Many of the people in the crowds surrounding Jesus may have been many of the individuals who were to comprise the birth of the church in Acts 2. We see people who praise Jesus as He enters Jerusalem while the Pharisees are stirring unrest. Later in the week, those same people who cried, “Hosanna in the highest!” would cry out, “Crucify Him!” Then they would see and hear of the strange events surrounding Jesus death and resurrection, but the religious leaders who set themselves against Christ were probably feeling good about themselves. About fifty days later, however, something unusual happens at Pentecost, and these leaders and those people again hear Jesus preached about.
They hear Peter speak of prophecies in Joel and other prophets. They hear him and his companions speak languages they could not know. They hear him convict the crowd for the death of Jesus, even after they had seen the wonders and signs surrounding the Messiah. They hear Peter proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior. They hear him preach forgiveness and salvation, and many in the crowd respond positively to that gospel message, that lesson of repentance and baptism. Some three thousand people are baptized into Christ that day, and more are added daily. This begins the story of the church.
Looking at the Jerusalem church, we want to learn what we should be as God’s the church. We want to do more than go to church. We want to be the church.
Remembering the First
In Revelation 2, one of the congregations Jesus addresses is that at Ephesus. It’s one of those congregations that looks outwardly strong. In verse 2, Jesus even acknowledges their strong stand for the truth, but He goes on to warn them against forsaking their first love. They are doing many of the right things, but they are not doing it for the right reasons. Jesus calls on them to remember where they came from and the love they once had. He asks them to repent and to remember how they first were. What we want is to look back at how the church looked when it was first established. We also want to remember what we were like as a new congregation ourselves.
Acts 2:42 talks about the things the first church did. It speaks of generosity toward each other. It speaks of a strong community who shared time, meals, prayers, and praise. They were together often, and they were spending a great deal of time together, doing things for God. They were visiting each other’s homes. They were sharing meals. The enthusiasm was infectious. Acts 5:42, Acts 12:5, Acts 12:17 – these and more demonstrate the enthusiasm in the first church and the love they show each other. They get together for prayer. They congregate to work out spiritual issues. They get together to teach and to edify. They come together to build each other up and keep each other on the road to Heaven.
The Hardships
We know from books like Hebrews that there were struggles involving sliding back to old traditions and old ways. We know those same religious leaders who tried to bring down Christ were also trying to bring down these new Christians. This is why Hebrews 10:25 and the surrounding verses are so important. They needed to come together again and again to encourage each other, to remind each other of their goal, to comfort each other, to study together and to pray with and for each other. They needed this in the face of overwhelming pressure and terrible persecution.
Hebrews 10:25 was not written to beat people up over attendance at worship, but why do we feel we have to use it that way? If you Google “not forsaking the assembly,” the majority of top results link to Church of Christ websites addressing the issue of attendance, butt that will come naturally if our focus is God and if we are being the church of the First Century. Hebrews 2:1, 3:1-2, 4:1, 4:14, 6:4-6, 9:15 – these and more compel those early Christians to watch out for each other and to continue focusing on God. We may feel like we are not getting encouraged at worship, but that’s not the point. The point is that we should be working to encourage each other. Our focus should not be on ourselves, but on God and on our brothers and sisters in Christ.
It’s exciting to look back on the early days of the church and see the energy and the passion that they had. It’s also exciting to look back at the early days of our own congregation and see the same thing. Let’s rekindle those feelings and throw ourselves into lives where we no longer merely “go to church.” Let’s get busy being church.
lesson by Ben Lanius
