5×5×5 Bible Plan
Read: Acts 2
Meditation: Acts 2:42-47
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he 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 the church daily those who were being saved.
Shift Your Focus… In my humble opinion, far too many churches in American are relying on smoke and mirrors to create a thriving church rather than a simple reliance on the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
Churches these days devote inordinate amounts of time, energy and resources trying to figure out who they should be, what they should look like, and how they should go about attracting their community to Christ. In an effort to reach lost people, they fret over what constitutes the perfect worship style, the best ministry philosophy, the most effective structure for church growth and even the feng shui of the platform.
Pardon me, but when I read about the first church here in Acts 2:42-47, I don’t see any of that. Perhaps this is an unfair and oversimplification of things, but I think all they were concerned with was being filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.
When it comes to church, I am not sure there is such a thing as “perfect” or “best” or “most”. Frankly, there are not only a thousand ways to skin a cat, but to do church as well. I can take you to congregations all over the world that violate every single best practice for doing church well, yet they are thriving, impacting, God-pleasing high octane fuel for Kingdom expansion in their communities. Without buildings, without resources, without training, without a cultural “cool factor”, they are flat out getting the job done.
What is their secret? It’s the indwelling and empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.
The secret to church growth, health and impact is not to be found in a technique or a philosophy or a style. It is found in a relationship. It is found in a vital connection with the Holy Spirit. Churches that thrive under the least conducive environments do so because they flow in and overflow with the lifeblood of the Spirit.
When a church begins to fret over style, fight over philosophy, focus on its facilities and fixate on cultural relevance rather than connecting with the Spirit, it ceases to be God pleasing. What churches need more than anything these days is a little bit—no, a whole lot more of what the first church experienced in Acts 2!
When that happens, God will add to the church daily those who are being saved!
“How little chance the Holy Spirit has nowadays…churches have so bound Him…that they practically ask Him to sit in a corner while they do the work themselves.” ~Charles Thomas Studd
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