Acts 2 Church - A Fellowshipping Church

We have been looking at the four characteristics that the Acts 2 Church put into practice. When they put these four characteristics into practice, the result was wonders and miracles, changed lives, and a transformed community.

These are the four traits that God would love for us to practice. The first was that they were a church devoted to learning the truths of God.

The second thing the Acts 2 Church committed themselves to is that they were a fellowshipping church. “They devoted themselves to fellowship.”

• There's a problem with this word fellowship. Because when I hear the word fellowship, I think of casseroles, potlucks, and donuts. But this is not what this word means. There is so much more to what Biblical fellowship means than merely gathering for a meal or snack to hang out.
• The Greek word for fellowship is κοινωνια or "koinonia". This word refers to what we share in common with one another.
• The word has two references in terms of what Christ-followers share in common.
  o First, is our common inheritance in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This is the reason why Christians refer to one another as brothers and sisters.
  o Second, what we share in common in terms of what we give as well as what we receive from one another.
  
• vv.44-45, “All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.“
• Run that by me again? Are you serious? Does God expect us to sell everything and give to the church?
  
• Some minority groups of Christians throughout the history of the church have experimented with this without much success.
• While Jesus may call some Christ-followers to live this out literally, that’s not what the Bible teaches. Jesus did not forbid owning private property. The New Testament church did not forbid private property.
• What the Bible calls us to is faithful stewardship or management.
• The point is that when Christ-followers see a need, there is an explosion of generous giving and genuine caring.
  
• Because we have been touched by the heart of God, the things that break the heart of God begin breaking our hearts and we cannot help but respond with generous giving and genuine caring.
• This was the second trait of the Acts 2 Church, and this is the second trait we need to put into action.