Acts 2.

Have you ever really examined the purpose of the Church? I don’t mean the point of your Sunday morning service at your favorite Church, with your favorite worship band and your favorite coffee kiosk. I mean the actual Church.

The Body of Christ.

His beloved.
His bride.

I know, personally, I hadn’t. Until very recently, I have never fully comprehended the purpose and/or benefit of the Church; it was simply a term I have misinterpreted for a long time.

I was missing the point, though. Brutally.

Here’s what the Lord has shown me: when we don’t live as the Church, we don’t live like Christ.

Allow me to explain.

It’s so easy to do life by yourself. Unfortunately, this schema has gotten dragged into the Church. David Platt mentions that it’s said today by many, well meaning, Christians, “I don’t need to do life with anyone. I just love Jesus!” Now, were using Christ as an excuse for something He directly speaks against.

It just doesn’t line up. We’re somehow missing it. We go to the Church but forsake being the Church.

So, what’s it supposed to look like?

I can’t help but wonder what ever happened to life as written about in Acts 2.Here’s what it says: 

They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belonging and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. (Vs. 42, 44, 45)

These early apostles were living together. They were doing life together.

It doesn't look the same today.

Why? How’d we get so far off of the life Christ died for us to live?

Bluntly: we’ve become Christians full of pride; we’ve become prideful of our relationship with the Lord causing us to no longer need to do life with others. We take our eyes off of the Gospel for all nations and focus them on ourselves.

Subtly, Satan begins to fill our minds with, “me,” rather than, “the Kingdom.”

Paul speaks to this in 2 Corinthians 10:7 saying, “Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we.”

I can picture Paul yelling, “Look! Look what’s before your eyes! We follow Christ, too. You aren’t the only one!”

Truth is, we need to hear that. We forget that we’re simply one building block in the Church of Christ; the very Church that Christ gave himself up for (Eph. 5:25). We are one building block that rests upon and around other blocks. We need fellow laborers in Christ; or else, our block is useless.

That’s life in Christ. Without the fellowship and life with other followers, we become ineffective for the Gospel. We need them. I need them.

Jesus prays in John 17, “…may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

The body of Christ living in Christ is the greatest witness for Christ.

Do you hear that?

Our most effective tool of evangelism is doing live with others, in Christ. 

That is the purpose of the Church.

We are His body.

We are His bride.
We are His witness.
We are His!

WE. Not, just you. Or me. We, are His.

We can’t forsake this anymore. When we forsake this, we forsake Christ.

Lets live life together for the sake of the Gospel in order to spread the Gospel.

Lets live as Christ did.

Lets live like Acts 2.

Join me.

There is one body and one Spirit- just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

(Eph. 4:4-6)