The Bible is clear concerning the mission of the Church. It is not complex - it is actually quite simple. The Great Commandment calls us to love God and others; the Great Commission calls us to share God’s story with all people. But how do we implement them both? Acts 2 creates an intentional journey for every church to follow. Join us as we examine the structure the earliest believers adopted in our new preaching series “Church: Defined”.

Questions for further study:

The Bible gives lots of examples that being a disciple of Christ has the dual meaning of being fully in Christ, and Christ being fully in us. (Galatians 2:20, Colossians 3:3, Romans 8:9-11, Galatians 3:28, John 15:1-17) Being in Christ has a lot to do with our identity, our redemption from sin, and our righteousness before God. Christ in us has a lot to do with our transformed attitudes and perspectives, and our power source. How have you experienced being in Christ, and Christ in you?

Read John 15:1-17. Apart from Christ we can do nothing, but if we remain in Him we will experience so much of His love that we can’t help but love Him back, and when we love Him back we’ll want to obey Him, and when we obey Him we will experience total joy (which will make us want to remain in Him all the more, and the cycle continues.) Part of this process of growing as disciples of Christ, is pruning. Jesus describes that God prunes the branches so that they will produce more fruit. When have you experienced this kind of pruning? What fruit came out of that experience?

The early church in Acts 2:42-47 was devoted (single-mindedly loyal) to the apostles' teaching, which was also the teachings of Jesus. How can you grow in your single-minded loyalty to study and follow God's Word? The early church also grew as new followers of Christ by spending lots of time in Christ-centered community to learn from one another. Who has God put in your life with whom you can journey toward greater maturity in Christ? How will you initiate conversation about what you're learning and experiencing as a disciple of Christ?

Additional scripture to study: Acts 2:42-47, John 15:1-17