Key # 2: Do church the way they did it in Acts

Babies do not grow just by being babies. They have to be fed, to be loved, to obey their parents as they grow older. Simply being church does not mean we grow spiritually. A baby is fully human when it is born, but it needs to be fed, loved, guided in life by caring parents, and taught important truths. The same is true for a community of Jesus followers. When two or three people gather in His name, they are church. To grow up spiritually they need to express commitment to one another, to study and apply God’s word in an accountable fashion to their lives, to reach out to others, to worship together, to give of their resources, to pray, and to commit themselves to obey the great commission and submit to their spiritual leaders. Acts 2:42-47 shows this happening in the church. You can break the growth essentials they practiced into four elements of healthy church life:

1. Upward: worship, prayer, breaking bread
2. Inward: studying God’s word together, eating common meals, sharing their possessions and finances as needs arose, building deeper friendships, and recognizing and accepting spiritual leaders who are called to serve them and lead them.
3. Outward: sharing Jesus with those who don’t know Him, caring for the poor, taking the good news of Jesus to other towns and villages.
4. Forward: intentionally training workers and reaching out to other nations and peoples who have not heard about Jesus, starting new churches in schools, neighborhoods, villages where there is a need in a home, campus, or market place.

"When Jesus ascended into heaven He gave different gifts to people in the church to continue His earthly ministry through others."

He gave leadership gifts some members of the church could motivate and equip everyone to find and develop their unique gifts and passions. It is not that He wanted some to be able to serve Him and others not, that was more like the Old Testament system. He placed leadership gifts in the church in Acts to stir up the rest and encourage the rest of the church.

The five equipping ministries named in Ephesians 4 are designated by Jesus to provide leadership in the church. They were not intended to be exclusive or to create a hierarchical system. These gifts are placed in the lives of ordinary people so they can carry out their responsibilities in a grass roots manner, among the people they serve. We call these people minister or elders. Their role is designed to help guide, guard and to govern the church, without creating dependency or the hierarchical leadership structures that marginalize ordinary people.

Giving tithes and offerings to is designed by God to support those who serve the church, to take care of the poor in the church, and to send people to spread the gospel to other places. Giving is another way to help us grow spiritually. It requires faith to give joyfully from the heart.

(To be continued)