For several years my wife’s parents had a doormat that said, “Oh, no. Not you again!” It was not your usual welcome mat, but everyone understood it to be a joke. Unfortunately so many people who are not part of a church have difficulty coming into a church because they don’t feel welcomed. They feel that churches should probably have a mat that shouts “not you!”
Such was not the case with the early church. What did the believers experience? How did these believers behave toward one another? How did they help others?
The Holy Spirit had come upon the believers on the day of Pentecost and given them great power to do the work of God. They were moved out of the doldrums and out of the stagnation of waiting and doing nothing. The church was alive with the work of God.
People were welcome in the new church. New members were being added daily, and the needy were being helped by this group of believers. And this was a new approach to religion and faith.
It was no longer a religion that required personal holiness and special rituals that only some could take part in. This was a faith of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. And they were together, joined in spirit, in communion with one another and of the same heart and mind.
And Jesus was with them in spirit as well. With his presence, and with the power of the Holy Spirit, those people who were on the edges of society, the poor and sick, were being helped.
This is a wonderful part of our heritage, but it is not something that must stay in the past. Our churches today can be alive and powerful in the kingdom of God if we will all be of the same heart and mind, focused on helping others. We as individuals and as a church can experience the same type of awe, can see the same types of miracles, if we can hold our faith in common – not just with one another, but with Christ as well.
DAILY CHALLENGE: What can you do to share the same spirit of Christ?
No comments:
Post a Comment