In Acts 2:42-47, Luke gives us a description of the practices of the community that Jesus built. These believers were linked in fellowship as they centered their lives on Christ. They dedicated themselves to the apostles’ teachings and prayer, and the Holy Spirit transformed their lives into the image of their Savior. They were committed to meeting the needs of others, evidenced by their generosity.

Acts 2:42-47 (NIV)

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

The Apostles’ Teaching about the Mission of Christ

Through the apostles’ teaching, this community of believers had come to understand what God accomplished. They have heard the gospel. They have experienced the good news that God has achieved the salvation of the world through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ.

Today we have biblical texts that reveal what Jesus taught the apostles about His mission, like Luke 4:18-19, where He said that the Spirit of God was on Him and He was sent “to proclaim good news to the poor…to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

We have Christ’s commissions:

Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

John 20:21 (NIV)

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

A Missional Fellowship

These believers had started living as a family with God as their Father. They met in one another’s homes sharing meals and celebrating what God had done and was doing.

People long to have fellowship like theirs. But community can’t be the goal. If community is the goal, it becomes a destination rather than a dynamic. If the focus is on teaching, eating, fellowshipping, praying, and gathering and leaves out mission, God’s people turn inward and become immobilized. God intends for the community that Jesus builds to be a “missional” fellowship.

Acts 2 tells us that this community of believers enjoyed “the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

Their fellowship was more than a meeting. Their lives expressed the love and generosity they had experienced in Christ Jesus and they pressed outward to make disciples.

Christ’s Community on Mission

This new community was given a task. The mission of Jesus was to declare and demonstrate the good news, and His followers were sent with the same mission. They continue to declare and demonstrate God’s good news to others. They are now part of God’s reconciling mission to the world.

This fellowship of believers demonstrated the gospel by caring for the poor, the hurting, and those on the margins. Their transformed lives gave evidence to the good news they proclaimed. They were filled with joy and purpose and celebrated gathering together. They were bound together in love for God and one another. The very community into which they had been formed became a testimony and a witness through their words and deeds.

The message they declared was an invitation to follow Jesus and discover Him as the way, the truth, and the life. (John 14:6). It was an invitation to find God’s good news of forgiveness and liberation from bondage to sin through repentance. It was an invitation to find wholeness and fullness of life. It was an invitation to be part of the community of the redeemed where they could learn to fellowship with their Father and fellow believers and where they could be transformed into the image of their Savior.

God’s Mission Continues

Today, we must understand that this fellowship in which we are linked is more than a “holy huddle.” Our fellowship itself is to be extended to others. We are called to go and pursue Christ’s mission and make disciples who make disciples, inviting them into community with us so they might discover Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life.

These rhythms have repeated through the centuries and continue today. People whose lives are transformed by the good news gather in Christ’s community. They devote themselves to the apostles’ teaching and prayer, partnering in fellowship, breaking bread with glad and sincere hearts, living generous lives, going out to extend God’s good news to their family, friends, and neighbors. And they grow community day by day.

The community that Jesus builds is sent as a missionary to demonstrate and declare the gospel as it pursues the mission of God.

2 Corinthians 5:20 NIV

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.