Tuesday, June 26th
Read: Acts 2
It is generally accepted that this passage relates the start of the church. This is huge. God’s Church, the body of Christ begins here at Pentecost by the formal introduction of the Holy Spirit to the world. The Church is something that God initiated. He defines it and gives life to it.
The key verse of Acts 2 is verse 1, “. . . they were all with one accord in one place . . .” The people of the first Church were different. They each had different gifts, they looked different, some even spoke different languages, but they were all gathered together and held the same focus. They were all meditating on and serving God. They weren’t worried what others were doing or thinking of them. They weren’t thinking primarily of their families, or what was for dinner or even what to wear the next day—imagine that! They each had their minds and hearts set on God in worship. And look what happened! They were all baptized with the Holy Spirit so that God would be glorified for all to see.
Unity isn’t about uniformity—everybody coming together and being the same. Unity is about a bunch of different people coming together and being able to work together for one purpose. God made each one of us differently. He has chosen each one of us for a specific purpose. In the body of Christ all parts are needed to accomplish the job successfully.
1 Corinthians 12:12-13 says: “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” So we need all parts to make the Body of Christ work!
Verses 42-47 state that the people of the church were always together. This is what the revolutionary church should look like. The church body should be our main focus—it should be our lives! God created us for community and in that we should be together always fellowshipping, edifying each other and, especially, working together for the salvation of others.
God will bless us, even in our vast differences. Think of how much you are already blessed with the time you spend with the church body. Wouldn’t there be even more blessings and more miracles the more time you spend together and learn how to work together for His glory and honor?
Process:
– How much time do you spend with those in your church family? Are you getting to know everybody in your church or do you stick to the same group of people every Sunday?
– What are you doing to edify the church body that you belong to? How is God using you within the greater church? How does he want you to function within the Church?
As Christians we should be celebrating our differences and working hard together to save others!
Youth Department