The Mission of Christ – The Mission of the Church Acts 2:42-47
The Mission of Christ – The Mission of the Church Acts 2:42-47
The early Church was fully focused on Jesus, and the task he had given them.
After the resurrection Jesus left his disciples, ascended into heaven, and sent the Holy Spirit to be with the new believers at Pentecost. They were now energetically studying the teaching of the disciples – which of course was all about Jesus and his fulfillment of the OT hope for the Messiah. They shared this new found joy with each other and anyone who would receive it.
Today traditional Christian churches are shrinking in Australia for various reasons. People are no longer connected to a denomination for life. Families are smaller and the biological growth of the church is not keeping up with the numbers of those who are dying. And the church is slow to relate to the needs of a changing world.
The reality is that we are no longer a Christian Country, and we now live in the mission field. There are many people around us who do not know Jesus and they long to hear of God’s grace and love for them.
For these reasons it is important for each of our churches to focus on reaching out to the community and welcoming new people. No matter if we are large or small, old or young.
When we look closely at the early church in Acts 2, we get a sense for what was happening;
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. Acts 2:42-47
Can we imagine God doing this amongst us today. Adding to our number daily (or at least monthly).
When I pause and take a close examination of our churches, I see that we are doing many of the same things that the early church did. We celebrate Holy Communion and worship weekly. We share what we have with each other. We pray. God does miracles amongst us from time to time.
But some of our churches fall short when it comes to the reading of the Word of God, and we seldom eat with others, other than our own family.
What would happen if we all discussed the bible weekly with others in our church and ate leisurely meals with our neighbors or acquaintances and included people who do not know Jesus. If we did so with joy and gladness, surely, we would see new people joining our communities of faith.
On a recent tour of the New Zealand Lutheran churches, Pr Richard Schwedes and I observed that in each instance where they were having weekly bible discussions together, where they were also eating together weekly, and doing so with joy and gladness, they were receiving new people into their midst. Whether they were large churches or small churches. The pattern was the same.
Of course, doing these things in and of themselves does not make the church grow automatically. But when the joy and gladness we have from knowing that Jesus Christ is alive and with us every day, we reflect the heart of God. When people sense his wonderful nature through us, this attracts people to join our communities of faith.
As I step down from my role as bishop of the NSW and ACT district, my prayer for each pastor and each member of each congregation is that the Holy Spirit helps you see afresh that Jesus is alive and accompanies you through all of your life and that this then fills you with such immense joy and gladness. Knowing Christ and being part of Christ’s mission makes living, an exciting adventure.
Bishop Robert Bartholomaeus
May 2024
