What Should a Church Look Like?

 “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” – Acts 2:42

There’s no doubt: The 1st Century Jerusalem Church was one of the impactful churches in history. Without it, Christianity as we know it today would not exist.

 

In Acts 2, at the start of the Day of Pentecost, there were only around 120 Christians in Jerusalem. But by the end of the day, there were 3,120. God’s Word is clear that the cause of this explosive growth was the Holy Spirit, who descended on the church just as Jesus had promised. Acts 2:41 tells us that 3,000 people got saved that day – and that was just the beginning.

 

In Acts 2:42-47, we discover this impactful church’s top five priorities. These priorities helped this once-tiny group of believers change the world.

 

Priority #1: Learning God’s Word together. Jesus’ apostles had sat under His teaching for at least three years, and Jesus had promised that the Holy Spirit would remind them of all that He taught. Learning the Old Testament scriptures AND Jesus’ teachings was a top priority for the Jerusalem Christians.

 

Priority #2: Sharing with and caring for each other. The second priority of the Christian Church in Jerusalem was fellowship. Take another look at verse 44: “All the believers were together and had everything in common.” Theologian John Stott writes: “Christian fellowship is Christian caring, and Christian caring is Christian sharing…. That we have hundreds of thousands of [poverty-stricken] brothers and sisters is a standing rebuke to us who are more affluent.” The early Christians took care of each other.

 

Priority #3: Worshipping Jesus Christ together. The Jerusalem Christians devoted themselves to “the breaking of bread” – that is, communion. But verses 43, 46 and 47 describe something beyond the ritual of communion. They ate together “with glad and sincere hearts, praising God.” Regardless of whether they were in a home or in the temple courts, whether they were taking communion or just sharing a meal, they lived lives of Christ-centered worship.

 

Priority #4: Praying together. Many Christians don’t see the importance of praying together. Many think it’s perfectly fine if 100% of our praying is done on our own. But Jesus disagrees. Private prayer is biblical and necessary, but so is praying together. In Acts 1:14, Luke tells us that the Christians “all joined together constantly in prayer.”

 

Priority #5: Evangelizing together. The fifth priority of the early Church is evident in verse 47, which shows the Christians “praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” There’s no doubt: The Jerusalem Christians prioritized evangelism. They reached out in compassion and love to those who didn’t know Christ, and they continued to boldly preach the Gospel message. As a result, more people got saved every day.

 

May we never be so preoccupied with learning, sharing, worshiping and praying that we forget to share Christ. The Holy Spirit is a missionary Spirit. And you and I must be missionaries both inside and outside the four walls of the church.

 

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church, meeting Sundays at 8:30 and 10 a.m. at 16209 Kamana Road in Apple Valley. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Pray for Greater Impact!

“And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

– Acts 2:47

In our church secretary’s office, there is a little record book. It contains the names of all the people who have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior and been baptized at First Christian Church between 1925 and 2015. We ran out of pages in 2016, so our secretary bought a second book.

Last week I spent some time going through the pages, looking at the names of those who’ve given their lives to the Lord over the last 94 years. As I made my way through the years recorded in those two little books, I recognized more and more names. Many have gone to be with the Lord. Many have moved on for one reason or another. And a whole lot of them are still at the church—loving God, learning God’s word and serving Christ and our community.

It’s quite a story. Back in 1925, 55 Christians were used of God to form First Christian Church. For the next 69 years, we called downtown Victorville our home. During most of those years our church family met every Sunday in a little chapel on the corner of 6^th and B streets, a short block from the downtown movie theater. From that location, we reached many people for Jesus Christ. Last week, going through our little book, I added up the number of baptisms during the first 69 years of our church’s existence. There are probably some names missing, but I discovered that at that little church in downtown Victorville, in those 69 years, God worked through us to lead 297 people to Christ. What a blessing!

Then, in 1994, our church family made a decision that I like to describe as “a brilliant act of lunacy.” We moved to the chapel on the decommissioned George Air Force Base. It seemed like a great idea at the time: a big, beautiful chapel in an area that was surely destined for future growth. But little did we know that the once-booming residential area would turn into a dilapidated ghost town. And little did we know that a federal penitentiary would be build right down the street. We’ve never been able to get enough visitors through the front door to experience sustained growth.

But then I consider what I see in those two little books. During our first 69 years, God graciously worked through our church to save 297 souls. But in the past 25 years in the ghost town—right up the street from a federal penitentiary—God has graciously worked through our church to save 581 souls! My friends, logic can’t explain that. It’s a God Thing.

And if that’s what God has done through us in a ghost town, with very few visitors coming through the front door, I’m so excited to see what comes next. On October 6^th, FCC will become Impact Christian Church—and we’ll begin meeting at the brand new Dr. Ralph H. Baker 21^st Century Learning Center at Mojave and El Evado Roads, right in the middle of growing neighborhoods in Victorville.

Within a 5-mile radius of our current facility at George Air Force Base, we have about 12,000 neighbors. Within a 5-mile radius of our new meeting place, there are—wait for it—78,647 residents. Can you even imagine what God will do through us as we move toward the center of town? I’m no prophet, but I’ll tell you what I think. God has used our church to save 878 souls in the past 94 years. I believe God is going to use us to impact tens of thousands and save at least 1,000 souls in the next 10 years.

The founding members of this church felt led to come together with other Christians to worship God, learn God’s word, and make an impact in our community for Jesus Christ. And that story is about to enter an exciting new chapter. There are a lot of pages left in Volume Two of our baptism record book, and I can’t wait to fill them. How many lives will you impact in your next chapter?

Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of First Christian Church in Victorville and the author of "Holy Huldah: Lessons You Should Never Forget from Bible Characters You've Never Heard Of." For more information, visit www.YourVictorvilleChurch.com, and join us for our Worship Celebration Sundays at 10 a.m.