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As we have seen over the course of this week, the church is an astonishing organism! We have seen that the church displays the manifold wisdom of God because the individual members have been transformed by the gospel, are united by the gospel, and now, by God's grace, we will see that we are sent with that same gospel!
Take a few moments to read through Acts 2:42-47. I love this passage! God has used it to shape my understanding of His church in a deep way. Now, I recognize that this section of text is mostly a beautiful picture of the devotion and fellowship within the first century church. However, there is a lot to be learned about evangelism as well!
In this text, we see that the people who have been changed by the gospel have now "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers" (Acts 2:42). It is because of their amazing devotion to these very godly things that they experienced supernatural things happening within the early church. Verses 43-47 say, "And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people."
Do you notice that the people of God are deeply devoted to natural things (v. 42), and as a result, God allowed them to experience supernatural things (vv. 43-47)? As the people of God devoted themselves to faithful Bible teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and the prayers, God then provided a supernatural desire to meet each other's needs at all costs, to attend the temple together, to break bread together, and to praise God together. Oftentimes we refer to this "togetherness" as the community of the church.
At this point you may be wondering, "What does this have to do with evangelism?" Take a moment to notice what happens at the end of our text for today. Verse 47 says, "And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." Do you notice that there is a direct connection between the community of the church and the people being saved?
As we have talked about in previous devotions, the church displays the "manifold wisdom of God" (Ephesians 3:10) to the universe. That is precisely what we see in our Acts 2 passage! As the church (a people who have been changed by the gospel), devote themselves to God and to each other (united by the gospel), God empowers the church to display his character to the onlooking world (sent with the gospel)! And as a result, the church is visible evidence of the invisible God!
As a Student Pastor, I often tell the students that I lead, "Let's put ourselves in a place to experience the supernatural community that God gives to His church, and let's do it in a way that the onlooking world can see!" In other words, together we attempt to devote ourselves to the natural things talked about in Acts 2, with hope that God will bind our hearts to Himself, and to each other (supernatural). Along with that, we aim to share the gospel, which changes hearts, and invite lost people into our lives (visible evidence of the invisible God)! Our hope and prayer is that the Lord would "add to their number day by day those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47).
So, with all of that being said, Christian, I simply want to invite you to put yourself in a place to experience the supernatural community that God so graciously gives to His church, and do it in a way that the onlooking world can see!
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