ฐโ๐ฐ๐ณ
(Read also ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ฎ:๐ฐ๐ฎโ๐ฐ๐ฏ.)
The believers in the early church shared their lives as a result of the gospel and the Spiritโs work among them. They were devoted not only to the apostlesโ teaching but also to one another. They shared their lives in fellowship, opened their homes, and even shared their resources to meet each otherโs needs. This was neither accidental nor occasional; it was intentional. Even as the church was rapidly growing, they chose to do life together. Their unity and generosity were visible expressions of the transforming power of the gospel, and God used this shared life to draw even more people to Himself. Today, letโs look at some of the things the early church did together that resulted in their growth.
๐ญ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ด๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ด๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐.ย
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ๐ดโ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด. . . . ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ, ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ด . . .ย ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ฎ:๐ฐ๐ฎ, ๐ฐ๐ฒ
The early church gathered together regularly, creating a rhythm of life centered on worship, learning, and prayer. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ๐ดโ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, eagerly receiving Godโs word together and allowing it to shape their hearts and actions. They met in the temple and in their homes, lifting their voices in worship and cultivating a lifestyle of praise. They also prayed for one another continually, relying on Godโs presence and power to sustain their growing community. This consistent commitment to gathering formed the spiritual backbone of the early church and fueled its vibrant, Spirit-led growth. According to Hebrews 10:24โ25, why is it important for believers to gather together?
๐ฎ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ.
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ.ย ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ฎ:๐ฐ๐ฐโ๐ฐ๐ฑ
The early church was characterized by extraordinary generosity, revealing a community deeply committed to caring for one another. Believers held their possessions loosely, recognizing that everything they had ultimately belonged to God. As needs arose within the community, they willingly shared their resourcesโeven selling property and belongingsโso that no one among them lacked what was necessary. This wasnโt done out of coercion, but Spirit-inspired compassion, a natural outflow of their unity in Christ. Their generosity became a testimony of Godโs love and demonstrated how the gospel transforms not only hearts but also the way Godโs people support and serve one another. How does your church community reflect this kind of generosity?
As the early church devoted themselves to worship, shared lives, and generosity, they experienced growth. In their love for one another, Jesus was glorified and the world recognized that they were His disciples and that the Father had sent Him, just as He prayed in John 17. This is also our callingโto value both deep community and Spirit-led growth. When we live this way, the church becomes a visible witness to the gospel, and God continues to draw people to Himself.
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Do you surround yourself with people who can help shape your life and strengthen your faith? How important is this to you? Think of three ways to ensure that you spend time with your church community.
โข God is calling us as His Church to be united. What are the things you can do to help guard this call to unity in diversity?ย
โข Who is God calling you to intentionally share your testimony and life with? What is one step you can take this week to begin building that relationship?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for adding us to His spiritual family. Pray that He will give us the grace to continue building and sharing our lives with fellow believers.
โข Ask God for opportunities for us to show generosity to those in need in the church. Pray that we would have open eyes and compassionate hearts to recognize and respond to those around us.
โข Pray that we will be channels of Godโs love through the demonstration of His gospel to those around us.