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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | how do we benefit from serving in church | Acts 2:42 | sarahcitychurch | 187230 | ||
how do we enefit when we serve in gods house? | ||||||
2 | how do we benefit from serving in church | Acts 2:42 | Hank | 187231 | ||
sara - Your question may draw more expansive answers than what I'm going to give you, but I don't know of one that is more succinct and to the point than that drawn from Scripture itself. In this case my text is Acts 2:42 wherein Luke writes of the early church, "They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." ...... Let's now look at these four things one at a time. ....... (1) The apostles' teaching. This means the inspired teachings of the apostles, delivered orally at first, and now preserved in the New Testament. Persevering in the apostles' doctrine was one of the first religious exercises of the New Testament church after Pentecost, and a survey of of Acts and the Pauline letters leads one to draw a strong inference that it was of paramount importance. Doctrinal purity was essential to a New Testament church in apostolic times and it is no less essential in ours. ....... (2) Fellowship. One of the evidences of regeneration has always been the regenerate believer's desire to be with the people of God and share things in common with them. There was then and is still a sense of being separated from the world as a worshiper in the house of God in the company of the redeemed. Those who attach so little importance to worshiping, working and serving within the church among other believers are running counter to the example of the early church that Luke gives us in this passage from Acts. .......(3) The breaking of bread. This phrase in this context can be in reference to nothing else but the celebration of the Lord's Supper, one of two ordinances of the church (the other is believer's baptism). ....... (4) Prayers. This was the fourth principal practice of the early church. "The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" and Scripture teaches the Lord's people to pray, privately and corporately. Given the emphasis that our Lord, first of all, then Paul and the other apostles, placed upon prayer, it is fairly certain that the church of antiquity that zealously followed "the apostles' doctrine" was a church that spent much time in prayer. ...... In this post I've attempted to answer at least one aspect of your question by listing in order those four practices set down by Luke that were common to the early church of Christ. Though it's true, sad to say, that these practices have not always been adhered to by all who profess to be Christian. Not everyone pays heed to that segment of "the apostles' doctrine" that says to preach the word or to the warning about the time when some people will no longer endure sound doctrine. (See 2 Timothy 4:2-5). ...... One final comment regarding the phrasing of your question. In contemplation of God's amazing grace and holiness, should our sole aim not be to enter into God's house in a spirit of worship, praise and thanksgiving to Him who gave His only Son that we, believing on Him, should not perish but have eternal life? Shouldn't this be our one desire and purpose as we enter into God's house? And not therefore to ask, or be motivated by a consideration of, how WE benefit when we serve in God's house? --Hank | ||||||
3 | how do we benefit from serving in church | Acts 2:42 | azurelaw | 187241 | ||
Amen, brother Hank, to your last few lines. Shalom Azure P.S. Oops, I'm in the middle of cooking my dinner. Gotta go. Hope not to spoil my dish :) |
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