“The Acts of the Apostles”
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 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, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
– Acts of the Apostles 2:42-27
Last weekend at our annual church assembly I garnered enough votes to claim fourth place in the synod bishop’s election. This was a surprise! Had I won… I’d be called by my denomination to be the ‘over-looker’ (the Bible word for ‘bishop’ is ‘episkopos’… SKOPOS as in look or watch and EPI as in over) of 100+ congregations from Brenham, TX to Slidell, LA and Lufkin, TX to Lake Jackson. A better candidate won. God is faithful. I trust the grace which comes from the Lord…. and in the midst of all the questions of what a bishop does, I asked myself… “If I’m being called to be the new ‘over-looker’… then what does the Church do?”
So… I turned to the second chapter of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. It’s a short document mapping out the earliest history of Jesus’ followers right after the stories of Jesus found in the Gospel books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It’s the New Testament’s way of mirroring the first five books of Moses and the history of the Jewish people found in the books of Chronicles and Kings.
Check it out.
It’s an important read as I’m convinced if you ask 100 Americans the question… “What is Church?” you will get 100 different answers. Faith matters… and in matters of faith the behavior of Jesus’ followers in the Acts of the Apostles provides a clue… as the ending of chapter 2 unfolds right after 3000 people were baptized due to Peter’s preaching about Jesus. So what did they do?
+ They devoted themselves to the teaching of Jesus’ disciples. This is the best way to build faith…. letting God’s Word do the work! And please know I don’t practice my faith 24-7-365. I practice my faith with purpose … like a HS band practices during the week… so that when I need my faith… I have one to use… like the band uses theirs on Friday night lights! Old Coach Vince Lombardi put it this way… “Practice doesn’t make perfect; perfect practice does!” What are we practicing?
+ They were in fellowship with one another. We were not created to live alone. Building up community is hard work… but needed work as I like to somehow think the church is chock full of ‘bishops’ watching over one another with love and authentic concern. Even the Roman government witnessed the early Christians caring for the sick and dying citizens of Rome saying… “See how they care for our own better than we do ourselves.” Practice made perfect!
+ They prayed together… persistently. Jesus’ disciples saw how this time alone with God and each other was critical to the goodness of each day. Prayer leads to care. Do you pray? Who do you pray with? Who benefits from your prayers?
+ They broke the bread together… a reference to the early worship life of the church meeting often in the Temple courts and in their homes to retell the story and share in the Lord’s Supper. Remember!
When the ‘church’ does these four things and little else the church is strong… bringing vitality to all! If I were bishop, I’d look to see these acts were being done… all the time as these faith behaviors remain the building blocks of any and all that the 21st century church seeks to do and be! T B T G!
The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Gigee is a long-time resident of Pearland, having pastored four churches over the last four decades in Texas and Louisiana. Read more following Brian’s blog ‘murmurings’ at https://briangigee.wordpress.com/. Send comments and/or questions to godworks247365@gmail.com.
