Life Together

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer... Every day they continued to meet together (Acts 2:42, 46)

The book of Acts tells the story of the birth of the church. In chapters 1, the resurrected Jesus tells his earliest followers to wait: God's Holy Spirit will come and launch them into ministry. In chapter 2, the waiting is over: God's Spirit comes on these disciples with powerful signs, drawing a crowd, and Peter preaches the first Christian sermon. He tells the good news that Jesus, who died and rose again, is Lord and Christ. Thousands join the community of Jesus' followers by believing, repenting, and being baptized--promised that they will receive the Holy Spirit, too.

At the end of Acts 2, the Bible gives us a snapshot of how the earliest Christians lived out their new life with Jesus: fellowship with other Christians, the teachings of the apostles, "breaking bread," and praying. This sounds a lot like church, where we form a family together (fellowship), learn from the apostles' teachings (the New Testament), "break bread" (communion), and pray. When Laughlintown Christian Church was formed, I think Acts 2:42 provided the guidance.

The next few verses show that there is more to the picture. The early believers share--like a family, they share both time and resources, giving to those with needs. They meet daily--both in the city's public sanctuary and in their own homes, around their dinner tables.

The early believers share--like a family, they share both time and resources, giving to those with needs. They meet daily--both in the city's public sanctuary and in their own homes, around their dinner tables.

In the 1930s, Dietrich Bonhoeffer served a church in one of the most challenging settings I can imagine (he lived in Nazi Germany). He wrote a book about his ministry called Life Together. He found that the key to following Jesus when surrounded by political pressure and spiritual corruption was to come back to the New Testament vision for the followers of Jesus: a shared life.

Join us for our Sunday worship at 10 a.m., or our Wednesday evening Bible study at 6 p.m., or our Sunday School at 9 a.m. But remember that weekly gatherings are just the beginning. We follow Jesus by living our life together day by day, in sanctuaries and in homes, while singing and praying and learning and eating and sharing.

--Jonathan