A Baby Picture of the Church-November 2022
The hypothetical house fire is an awful thing to consider, but it can be a good test of what we value in terms of our material possessions. If we awakened in the middle of the night to smoke and flames and only had minutes to escape, first and foremost, with all of our loved ones, what else would we grab and take with us to save from the inferno?
Answers vary from jewelry boxes, to guns, to insurance papers and the laptop, but the most consistent item is the family album. Why? It’s not because it’s worth anything. It has no intrinsic value. It’s a treasure to us because the family album is the pictorial story of our lives – the wedding pictures, the baby pictures, the graduation pictures, and family trips and holiday gatherings. Every picture tells a story about our identity and the people we know as family.
We love those baby pictures of the kids and treasure them the most. I suspect this is true because these are pictures of them in their innocence. Baby pictures preserve those initial glimpses into the faces and features that we recognize in the family’s DNA – the noble noses, the side-mirror ears, the dark set eyes, the high cheek bones, and brag-worthy brow. Even in those precious baby pictures we see traits and characteristics of our ancestors.
One way to understand the Bible is to see it as God’s family album. It contains countless word pictures of our ancestors. It’s the story of our lives, where we come from, and how we arrived at this place and time, and how the Father of all mankind loved us before the world began. It’s the story of our fall from grace, our ancient foe, and the Father’s plan to restore us to our true selves, and our true identity, through the cross and resurrection of the Lord Jesus and to make us his very own children, transforming us through the Spirit into the image and likeness of Christ.
In Acts 2, following the birth of the New Testament church on the Day of Pentecost with the coming of the promised Holy Spirit upon the 120 believers, Luke provides us with a remarkable word picture of the baby church. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:42-47 NIV).
This is a beautiful picture of the early church, but even in its infancy, Luke shows us some of the prominent features, characteristics, and traits of our spiritual forebearers. Looking closely at this picture, I think we can spot a number of family traits that have been passed on to us to one degree or another.
- I see a communal lifestyle of togetherness. They did a lot of life together from day-to-day. A strong bond of love unites them in their common call of God and union with Christ.
- I see a deep devotion to God, to one another, and to growing as Christ-followers in the Word, in love, and in prayer.
- I see a church willing to be used of God to demonstrate his mighty power so that the people of Jerusalem were filled with awe at what they saw.
- I see a radical generosity of substance and Spirit.
- I see an unapologetic, public worship of God that had phenomenal evangelistic results.
It’s important to keep in mind that this is just a snapshot of the church just days after its birth, still full of the Spirit, still exuberant in the conversion and baptism of about three thousand souls, and still unified in the life and love of God poured out into their hearts by the Spirit.
As the family has grown in number and expanded through time and across geographical realms, endured the cleverly unrelenting attacks of the dark forces of the evil one and his domain, and outlasted earthly kingdoms and cultural influences, the spiritual DNA of the church remains unchanged.
Nevertheless, it’s imperative to continuously treasure the family album and be reminded of what it teaches us about our heritage in Christ Jesus, the traits that made the early church such a force for that which is good and godly, and the mission that continues to compel us onward, outward, and upward to the glory of our Father in heaven until his Kingdom comes to earth in all its fullness forever and ever.
November Highlights
November 3 – FBC Walterboro Staff Retreat
November 13 – Preaching at Black Creek Baptist Church, Walterboro
November 14-15 – SCBC Convention Annual Meeting, Columbia
November 28 – NextStep Small Group, Manning