Acts 2:42-47 (NIV) - “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
As you read this passage you get a sense of the commitment, surrender, and oneness that was present among these 3,000+ new believers in Acts. As they gathered in smaller groupings, it was clear the power of the Holy Spirit was continuing from the Pentecost upper room experience to fill their daily rhythm of life. This rhythm would also include their work, studies, caring for their families, but no longer doing this apart from their faith or apart from each other. Now they were experiencing life together.
There’s a quote below from the small group book many of the women of our church have gone through that reminds me of how we can belong to or live for very different things.
“In 1982, Lydia Joel was head of the Performing Arts dance department in New York City. Parade Magazine quoted part of her lecture to freshmen dancers: ‘This is an absolutely undemocratic situation you face. You have no rights here. Your only right is to come to class and be wonderful. You can’t protest, you can’t be absent, you can only work…You must give your entire self in the act of faith. If you have any sort of resentment or lack of clarity, you will find heartbreak. But if you manage to live through four years of this demand upon your inner self, your life will be literally changed’” (Becoming a Woman of Excellence, Cynthia Heald).
As a sophomore in college reading this quote, I felt challenged that if others were willing to live this way for dance, which can only change your life concerning fortune and fame, surely I could and should live this way for Christ - who did literally change my life.
Response: Let’s commit ourselves to living life together in teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer. Let’s pray for our small group meeting times for the Holy Spirit’s power for conviction, transformation and growth in light of the Acts 2 passage. Pray for each person in our small groups as the Spirit leads us to love one another in prayer. You can also worship with “My Heart is Yours”.
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-AK
