By Jerry D. Ousley
Peter had just preached his first message. It was the Day of Pentecost, and after the disciples had been filled with the Spirit, they had spilled into the street preaching in unlearned languages to all the people there, Peter topped it off with his message about Christ. It was as if all the others had called the people to attention in their own, native languages in order to hear this first message.
In a way, I envy Peter because he had 3,000 converts after his very first message. But it isn’t who is preaching or what the message is, but what God wants to accomplish.
The Bible doesn’t record this, but reading between the lines, I’d say that the disciples scratched their heads and wondered, “what do we do now with all these people? They couldn’t very well invite them all into the upper room.”
Here is what the Bible records, “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:41-47).
There was a lot of teaching that needed to take place with all these new converts so it seems that they went house to house. They ate together, studied together, and worshipped together. The apostles had spent a lot of time with Jesus, but they were still new to the faith. They also shared their possessions so that all were provided for. They sold their things and had a common fund so that there was money to help each other.
I always wondered how the Church migrated from those early days to what we have today. I started to use the word “progressed” instead of “migrated,” but truthfully, I’m not certain that it has been a progression.
Let’s take a look. Today, we generally go to a building we have called “the church” and assemble with other people. However, in many cases we don’t know very much about those other individuals. We may know some of the people, but do we really know them well? We greet each other saying, “How are you, brother?” Most of us will answer with, “I’m just fine, brother.”
But we fail to disclose all the trials we had during the week. We don’t tell them about our temptations, our failures, or the argument we had with our wife. Then we sing some songs, half of which we don’t really know because they are new, so we sit or maybe stand enjoying the singing more like a show than worship. At some point someone gets up and talks about the needs of the congregation, then passes around a plate for the morning collection. Sometimes we sing a couple more songs and then the pastor takes the pulpit for a message, which is sometimes informative and interesting, and at other times it’s all we can to do stay awake.
Of course, I hope some of this description is a stretch, but if not, it leaves one wondering, “couldn’t I have done this at home?” Could it be that we have traded one-on-one sharing and Bible study for a show? Sometimes it certainly seems that way.
Now I’m not trying to discourage anyone from going to Sunday meeting. I’m just wondering if we’ve traded the gathering of the saints – the assembling together, for something of lesser value. Perhaps we need more of inviting our fellow assemblers over for Sunday dinner where we can get to know them better. We can learn what they are like, if they have problems, they need help with and if we can do anything for them. Or perhaps we are the ones who need help.
We tell each other in our services that we will pray for each other, but do we really follow up with that promise? Do we mean it or is it just a polite way to dismiss the situation? I, for one, think it is past time – way past time, that we put more importance on the true fellowship of believers and stop settling for the mediocre. What do you think?
—————
Jerry D. Ousley is the author of “Soul Challenge”, “Soul Journey”, “Ordeal”, “The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional” and his first novel “The Shoe Tree.” Newer books include “Finality” and “Dividing God’s Church.” Visit spiritbread. com to download these and more completely free of charge.
Peter had just preached his first message. It was the Day of Pentecost, and after the disciples had been filled with the Spirit, they had spilled into the street preaching in unlearned languages to all the people there, Peter topped it off with his message about Christ. It was as if all the others had called the people to attention in their own, native languages in order to hear this first message.
In a way, I envy Peter because he had 3,000 converts after his very first message. But it isn’t who is preaching or what the message is, but what God wants to accomplish.
The Bible doesn’t record this, but reading between the lines, I’d say that the disciples scratched their heads and wondered, “what do we do now with all these people? They couldn’t very well invite them all into the upper room.”
Here is what the Bible records, “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:41-47).
There was a lot of teaching that needed to take place with all these new converts so it seems that they went house to house. They ate together, studied together, and worshipped together. The apostles had spent a lot of time with Jesus, but they were still new to the faith. They also shared their possessions so that all were provided for. They sold their things and had a common fund so that there was money to help each other.
I always wondered how the Church migrated from those early days to what we have today. I started to use the word “progressed” instead of “migrated,” but truthfully, I’m not certain that it has been a progression.
Let’s take a look. Today, we generally go to a building we have called “the church” and assemble with other people. However, in many cases we don’t know very much about those other individuals. We may know some of the people, but do we really know them well? We greet each other saying, “How are you, brother?” Most of us will answer with, “I’m just fine, brother.”
But we fail to disclose all the trials we had during the week. We don’t tell them about our temptations, our failures, or the argument we had with our wife. Then we sing some songs, half of which we don’t really know because they are new, so we sit or maybe stand enjoying the singing more like a show than worship. At some point someone gets up and talks about the needs of the congregation, then passes around a plate for the morning collection. Sometimes we sing a couple more songs and then the pastor takes the pulpit for a message, which is sometimes informative and interesting, and at other times it’s all we can to do stay awake.
Of course, I hope some of this description is a stretch, but if not, it leaves one wondering, “couldn’t I have done this at home?” Could it be that we have traded one-on-one sharing and Bible study for a show? Sometimes it certainly seems that way.
Now I’m not trying to discourage anyone from going to Sunday meeting. I’m just wondering if we’ve traded the gathering of the saints – the assembling together, for something of lesser value. Perhaps we need more of inviting our fellow assemblers over for Sunday dinner where we can get to know them better. We can learn what they are like, if they have problems, they need help with and if we can do anything for them. Or perhaps we are the ones who need help.
We tell each other in our services that we will pray for each other, but do we really follow up with that promise? Do we mean it or is it just a polite way to dismiss the situation? I, for one, think it is past time – way past time, that we put more importance on the true fellowship of believers and stop settling for the mediocre. What do you think?
—————
Jerry D. Ousley is the author of “Soul Challenge”, “Soul Journey”, “Ordeal”, “The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional” and his first novel “The Shoe Tree.” Newer books include “Finality” and “Dividing God’s Church.” Visit spiritbread. com to download these and more completely free of charge.
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