One of the classes that I've taken from Precept Ministries is a class called structuring. It's a super tool that I love using for lesson preparation, and even in my own study time.
I'm not a master at it, far from it actually. But, using the tool of structuring really helps me to break the Word down, and understand it better.
So, in answering the question, "What is a church?", I looked to Acts chapter 2, where we see the formation of one of the first groups of followers of Jesus Christ...a church. :)
Acts 2:42
They were continually devoting themselves to:
the apostles' teaching
and
to fellowship,
to the breaking of bread
and
to prayer.
Clearly, there were 4 elements present. They were DEVOTED to:
the apostles' teaching (which was the teaching of Old Testament Scripture, because the New wasn't written yet...but today it would be both the Old and the New)
to fellowship ( they were truly involved in each others' lives...not just showing up and doing their "time" on Sunday mornings)
to the breaking of bread ( not sure if this is just dining together, or Passover (the Lord's Supper), but it would seem both would be appropriate acts for a body of believers)
and to prayer ( I had to stop and ask myself when the last time was that I was involved in church prayer...although it's clearly such a crucial part of the outline of what a church consists of, sadly, it's not something that I've seen in many of the churches we've been a part of)
So, these are the goals for the Home Church we are being led to host in our home.
Devotion to:
The Study of the Word of God
Fellowship with other believers, and with anyone else whom God brings our way
Taking the Lord's Supper together, and eating together during fellowship time
Prayer - truly seeking the Lord together as a body of believers, for what He would like to accomplish through our Home Church
I'm not a master at it, far from it actually. But, using the tool of structuring really helps me to break the Word down, and understand it better.
So, in answering the question, "What is a church?", I looked to Acts chapter 2, where we see the formation of one of the first groups of followers of Jesus Christ...a church. :)
Acts 2:42
They were continually devoting themselves to:
the apostles' teaching
and
to fellowship,
to the breaking of bread
and
to prayer.
Clearly, there were 4 elements present. They were DEVOTED to:
the apostles' teaching (which was the teaching of Old Testament Scripture, because the New wasn't written yet...but today it would be both the Old and the New)
to fellowship ( they were truly involved in each others' lives...not just showing up and doing their "time" on Sunday mornings)
to the breaking of bread ( not sure if this is just dining together, or Passover (the Lord's Supper), but it would seem both would be appropriate acts for a body of believers)
and to prayer ( I had to stop and ask myself when the last time was that I was involved in church prayer...although it's clearly such a crucial part of the outline of what a church consists of, sadly, it's not something that I've seen in many of the churches we've been a part of)
So, these are the goals for the Home Church we are being led to host in our home.
Devotion to:
The Study of the Word of God
Fellowship with other believers, and with anyone else whom God brings our way
Taking the Lord's Supper together, and eating together during fellowship time
Prayer - truly seeking the Lord together as a body of believers, for what He would like to accomplish through our Home Church
If you'd like to join us, please let us know. We're excited to get started.
We're going to begin by studying "Being a Disciple: Counting the Real Cost" by Kay Arthur and Tom & Jane Hart. After we finish that study, we plan to work through the Word of God book by book.
We'd cherish your prayers as we seek God in every step.
In Him,
Jes
4 comments:
I'm not trying to be argumentative, I'm just thinking out loud. I'm wondering if "prayer", as used there, has to be "group prayer". The inference is there that all 4 things were done as a group, but devotion to prayer & teaching could also be individual efforts.
I'm not trying to be argumentative, I'm just thinking out loud. I'm wondering if "prayer", as used there, has to be "group prayer". The inference is there that all 4 things were done as a group, but devotion to prayer & teaching could also be individual efforts.
Hey Steve,
Good question...from what I see, though, if taken in context, I believe it's speaking of things that these believers did in a group.
Not to diminish the importance of personal prayer and devotion to God's Word.
:)
Jes
Why did I post twice? Am I a group now? :P :)
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