Real Church

On Sunday 11 May, one of the Lectionary readings was Acts 2: 42 – 47. In those verses we are given a picture of the life of the Early Church, and while we should not necessarily treat it as a ‘blue-print’, I’m sure that there are several features that we should do well to apply in the life of our church today.

 

·         We are told that the first believers spent time learning what the Apostles had to teach them: the study of God’s Word and of Christian Doctrine remains important for the Church in every age;
·         They devoted themselves to prayer: conversing with God is a privilege and a life-saver, and we are called to give priority to our personal devotions and the prayers shared with other believers;
·         They shared in fellowship meals in one another’s homes: breaking bread with other Christians is an unequalled way of building relationships with them;
·         They pooled their resources and distributed the proceeds according to people’s needs: offering practical care will be shown in different ways at different times, but the principle remains.

These four features of the Early Church are summed up in the word KOINONIA, which some versions of the Bible translate as ‘Fellowship’, but which also means Communion, Community, Distribution, Intercourse, and Participation. It is what I regard as Real Church and it is our prayer that it will be increasingly the description of PMC.