What the First Church Did

It All Came from Jesus

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The first church did not make up its own plan. Every part of their life together came from what Jesus had taught and done. In Acts 2:42 they are simply doing what He told them.

Teaching. Before He went back to heaven, Jesus told His apostles to make disciples, “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20). So the apostles taught, and the believers kept learning.

The Helper. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit “will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26). The Spirit helped the apostles remember every word.

Our Bible. The apostles' teaching was written down in the New Testament. When you read it, you are learning from the same teachers the first believers had.

Love. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34).

A sign to the world. “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). The people of Jerusalem saw that love, and the believers had “favor with all the people” (Acts 2:47).

The bread. On the night before He died, Jesus took bread and said, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19).

Remembering the cross. “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). The Lord's Supper points back to the cross and ahead to the day Jesus returns.

Prayer. Jesus prayed often, and He taught His followers to pray. Before Pentecost the believers prayed together while they waited for the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:14).

Prayer in hard times. When leaders threatened Peter and John, the church prayed, “Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word” (Acts 4:29). God answered, and “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (4:31).

Every day. They did these things “daily” (Acts 2:46), not only on special days. Following Jesus filled their whole week.

Together. None of these habits was meant to be done all alone. They learned together, ate together and prayed together. God made His people to need each other, and that is a gift.

Why it matters. These habits do not save anyone. Jesus saves us by His grace. But they are how saved people grow closer to Him and to each other.

What to do. This week, try all four. Read a chapter of the Bible, spend time with a Christian friend, thank Jesus for the cross, and pray with someone in your family.

Acts 2:42 is not a program the apostles invented. Each of the four devotions goes back to a command or a practice of Jesus, and that is why the church held on to them.

The Great Commission. The apostles' teaching was obedience to Matthew 28:20: “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” Passing on Jesus' words was the first task He gave His church.

The Spirit as Teacher. John 14:26 promised that the Helper would “bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” The apostles' teaching was Spirit-guided memory of Jesus, which is why the New Testament carries their authority for us.

Fellowship rooted in Christ. Christian fellowship, a shared life, is more than friendship. 1 John 1:7 joins it to the cross: “we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

The new commandment. John 13:34-35 makes love the mark that identifies Jesus' disciples. Acts 2:47 shows outsiders seeing it and giving the church their favor.

The breaking of bread. Jesus broke bread at the Last Supper with the words “do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19). After the resurrection, two disciples recognized Him as He broke bread at Emmaus (Luke 24:30-35).

Anamnesis. The Greek word for remembrance, anamnesis (say: ah-NAHM-nay-sis), means more than recalling a fact. It means bringing God's past rescue into the present with thanks and trust.

Proclaiming His death. 1 Corinthians 11:26 says the meal proclaims “the Lord’s death till He comes.” Each time believers share it, they preach the gospel and look ahead to His return.

The prayers. The prayers included the Temple's set hours (Acts 3:1) and gathered prayer like Acts 4:24, which began, “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea.”

Dependence. Prayer showed that the church knew it could not grow by its own strength. God answered by filling them with the Spirit and with boldness (4:31).

One source. Teaching, fellowship, the Supper and prayer all point to the same Person. Each one keeps Jesus at the center of the church's life, so that the church never becomes a group gathered around itself.

Habits of grace. These four practices do not earn salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9). They are the ways God keeps feeding and shaping people He has already saved.

Application. Look honestly at your own week. Which of the four is strongest, and which is weakest? Choose one small step to grow in the weak one, and ask a friend to help you keep at it.

You Are the Church

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When the Bible talks about the church, it does not mean a building. In Acts the believers met at the Temple and in their homes (2:46). The church was the people.

A family. “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19). Everyone who trusts Jesus belongs to God's household.

A body. “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually” (1 Corinthians 12:27). Jesus is the Head, and every Christian is a part of His body.

Every part matters. “Those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary” (1 Corinthians 12:22). Kids are not only the church of the future. If you trust Jesus, you are part of the church right now.

Different jobs. “All the members do not have the same function” (Romans 12:4). Some teach, some serve, some give, and some encourage.

Gifts to share. “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another” (1 Peter 4:10). Minister means serve. God gives every believer something to share.

A holy temple. God's people are “being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22). God lives among His people by His Spirit.

Keep meeting. Christians are told to keep “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” (Hebrews 10:25). The first believers met daily. We still need each other.

Stir up love. “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24). Church is a place to help each other love Jesus more.

Bearing burdens. “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). When someone is sad, sick or in need, the church helps carry the load.

Jesus is with us. Jesus promised, “lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). He has never left His church.

Love that shows. Jesus said, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). When the church loves well, people can see Jesus in it.

What we learn. The church is God's family, Christ's body and the Spirit's home. Jesus died and rose again to make it, and He gives it to us as a gift.

What to do. At church this week, learn the name of someone new, or help with a job that nobody else wants to do.

Acts 2 and 4 show the church in its first days. The rest of the New Testament explains what the church is, and each picture helps us see our own place in it.

The word church. Church translates ekklesia (say: ek-lay-SEE-ah), an assembly of people called together. In everyday Greek it named a gathering of a city's citizens. In the New Testament it names the people God has called to Himself through Jesus.

Household (Ephesians 2:19). Believers are “members of the household of God.” In Acts 2:46 the church met in households; Ephesians shows that the church is itself God's household.

Body (1 Corinthians 12:12, 27). “For as the body is one and has many members… so also is Christ.” The body picture teaches unity and difference at once: one body, many parts.

The weaker parts (12:22). Paul calls the parts that seem weaker “necessary.” In a world that honored the strong and the important, this turned things upside down. Children, the elderly and the unnoticed are essential to the body.

Temple (Ephesians 2:21-22). The church “grows into a holy temple in the Lord… a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” The believers still met at the Jerusalem Temple, but God was now building a temple out of people.

Gifts (Romans 12:4-6; 1 Peter 4:10). Each member has a grace-gift to serve others “as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” A steward is a manager trusted with someone else's goods.

Gathering (Hebrews 10:24-25). Some believers were pulling back from meeting under pressure. Hebrews urges them to keep gathering, to “stir up love and good works,” and to keep “exhorting one another.”

Galatians 6:2. Bearing burdens is how the church keeps “the law of Christ,” His command to love one another as He loved us. Burdens can be sickness, grief, money trouble or temptation, and the body carries them together.

Christ the builder. Jesus said He would build His church (Matthew 16:18), and He bought it with His own blood (Acts 20:28). The church belongs to Him before it belongs to anyone else.

Application. The church is not a show you watch. It is a family you belong to. Ask God where He wants you to serve, and do one thing about it this month.

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Complete all sections to finish!

Read each section and answer the questions correctly.