There are a lot of different opinions today in the church about what they should give their time and resources to.  Many churches tend to major on one or two ministries to the neglect of others.

What ministries should a church be devoted to?  As long as a church goes by the opinions of their leadership and people, they will never find the answer to that question.  Once again, the Word of God gives us clear guidelines to follow.  The first local church in Jerusalem provides a biblical model for churches (Acts 2:41-47).  Verse 42 says “they were continually devoting themselves” to certain ministries.

 

Every local church should be devoted to…

 

1.  Teaching and Learning the Word of God.  These believers devoted themselves to “the apostles’ teaching” (doctrine, v. 42a).  The apostles’ doctrine is recorded in the New Testament and is based on the teachings of Jesus.  This should be a major emphasis in every church, in the pulpit, in small groups, and in one to one discipleship.  This is the only way believers are going to grow spiritually (1 Peter 2:2).

 

2.   Christ-Centered Worship.  This church devoted themselves to “breaking of bread” (The Lord’s Supper), “prayer,” as well as “teaching” (v. 42b).  These are activities of worship.  True worship is when the leaders are the prompters, the congregation is the participants, and God is the audience.  Worship should never be man-centered (talking about ourselves) or used to promote our latest project.  It should always be Christ-centered.

 

3.   Genuine Fellowship.  This church continually devoted themselves to “fellowship” (v. 42b).  Fellowship is not a social event.  Genuine fellowship is building relationships, praying for one another, supporting and caring for one another, and being accountable to one another (vv. 44-45).  This is why small groups are so important in a ministry.

 

4.   Proclaiming the Gospel.  This church started with 3,000 plus people (v. 41) and “the lord was adding to their number” daily (v. 47).  A church should use every available means to proclaim the gospel (preaching, personal witness, writing, radio, etc.).  It is the power of the gospel that saves people (Romans 1:16).

 

The term “devoting” (v. 42) means “persistence” or “persevering.”  These are the ministries every church should give themselves whole-heartedly to.