Over the last few weeks, we’ve been looking at prescriptive ingredients of real Biblical community. It’s centered on learning the Word, loving each other well, and now the third prescriptive statement; real Biblical community is centered on lasting worship.
As I read Acts 2:46-47, I see two arteries that bring life to this first church community. The first is centered on praising the Lord. Recall the angels and shepherds in Luke 2 as they praised the coming Messiah. Picture all the saints and elders in Revelation gathered and praising the Lamb of God. Think about how your favorite Psalm or musical worship ushers you in to praise. That’s the type of Spirit-filled, joyful praise we see in the early church. Stott puts it this way, “Every worship service should be a joyful celebration of the mighty acts of God through Jesus Christ.” Consider all the worship elements that we experience in a Sunday service together at Eastview. Simply put, a central part of real community is worship.
The second life giving artery is focused on gathering together. The early church consistently gathered in two main ways; formally and informally. Examine Acts 2:46 again. It was ingrained in this new community the need for and commitment to gathering together both formally (Temple) and informally (house to house).
Their risky faithfulness is noteworthy. Just a few months earlier, Jesus was brutally crucified and now his followers are gathering together daily in the most public forum in the city worshipping, praying, and praising Jesus. The same religious leaders who killed Jesus are now watching this community fearlessly worship him. In a short time to come Peter and John will be arrested (chapter 4), and Stephen will be seized and stoned as the first martyr (chapters 6 & 7).
To be fair to the text, real Biblical community, then and now, is not a fad, a trending topic, an overnight YouTube sensation, a hippie or hipster ideation, or a casual committance to something whenever it feels right. Instead, it’s a continually committed community that constantly stays the course. In a word, it’s lasting.
The early church fearlessly committed themselves to a lasting worship and praise of Jesus regardless of the cost. We desire to emulate this lasting worship through gathering together formally on Sundays and informally in homes throughout our community.
One of our major problems isn’t persecution, however, its commitment. In our culture, a “regular” church goer attends on average 1.4 times a month and a typical small group member attends their group 50% of the time. This indicates a commitment to other things.
What do you commit yourself to that is lasting? May we fearlessly commit to community that is centered on lasting worship.