Gathering
Housegroup Notes
w/c 18th September 2022
Pathways: GATHERING (Acts 2 verses 42-47)
Prepared by the Revd Malcolm Raby
BACKGROUND: The birth of a new baby brings new responsibilities and new challenges. Try to imagine how the disciples of Jesus must have felt on the Day of Pentecost when 3,000 people made a Christian commitment! There were about 120 believers at that time (Acts 1.15). It is important to note that no attempt was made to disciple these new converts on a 1-1 basis. Not all 3,000 would have stayed in Jerusalem since many had come from far and wide to join the Festival celebrations but there would still have been a huge logistical challenge. So they followed Jesus’ model of “making disciples”. It was not the job of the teacher to pursue his passive pupils – it was up to the pupils to follow their master and learn from him. “Follow me” was Jesus’ command.
So what did they do? They set up structures and meetings which are still followed by many local churches today. They organized large scale meetings in the temple courts (most of the new converts would have been Jews) and they established an informal network of smaller house meetings. It was this structure which ensured that the Church did not sink under the weight of its new success.
And the growth did not stop …2.47; 5.42; 6.7.
Consider the structures that are in place in our own church? Do they meet the needs of true believers? Would these structures stand if, say, 100 people joined the church after a week of mission?
Look at verse 42. What do you think is meant by “they continued steadfastly? They had made a commitment to follow Jesus, now they wanted to learn more. How committed are you to learning more about your faith? You might like to share ways in which you do this personally? (This is to encourage others and not an opportunity for boasting!)
What is meant by the “apostles’ doctrine”?
How do you understand the word “fellowship”?
What do you think is meant by “breaking of bread”?
They also shared together in prayer – how might they have done this? How important is prayer (a) in your own life; (b) in the life of your housegroup; (c) in the life of our church?
Look at verse 43. The presence and power of God was clearly at work. Should we expect to see evidence of this in the life of our church today? Or were these “signs and wonders” limited to the time of the apostles? Where God is truly at work, should we not expect miracles to happen?
Look at verses 44-47. Was the way the first Christians responded a model for all time, or was it limited to that particular situation? What does it mean to have “everything in common”? Are there any lessons we can learn from these verses? We read that “all the believers were together” (44). How might that have worked out in practice? Are there ways in which we could be “all together” in the life of our church?
Just as a biological family shares shelter, food, money etc so did the early Christians. We live in very different times but are there ways we could/should express that common life and bond which we should have with other Christians?
Bringing it all together …
Imagine a world without Christianity. What might your reaction be if you suddenly found yourself caught up in this pattern of teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayers?
Are these four elements all equally important? What risks does a church face if any one of these is absent or neglected?
PRAYER
Pray that the four elements we have been looking at might be truly evident in the life of our church.
Dare we pray that the Lord would add to our numbers (If not daily, then monthly) “those who were being saved”?
Pray that God would show you ways in which your housegroup might support and encourage one another even more than at present.
The following notes are intended primarily for housegroup leaders, but are available to all
Two key questions asked by many Christians are:
1 How can I grow as a Christian?
2 How can my church grow?
This passage gives the answer!
VERSE 42
“Continued steadfastly” = “a steadfast and single-minded fidelity to a certain course of action.”
“Apostles’ doctrine” = the New Testament. We should not seek to be original in what we teach or preach. We don’t have our own doctrine, only that recorded in the New Testament.
“Fellowship” = KOINONIA (Greek), a sharing. We share in common a number of things, such as:
- Same Lord Jesus Christ
- Same guidance for how to live
- Same love for God and neighbour
- Same desire to worship
- Same struggles and victories
- Same joy of sharing our faith Anything else to add?
“Breaking of bread”. Even though they lived so close to the death and resurrection of Jesus, they made sure that they did not forget what Jesus had done for them. Indeed, Jesus had commanded “Do this in remembrance of me.” So this raises a number of important questions:
- How important is this in our own lives/life of our church?
- How often should we share together in this way (i.e. celebration of Holy Communion)?
- What is an appropriate way to do this?
“in prayer”. Whenever God’s work is done, we gather together to worship and pray. The Greek here = “THE prayers” so this refers to something formal in the life of the church.
Everything that follows in the New Testament flows from this foundation: word/fellowship/remembrance/prayers. This does not mean that everything was perfect in those early days – just look at the rest of the book of Acts and the letters!
VERSES 44-47. What we don’t know is how many of the 3,000 remained in Jerusalem. No doubt many would have returned to their homes (carrying their new faith with them) but we can assume a considerable number became part of the church in Jerusalem. How would they be provided for, especially those who stayed and had no home, no job … At major Jewish festivals (such as Pentecost) visitors were warmly welcomed into private homes. It would have been unthinkable to charge for giving a bed or supplying a visitor’s basis needs. So did those first Christians (most coming from a Jewish background) pick up on this and make it an everyday activity?
It is unlikely that these first believers sold the houses in which they lived, since they continued to meet in individual homes. It is more likely that they sold extra property that they possessed, a highly significant thing for Jews for whom land was not just an economic asset but part of their ancestral heritage.
(cf Acts 4.36-37; 1 Kings 21.3)
This sharing in a common life was not a great success and, reading Paul’s letters, it seems that the Jerusalem church was in constant need of financial support. Furthermore we have no evidence as to how long this practice continued. This is not to say that we should not challenge ourselves as to the level of sharing that should take place among Christians.