Remembering Christ in Authentic Community

Pastor did an amazing job yesterday contrasting a church full of disconnected tourists to one where people are intentional about living the Jesus Way through Community.

I would like to make a few comments about one of the verses Pastor read yesterday, specifically Acts 2:46, which says, "They worshipped together at the Temple each day, broke bread in their homes, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity."

Pastor discussed how life groups are going to be one of the primary opportunities people have to experience continual discipleship (or learning about and growing in the Jesus Way) within MCAG. So how does this happen? I think this one verse tells us a lot about how discipleship can occur in the context of home-based small groups within a church.

Consider the phrase , " (they) broke bread in their homes".

As you might expect this phrase is not just referring to the act of eating meals together, which we all know is a very holy and sacred tradition within the church (especially when it involves a group of friends around my wife's Taco Ring).

Luke, the author of Acts, is very intentional to point us to a discipline that Christ instructed the disciples to follow. The church traditionally calls this communion. Prior to the crucifixion, Jesus and the disciples shared a meal together. The book of Luke records the story of this meal in this way, "And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, " This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you."

Simply put the act of communion reminds us about the salvation Jesus provided through his crucifixion.

So every time an early-church "life group" met, one of their priorities was to remember and reflect upon the crucifixion of Christ and what it meant.

Also, remember that there were thousands of foreigners in Jerusalem that made up this early church. They had no where to stay except in the homes of other believers. For them the act of communion looked a lot different than what we typically experience today because it happened in their homes and it happened daily. With every meal, a group of believers would intentionally recall the death of Jesus and would likely discuss how this had and would change their lives forever.

Consider these questions:

1) How would your life be transformed if you found a group of believers where you regularly discussed the life, the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus?

2) What if this group moved beyond simple social politeness and common interests into honest and engaging relationships?

3) What if this group rejoiced in your triumphs and shared in your struggles as you seek to follow Christ?

4) What if this group of believers did not rush through a meal just to finish it and be done but used it as an opportunity to invest time in one another and deliberately discuss the Way of Jesus?

Welcome to MCAG Life Groups.

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Chad Quarles

MCAG Outreach Coordinator