Archive for The Gospel in Acts
Bock on Acts 2:42-47
This week in our Sunday gathering we’ll be covering the oft cited beginnings of the church from Acts 2:42-47. The following is a challenging and helpful summary of this passage by commentator Darrell Bock (BECNT):
Everything about the Gospels and Acts tells us that God’s people are to take the initiative to show community and serve those around them. Much in Western culture drives us to an individualism that undercuts this development of community. We are taught to have things our own way and that being able to have our individual needs catered to is how to measure the success of an organization. In our culture, our individual needs and rights come before any needs of the group. The biblical picture is not of what someone receives from the church, although one does receive a great deal, but of what one gives and how one contributes to it. The portrait of the early church in Acts shows that community and the welfare of the group were a priority. In the case of this earliest community, the believer’s preaching was matched by their community, making a powerful testimony for their mission. When the early church said that God cared, the care they gave their own demonstrated this.
