ACTS 2:46

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 favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. 

TO PONDER 

 I have met a surprising number of people in my life journey who have told me they don’t go or need to go to church to be a Christian, that their walk with God is ‘personal’. 

In yesterday’s verse we looked at the two questions we all face during life; “who am I and what am I here?” We really only answered the first question and looked at our identity. We are a child of God, our identity is in Him. Today’s verses explore the second of those questions; “What am I here for?” 

Today’s verses demonstrate a truth about our identity, the truth about who we are as a child of God. See God didn’t stop at Jesus as an only child of God, he made a way for us to be children of God. God doesn’t have only ‘childs’, God doesn’t have grandchildren, God doesn’t have fatherless children, God has a family that we are part of. 

The word ‘church’ used in the bible is the Greek word ‘ekklēsia’ which is ‘a group of people gathered together’. The early church met together in the temple courts, in their homes and shared meals together, they became church, they didn’t stay alone, hidden away in their own homes, they became church together. They knew you couldn’t be church on your own. 

As a result of fulfilling the “why’ of the “who” they discovered God’s purpose. They discovered that if they became church, became family others would notice and want to become family too. 

PRAYER 

Father God, I thank you that my identity and purpose are in you as I have been adopted into your family and as I live in this identity, loving as you loved, others will see and become family. Amen. 

Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside