In Sunday school last week, we learned together about the practices of the Church. So far in this series entitled The Mission of the Church we have learned about the place of the Church in the world and the proclamation of the Church in the world. This past week was an opportunity to learn about, and hopefully delight more deeply in, the practices of the Church, often called the means of grace. If we had more time, then a discussion of Church discipline would be relevant here.
I intentionally waited until now to talk about the Church’s practices. What the Church does is secondary to who the Church is. So, learning about the Church’s identity as the bride, building, and body of Christ sets the stage for the Church’s practices and activity.
In Acts 2:42 we read this: “And they devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching, to the fellowship, the prayers, and the breaking of bread.” Here we see the four primary practices of the early Church that caused so many to be drawn to faith in Jesus Christ: Learning, praying, and experiencing the Sacraments together in the context of deep fellowship.
The Apostle’s teaching is the Good News of Jesus Christ as prophesied by the Old Testament. The first Christian converts from Judaism called it the Law, Prophets, and Writings of Israel. The twelve Apostles simply taught how the entire Old Testament points to Jesus being the Messiah. It was a particular message that required explanation and proclamation. The early Church was not afraid to preach doctrine and theology that engaged the mind. In fact, the selling point of this doctrine was the amazing fellowship it created.
God describes the fellowship in detail in Acts 2:43-47. The believers experienced awe and wonder together. They “had all things in common.” As any had need, they sold their possessions to meet that need. They opened their homes to one another and “received their food with glad and generous hearts.” It’s important to note that the teaching of Biblical doctrine was the cause of this amazing unity and not a hindrance to it. Unlike the common saying “Doctrine divides,” the early Church might have exclaimed “Doctrine unites!”
Acts 2:42 continues with how the believers devoted themselves to “the prayers.” It’s not just any old prayer that the early Church practiced. “The prayers” is a reference to the Book of Psalms, the prayer book of the early Church. Since the beginning the Church has needed both spontaneous prayers and prayers guided by the Psalms. Rather than making prayer boring, following the Psalms opens our prayers up to the full spectrum of human emotion as believers mourn together, celebrate together and call the Lord to come to the rescue.
It continues with “the breaking of bread,” a reference to the Lord’s Supper or Communion. Previously in Acts 2:38 we see the importance of Baptism in the early Church. Now Scripture adds the Lord’s Supper to the essential practices of the Church. The Lord’s Supper displayed the death of Christ and all the blessings of possessing Him. It reminded the first believers of their identity in Christ and of their union with one another as a community in Christ.
Who else has such amazing practices as Christ’s Church? What other nation conquers not by the sword, but by devotion to the Apostles doctrine? What group possesses such unity across racial lines and such a sacrificial spirit to those in need? What fellowship experiences such intimacy with God through prayer and their sacraments? Only a community full of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. Only a community empowered to bear witness to the ends of the earth.
