Last week, we read of the Holy Spirit coming in power on Pentecost and essentially creating the church. What happened to all those people after they were saved? Did they just go on living the same lives they always lived? No, something changed. In fact, there whole lives were turned upside down.

Here’s what happened:

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the templetogether and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
-Acts 2:42-47

Luke explains that the church was devoting themselves to four things: apostles’ teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and the prayers. Some of these are more obvious than others. The apostles teaching is both Old Testament Scriptures and much of what would become our New Testament. The fellowship is the living out of the “one another’s” that we often talk about: love, care for, rejoice with, rebuke… one another. The breaking of bread is gathering for the taking of the Lord’s supper, and of course, prayers meant… praying together.

Essentially, the church can be summed up as devoting themselves to: Scripture, Fellowship, Worship, and Prayer.

Every church will do these things to one degree or another. Some are strong in areas that others are weak. The key is that a healthy church will be pursuing faithfulness in each of these. Certainly, it may look different than the context of Acts 2, but all these things serve as the foundations of a healthy church.

So take some time to reflect on your church or small group community.

How are you living out a devotion to Scripture, fellowship, worship and prayer? How can you begin pursuing these things and leading others to do the same?