Acts 2:42-43 (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.
At my church in recent months, we have been “intentionally wandering” through the Acts of the Apostles in the preaching portion of our Sunday worship services. As I’ve listened to our pastors share their insights of the lives and times of those who made up the early church, it has struck me how the relative simplicity of New Testament Israel posed the same challenges to Jesus followers as we face in our 21st century “post-Christian” environment.
But Acts is not squeaky clean – there’s some pretty uncomfortable narrative in this historic account as well. It is no surprise that most instances of dysfunction in the early church source back to abandoning the approach which focused on God and his call, and moved to actions that were self-serving and self-interested. The restatement of expectation by the apostles, and a call to confession and forgiveness became the pattern for restoration. In healing, it was always less about the individual and more about the congregation as a “God’s kingdom on earth”.
Nearly every day we are mistreated by others—even those closest to us. Left unaddressed, these wounds from past wrongs can wreak havoc in our lives, stealing our vitality and compromising our dreams, dividing us. We can easily slip into taking offense. It doesn’t have to be this way. Jesus invites us to embrace a new way of living – at its heart, it started with forgiveness – the central theme of the Gospel message. If we want to enjoy the fullness of our life in Christ, the call is to embrace His example and forgive others.
“To walk humbly with God”. To forgo your status, release your resources or use your influence for the good of others before yourself, to act in leadership in order to inspiring others in your team to contribute their best toward a goal, to seek to enhances the ordinary and makes the great even greater. These are the characteristics of the people of God doing fellowship well – the “highlights” of Acts and the letters of the New Testament.
To not take offense, to walk humbly – these are fundamentally different to what the world would call us to do. To avoid being accountable, to be clear about “what’s in it for me” – it can so easily be where it gets to when we are at odds with God’s call on his people as they gather as church.
Whilst our school is not a church, the New Testament teachings on how the gathered church lives its community life in a God-honouring way are our best guide to how we, as Christian families, can come together to partner for the Christian education we desire for each child.
As a school, we are an extraordinary mix of backgrounds, understandings, relationships, experiences and giftings. Whilst we can be challenged by the increases in our community’s numbers and its implications on our life together, we celebrate the reality that God has and continues to bless us in ways we are astounded by. The narratives of God at work provide deep encouragement and the testimonies of fellow community members can be profound. Seeing the reality of Christ’s redemption in people’s life experience builds our community – a bit like how its described in Acts, I’ve been noticing.
educating 4 life, too 
Leave a comment