What are the essential marks of a church?
I have grown up in church my entire life. Surprisingly, the church I attended all my growing up years, Mountain Park First Baptist Church in Stone Mountain, Georgia was founded only in 1960. When I moved to Kentucky, I pastored a church that celebrated its 225th anniversary. My last church, Deep Creek Baptist Church of Harrodsburg, KY was founded in 1796, just 20 years after America gained her independence. That is some rich history. I loved being a part of churches with such long lasting heritage. That is over 200 years of faithfulness to Jesus! That ought to be celebrated! Those small churches that sit among cow pastures and horse farms, while declining in number, are still filled with believers who love Jesus, sing the old hymns, and gather to hear God’s Word.
But let’s be honest with each other, with so much time that has passed in many of those churches (over two centuries), sometimes its east to lose focus of what we really are supposed to be committed to. Often, these churches determine their comittments based on loyalty to tradition over loyalty to God’s Word.
That’s not just a problem with old churches. It’s a significant problem with new churches too. New churches who want to be culturally relevant, often let culture determine their commitments and values, over God’s Word. I am suggesting that God’s Word ought to determine what the church ought to be committed to and that Word should shape who we are.
In Acts 2:42-47, we see the first church gathering, after Peter preached the famous Pentecost sermon where 3,000 people were pierced to the heart and responded to the gospel in repentance and faith. I would have loved to have been there to see such an outpouring of God’s Spirit saving so many people at once! But what did they do after that is what’s important.
They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.
We see several things that marked this first church that I believe ought to be a mark of every church of the Lord Jesus.
They were committed to biblical preaching and teaching. It says they continually devoted themselves to the apostles teaching. This was the first thing mentioned. The teaching of the Word shaped everything else they did. First and foremost, churches today must be shaped by God’s Word, over tradition and over culture.
They were committed to biblical fellowship and unity. The word for fellowship, literally means partnership. They were united together in the gospel. It says later on that they had “all things in common.” I don’t think that means they all liked the same foods, had the same favorite color, or even struggled with the same sins. But in the things that mattered, things pertaining to the gospel and sound doctrine, they were in unity and enjoyed a sweet fellowship with one another.
They were committed to remembering Christ’s sacrifice through the ordinances . It says they devoted themselves to the breaking of bread. This could refer just to sharing meals together, but that is brought up later. I believe this is in reference to the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper. The devoted to remembering the sacrifice of Jesus by regularly breaking the bread together. Right before this, they all had been baptized as a response to their faith in Christ. Since they have been baptized, symbolizing their new life in Jesus, they regularly break the bread together to remember Christ’s body that was broken and torn, as He died in their place.
They were committed to prayer. These were not just ritualistic prayers like the pagans prayed with their repetitive chants. This was not the prayers of the Pharisees who prayed on the street corners to be seen by men and be praised for their public piety. They poured their hearts out to God in complete dependance because they know who they are apart from him. They pour out the hearts in genuine praise because they know God has saved them from despair and torment. It is a joy to gather Sunday evenings here at FSBC and pray with God’s people. I pray that we will always be people of prayer and never lose sight of our utter dependance on God.
They were committed to a spirit of awe for who God is and what he was doing in their midst. It says everyone kept feeling a sense of awe. Signs and wonders were still being done. The Spirit of God was moving among them. This should characterize every believer when we come before God in worship. We ought to be in awe of who God is: the all knowing, all powerful, all wise, sovereign holy, faithful and benevolent God, who sent his son Jesus to save us from our sin. Are you in awe of God? Is you churched marked by an awe of God?
They were committed to loving one another and caring for one another. It says they were together, had all things and common, and based on their partnership, and their deep fellowship and unity, they manifested that in their love and care for one another. The text says they literally would sell their stuff so that they can give the money to whoever had need. While the certainly involved serving those outside, I believe it is referring to caring for another within the context of the fellowshipping community. This is the blessing of being a part of a church, is being loved on and cared for like family.
They were committed to ongoing community. It says they met daily in the temple, and they also broke bread from house to house. I believe this reference to breaking bread is reference to sharing their meals together, considering it was done from house to house, and it says right after that they were taking their meals together. They didn’t just go to church on Sundays and say, “have a great week.” They were involved in each others life, and shared meals together throughout the week? A healthy church isn’t just one with really good expositional preaching. A healthy church is one that is seen sharing meals together throughout the week. When is the last time you and another church member family had dinner together in yours or their home.?
They were a joyful and worshipping church. As they gathered it says they did so with gladness, and they were praising God. People that have been saved by God’s grace should be filled with gladness and ought to be praising God every chance they get.
They were reputable with outsiders. Their faithfulness to the Word, to prayer, and to loving one another in tangible ways, people were hearing about this church! They were literally selling their stuff so they could help their fellow church members in need. Sure, it was still a church filled with 3,000 sinners. I’m sure that first business meeting got interesting. But, despite whatever imperfections marked the first group of fellowshipping believers, people could say they were faithful to God’s Word, they believed in the power of prayer, and they loved one another deeply. That kind of impact on a community produced tangible results.
They were a growing church. Notice that it says the Lord was adding to their number those who were being saved. Salvation is God’s business. Sure, they shared the gospel with people. Sure their faithfulness to the apostles teaching and love for one another drew people in, but it was God who was doing the saving. They were faithful to what God called them to, and God was saving people, and the church was growing. When we fail to realize that it is God who saves, then we will soon quickly abandon those things God has called us to be faithful to, and we will soon employ worldly methods to draw a crowd and grow numbers. No, the church was faithful to biblical teaching, genuine community, radical love, and people were hearing about it, and God was saving people.
While we could certainly add more things to this list by looking through the New Testament, such as biblical church leadership, biblical membership and discipline, these things marked that first gathering of fellowshipping believers, and certainly should increasingly characterize our churches today.
