The first church “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers” (Acts 2:42). Do you have such a devotion alongside your church? Does your church have such a devotion together?
If so, then church is family, as it should be. Here are a few questions to measure whether your church really is your family…
1. ARE YOU INVOLVED?
You have to be there to do what most of the New Testament calls us to do – to fulfill the commandments of loving God and loving one another. In order to be devoted to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers, you have to show up.
Not only do you need to gather with your church family, but you also need to be actively involved. Simply showing up without any intentionality in developing relationships will not facilitate biblical fellowship.
Are you involved with your church?
2. ARE YOU BIBLICAL?
What did it mean that the early church devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching? Simply put, they were committed to the Word of God. The apostles were teaching the Old Testament Scriptures and how they point to Jesus as the Messiah. They also wrote New Testament gospels and letters, testifying about their first-hand witness of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection for our salvation.
The Bible is the foundation for everything else we do together as a church because the Bible tells us who God is, who we are, and how we are to follow Him.
Are you involved, and are you biblical? If you are being biblically faithful, you will be involved with your church.
3. ARE YOU DEPENDENT?
As you can see throughout the book of Acts (and really, throughout the New Testament), the early church was dependent – dependent on the Lord and dependent on one another. The most obvious way they proved this was through their unity in and devotion to prayer.
In prayer, we recognize our dependence upon the Lord. Uniting together in such prayer, we depend and lean on one another. What a great way to love God and love one another!
Are you involved, biblical, and dependent?
IS YOUR CHURCH FAMILY?
If you are a faithful follower of Jesus, then yes, your church is family. As Richland Baptist Church, we say, “Our passion is the GOSPEL. Our church is our FAMILY. Our world is our MISSION.” Few, if any, passages in all of Scripture better exemplify this truth more than Acts 2:42-47. On Sunday morning, Lord willing, I will be preaching through this passage and challenging our church to prioritize what the Bible prioritizes when it comes to our life together.
Having been a follower of Jesus for more than 24 years now, I cannot fathom life without a church family. That was true from day one, though, long before I ever imagined God would call me to be a pastor. You see, I need my church family today, just as I needed my church family as a new believer. Likewise, we need Jesus no less today than we did yesterday or any other day.
You and I need Jesus, and we need His church. There are no exceptions to this, so if you are struggling to be involved and thus not being biblically faithful and dependent, ask for the Lord’s help now. Ask for others to pray for you. You need your church, and your church needs you. Real church is family.
DrakeCity 