The Body of Believers

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Acts 2:42

At Pentecost, after the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, Peter preached to the crowd gathered. The last thing he said to them was, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” After this the people wanted to know what they must do, Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Three thousand of those who heard responded to the call to be saved. So what happened to those that were saved on the day of Pentecost? Did they go back to living their lives as they did before? Did they go back to their families, their jobs, and pick up where they left off? We don’t have to guess what they did because we are told in acts 2:42 that they, devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. In other words they became a church, a community, and a fellowship of believers. Church wasn’t something that they did once a week it was who they were. Their identity was in Christ and their Christian brothers and sisters were their family.

John MacArthur writes the following, “This was really a church, nothing more and nothing less. Its life was completely defined by the devotion to those spiritual duties which make up the unique identity of the church. Nothing outside the living Lord, the Spirit, and the Word define life for the church. This church, though not having any cultural elements of success, no worldly strategies, was still endowed with every necessary component for accomplishing the purposes of its Lord. The church will still be effective in bringing sinners to Christ when it manifests the same key elements of spiritual duty that marked this first fellowship.^”

What is church to you? Is it building that you go to once a week to hear a sermon? I pray that is not how you feel. The local family of God we call Grace Harvest is not a building or one or two individuals. It is every covenant member of Grace Harvest who devote themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. May we grow in love for one another as we, the church, grow in Christ.

Your shepherd,

Pastor Mark