They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers. Everyone around was in awe--all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common.
They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person's need was met.

They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved. (Acts 2:42-47 from The Message).

Over the last couple of weeks I have "run into" this verse a number of times. From a Sunday morning message, to a study with a friend, to a discussion with a group of people, this passage of scripture has been on my mind a lot lately. Perhaps that explains why in a couple of encounters I had last week, it seemed like the spirit of the passage came into play.

Thursday, when I was at the school in the afternoon, because of some changes in the junior high schedule, I had some free time. I ended up sitting with the teacher of the alternative education program whose class I had been helping out with since last October. He was thanking me for the support I had given them in this first year of the program. We got into a conversation about things of the scripture and how God sometimes uses teaching and/or circumstances outside our comfort zone to help us see things in new ways.

Rudy's son was killed in an accident a couple of years ago, and he was describing to me some of the things that he had experienced and how even in the midst of that tragedy that God worked. Rudy shared how they had ended up using the Matthew video from the Nooma series at Kyle's funeral as an alternative form of sharing the gospel. As we shared, there seemed to be a real sense of the kind of community that is described in Acts 2:24-47. There we were two believers sharing views and helping to bear one another's burdens. That is the kind of community that God intends us to live in.

Later that day Deb and I had dinner with John and Rhonda as we have gotten in the practice of doing. Afterwords I suggested that we go for a walk and talk about the scriptures -- things that we were to focus on -- in a more casual setting. We had a great time walking and talking and sharing from the scripture. After some time in prayer together, we started to walk back to where we were parked and Rhonda brought up a concern she has about her children. Before we parted company, we stopped where we were and held up the situation in prayer. Again I could not help but think about the passages from Acts.

More and more I am learning that to be true disciples and to create a real disciple making movement, we need to be in community and to be fully living out the things God instructs. We have to stop playing church and become The Church. It is a journey we are all on.