Acts 2:40-42, 47
And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers…. praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Three part progression: 1) Come out of the world. 2) Come into the church. 3) Committed to these Divine pursuits.
Church growth is not just more numbers or more people attending. We want more disciples, more baptisms, more transformation, more devotion to scriptural teaching and fellowship.
I love Acts 2 because, if you look at it, it is totally ordinary church life. What we see in this passage is – Bible reading, teaching, discussion, sharing needs, praying together and eating together.
This is the way church life ought to be. God reaches down to us, forgiving our sins in the gospel of Jesus Christ. He forms us into a new society, a people united around these gospel truths. And as we take on this identity, we worship God in more and more love. As with world sees this, those who are being called come and see and experience salvation with us.
Prayer: That the experiences of Acts 2 would happen again in our day and in this place.