Joy-Filled Community

Acts 2:42-47: 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. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

At Pentecost, the Spirit was poured out on the believers and three-thousand were added to their number that day. The life of the Spirit in the church wasn’t confined just to those moments in the upper room, but shaped the ongoing life of this new community. Their time together was characterised by joy as they ate with glad hearts, and continually praised God. Their faith was not stoic but vibrant and worshipful. This expression of Spirit-given joy took a number of different forms

Eucharistic Community: These early believers prioritised gathering together, and verse 42 highlights some of the key elements of these gatherings. There was a devotion to the teaching of the apostles, which shows a hunger to understand and live by God’s word (today we have this recorded in Scripture). They also were devoted to the fellowship, and genuine sincere relationships marked their community life together. They were devoted to the breaking of bread (probably a reference to an organised communion element of the worship service, in contrast to verse 46 that is more likely to be speaking of them eating together informally). Finally they were devoted to prayer, and their time together was not just about human fellowship, but was about meeting with God. As we live as a Spirit-empowered church, these same priorities that the Spirit impressed onto the early church will be impressed onto us as well.  

Economic Community: The disciples were generous with their possessions, and shared what they had with anybody who had need. This even extended to selling property when a need arose amongst them. This does not mean that there was no such thing as private ownership, but it does mean that this ownership was held loosely, and the church was seen as family. When a family member is in financial trouble and you have the means to help, then you do whatever it takes to help them. As we seek to apply this today, there is a call to radical generosity, both in how we give to the church through formal giving and how we help out those in our congregations who are struggling financially (or in other ways).

Evangelistic Community: The point has been highlighted a number of times through the series that the purpose of the Spirit being poured out was to empower the church for God’s mission. Through Peter’s pentecost sermon, thousands of people came to faith, and it is those people who form this community described here. The evangelism was not limited to leaders and high profile events though. We are told in verse 47 that the Lord was adding to their number daily those who were being saved. In the community of God’s people, we should be expecting to grow and see new people meeting with God, and for this to happen we need to be ready and willing to share the good news with those around us.

Response: Share communion together – and do so with a focus on how we meet with God, by the Spirit, through sharing in the bread and wine together.