United We Stand, Divided We Fall

And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had. They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity-all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved. Acts 2:44-47 (NLT)

The writer of Acts tells us in Acts 2:42 that the early church was distinguished by 4 things. They were devoted to:

• The apostles' teaching
• Fellowship with one another
• "Breaking of bread"
• Prayer.

It is just as important today for us to be devoted to the Word of God as it was in the 1st century church. A well known author states: "When the people of God, united in His name, proclaim the Word of God, they can turn their world upside down." The early church definitely turned their world upside down! But, they were not only devoted to the Word, but also to fellowship with one another. Real Biblical fellowship requires face-to-face communication, whether in New Testament times or in today's Internet times.

Why are relationships so important? Apart from God Himself, there will only be two things in eternity: God's Word and God's people, living in relationship with Him. This reality alone should serve as a wake-up call to all of us. We should be striving to have God-honoring relationships in our lives. I know people who are looking forward to Heaven to "get away from certain people" (often in our own churches). What they forget is that many of those people they are longing to escape from will be with them for eternity!

Luke's reference to "the fellowship" implies that there was something unique in the gatherings of the early believers. One of those things is found in Acts 4:32: "All the believers were one in heart and mind." The whole congregation was united to one another in their allegiance to Jesus.

What about you? Are you striving to have God-honoring relationships? Are you diligently striving to be of one heart and mind with other Christians? This is what we are called to do. Take a look at your relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ. Does it mimic those of the first century church? Just think, if it did, we would turn our community and our town upside down and isn’t that our goal?