Are we doing the right things?

Ever wonder if we are doing the right things as a church?

Acts 2:42 gives us a snapshot of the first moments of the new church. It is shortly after the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came on the disciples. Three thousand people were saved that day.

Acts 2:42 tells us that "they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."

These are still the basic functions of the church. That hasn't changed.

Doctrine
The teachings of the Apostle's are listed first. Even before fellowship. These teachings formed a new basis for fellowship. No longer would the teachings of Moses be at the center, rather the teachings of Jesus would be front and center.

Fellowship
Next was fellowship. They quickly fell into opposition as their own family members rejected them. Jesus had warned the church it would be this way. They were formed into a new family, the church.

Break of Bread
Jesus had modeled this to them. They way that He had spread the word was often through eating a meal at someone's house. And it didn't matter if that person was a sinner or Gentile. They all needed what He had to bring into the house. And the Apostles carried on this tradition. They went house to house breaking bread.

Prayer
Who would be bold enough to say that they pray enough? This text tells us that they devoted themselves to constant prayer. And they saw changes as a result. Is the reason we don't see our communites turning to Christ a lack of prayer on our part?

Conclusions
If our church is formed around these same four things then it seems like we are probably basically on the right track.

The quality of these four things is another matter altogether. For us, it can be a reminder to return to our first love. We should be devoting ourselves to each of these things. Perhaps then we will begin to see our world turned upside down like the early Christians.