Back to Basics

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.

A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47

You know as a person growing up in the United States, I look at these texts and wonder “What did that look like?” And then I look at the way we “do church” now and wonder what needs to change….because it really doesn’t look like or do what the Bible says it should.

I used to look at this text and think this was a small group of people sharing together and taking care of each other but if you read verse 41, you see this was not the case. It says “Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.” More than 3,000 people used this method to do church. 3,000 people!

What did they do exactly? They shared Jesus both in the Temple (church) and at home. It wasn’t an either/or. It was a both/and. They celebrated Jesus together at church and they studied Jesus and his teachings together at home.

They bonded together by living life together. They shared meals, they hung out, they talked to each other, shared their happy times and their difficulties. During these times, they recounted what Jesus said and they prayed together.

They noticed their neighbors. They heard about people (probably from others in their group) that needed help and they helped them. They loved on and shared what they had with anyone who needed it. Because they lived their lives like this, people noticed. People were drawn in by their love and their caring. People wanted to know Jesus because of it.

Do you want to hear the crazy thing? They did this because they wanted to. There was no agenda. There were no goals to “grow the church.” This was just life. Living life like Jesus did. The formula is really pretty simple. Accept Jesus as your Savior. Live life like you mean it and love on each other.

Maybe it’s time we get back to basics. Notice what verse 47 says? And the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. Not us. Not the program. The Lord. We just need to live like we mean it and God will do the rest.

A Minute In It - Holding it Together

A minute in God’s Word will change your life. Take a moment to read the text below and then answer the questions at the bottom of the post.

Christ Holds It All Together

15-18 We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.

18-20 He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.

21-23 You yourselves are a case study of what he does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. You don’t walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message. Colossians 1:15-23 (MSG)

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you in this passage?
What are you going to do about it?
Who are you going to share it with?

Everything

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Matthew 16:13-16 (NLT)

“Who do you say I am?” This is a question we must all answer at some point. Notice Jesus asked them what everyone else thought and then he made it personal. Because it is personal. Who you know Jesus to be is the most important thing you will ever decide.

Some would answer “He’s my Savior.” This is true.

Some would answer “He’s the Son of God.” This is also true.

Some will throw out fancy titles like “He’s the Sacrificial Lamb. He’s the Bright and Morning Star.” All of these are true.

But I don’t think that Jesus wants to know what we can verbalize. We can all talk a good game. I think He wants to know what’s in our hearts. I think He wants to know who we, deep down where no one can see, think about Him.

I was having a conversation with someone a little while ago that I can’t get out of my head. I was talking about something and I said “The focus has to be Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.” And the person said “What about love?” I’ll be honest, this question shocked me. How can you have Jesus and not have love? Who was Jesus to this person?

I keep thinking about that conversation. You see, I think we give platitudes to Jesus. I think we try to say all the right things but I don’t think He’s real enough to us. Who exactly do we think He is? It’s almost like we see him as a figurehead that has no real impact or control on our lives. That’s not what He wants.

Jesus wants to be our Everything. What does that look like? There is nothing that He doesn’t control; there is nothing in our lives that are not His; there is absolutely nothing we would not give up for Him or offer Him. We are so filled with love for Him that it drives and motivates everything we do.

So let me ask you. Who do you say He is? If He is not your Everything, you are missing out on the greatest joy you’ve ever experienced. Spend some time really getting to know Him - personally. It will change the way you see…well….Everything.  

Being

He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach Mark 3:14 (NIV)

Jesus came to this world to show us a better way. He came to reveal God to us. He came to a world that had religion so defined, there was no joy. There were lists upon lists of things to do. Everything was about what you were doing, how you were doing it and if you were doing it well enough.

And here we are today, somehow doing the same thing.

Jesus spent an entire night in prayer before he called the disciples (Luke 6). He was talking to and listening to His Father before he made this huge decision. I am sure there was some wrestling. I wonder if there was a lot of discussion about Judas. I wonder how he prayed over each and every person that was being considered. I wonder if he discussed their strengths and weaknesses. Gosh, I would love to hear that prayer so I could learn how to pray with the heart of Jesus.

He came off the mountain and offered the invitation to these men. But notice, he didn’t invite them to hone their skills. He didn’t invite them to use their gifts or work on their weaknesses. He didn’t even gift them a task at first. Mark says “he appointed the twelve that they might be with him.”

Before he sent them to preach, they needed to be with him. Before they were to cast out demons and heal the sick, they needed to spend time with him, learning who he was….who God was. They needed to live life together to see how his Kingdom worked. They would watch him love on people, speak into their hearts, heal them and lead them to God.

It was only after that, only after experiencing who he was, that they could even think about their calling.

Each one of us has been invited. We have been invited to “be with him.” Do we have gifts to use? Yes. I know lots of gifted people. Jen, is great at organizing things. Steve is amazing at orchestrating the flow of events. Roni is so creative when teaching children. There are so many people with extraordinary abilities. But that is not what Jesus wants from us first. First, he wants us to spend time with him. He wants our hearts. Nothing else matters.

When we spend time with him first, then and only then, are we able to truly live the life we are called to live. Only then will we make an impact in our world for his glory. Being a Christian is more about being than doing. Spend some time with Jesus just being. The doing will come. But when it does, it will be born from your heart, not your to do list.

Remaining

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. John 15:4 (NLT)

My husband and I were going away for the weekend to celebrate our anniversary. I’d been traveling for 3 weeks and we decided we needed some time away. A family member opened up their home by a beautiful lake for us to use so we decided to take food with us to eat at the house. The morning we were going to leave, we decided to go to the grocery store.

We walked in and were shocked. Quite a few of the tables that normally were laden with fruits and veges were bare. Most of the staples we buy were not to be found. It was pretty disconcerting. As we walked around the store, we noticed the same in the frozen vegetable isle, the bread isle, etc. We adjusted and bought some other things and were on our way.

As I said, I had been traveling for 3 weeks so we were running low on some essentials. Don’t laugh but toilet paper was one of them. We were hearing all the stories of people hoarding toilet paper. Hard to believe during a situation like this that that’s what people are focusing on. Anyway, we were in the country so we decided to look there to see if what we experienced was just a “city” thing or a phenomena all over. We tried a couple of stores and they had food, but no toilet paper. LOL!

I am not going to even try to figure out the psychology behind that. I was however trying to figure out what I was feeling in my own head. I am finding this whole experience disturbing. In America, most of us have more than enough. Some of us have more than enough in our pantries to keep us fed for a long time. Yet, we are so fearful of being without. Granted, there are people who are not in that situation….and I bet they are not the ones in the stores hoarding food. As I said, disturbing.

As I prayed about it, I heard God say “Remain in me.” We are branches connected to the Vine of Jesus Christ. We need to stay connected all the time. During scary, disconcerting times. During hard times of sickness or job loss. During times of abundance and times of lean. During happy times where we get to celebrate good things. We always need to stay connected so we can, no matter what our circumstances, share the Jesus we know.

Nick and I have made a decision that we will share what we have during this time, no matter what. Even if we think we don’t have enough, we are going to be Jesus with skin on. We are going to reach out our neighbors and folks we know to make sure they are doing OK. We are asking God to show us how to help where we can. There are a lot of people trying to do this.

I think the harder thing is to really stay connected. To trust that God’s got this and he is in it with us. To trust that no matter what is changing in our lives, no matter how upside down it feels that we are still in the care of a loving Father. Remain. Stay connected. No matter what.