4/25/2021 - The Rise of the Church - Acts 2:42-47

Let’s go back to where it all started. The city of Jerusalem is packed with Jews celebrating the festival Pentecost. Peter takes his place and delivers a stunning sermon about Jesus being God’s Messiah who was rejected by the people. There is massive conviction upon the listeners and Christianity spreads from a couple hundred to three thousand responding in faith. The church is born.

What happens next gives us insight into what made the church special. It was unified unlike anything anyone had ever experienced. What made it so? There were four specific elements that created a special cohesiveness in the group. They are being unified in their beliefs, as they all receive teaching from the apostles Jesus trained. They spend their spare time and meals together, sharing everything they own with gladness and sincerity of heart. And their prayer unites them before God as they present their needs. 

Some of the details of the early church in Jerusalem are unique to its' time and place. God's call for churches to be unified is not. We receive different spiritual gifts, but we are called to serve each other in the church (Ephesians 4:1–16) "with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:2–3). Whatever specific forms the church of today looks like, it is still called to have the same heart as the first church in Jerusalem.