And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Yesterday we talked about the four disciplines of Christian community, modeled by the early church. Today we get to hear about the fruits of this disciplined life.

There is no shortcut or fancy way to get here. It just takes hard spiritual work. I once went to a church where the pastor decided to change the disciplines but attach the same results. He said that if we promoted the church, invited people to church, put bumper stickers of the church on our vehicles, that we, too, would experience what the early church did here in Acts 2. He was preaching a heresy.

How do I know this? It was obvious for two reasons: 1) I knew scripture and it did not line up to anything in scripture, and 2) the Spirit of God was grieved inside me to the point that my gut wrenched in church listening to this.

This pastor was bold in his heresy, and he also was held and will be held to account for this false teaching. This church was torn apart for a time, many left, and the pastor left too. I am happy to see that it has stabilized once again.

But what this pastor did out front in his false teaching, many of us can do in our hearts with this passage too.  I have heard so many church-goers state that no one should expect that we should live to this extreme lifestyle that the early church did. It is too much to ask. We must ask ourselves: “Is it really too much to ask?”

Let’s look at what they did and experienced: 1) Everyone was filled with “awe”.  I used to think this “awe” came from the signs and wonders they saw, but that is not the order of the passage here. The disciplines of Godly teaching, fellowship, eating together, and prayer made the Spirit of God flow strongly among them as they unified together. This was the reason for the “awe”, and the miracles, signs, and wonders were the fruit of this living and this filling of the Holy Spirit, described as being filled with “awe”. 2) They were together, they met daily, they sold property and shared with anyone who had need.  Generosity of spirit is more than just giving things. This is talking about a sharing of life, its ups and downs, and naturally, as they became the family of God together, they also shared their resources with each other. 3) They ate together and praised God for all he had given them: for daily provisions, for richness in relationship, and for a filling of the Holy Spirit that produced the “awe” effect. 4) They prayed together. This was the undercurrent that continued to bind them together as they communed with God in prayer. Prayer works! And it draws us close to the heart of God. We get to know him, and he knows us. We allow God, through humility, by placing him on the throne of our lives, to give us good gifts and fill us with his presence!

Thank you, Lord, for your model of a vibrant Christian community … a vibrant church. You knew we needed it spelled out specifically, as sinful men over time would try to water down this formula for church growth spiritually. But you reign and you know what we need. Condition my heart to the disciplines of Godly teaching, fellowship, eating together, and prayer with other believers. Help me to seek it more frequently and in bigger ways, Lord!