“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42)

When Peter preached the first sermon after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, three thousand people put their faith in Jesus Christ. Before Jesus ascended back to the Father, He gave them a commission, we call it the Great Commission. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

The commission had one aim, to make disciples. The Disciples of Jesus had spent three years learning from Him. Now, they had three thousand which they were to develop as Jesus had developed them. And this was just the beginning, more came to faith every day. “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47)

According to the book of Acts, three basic disciplines were asked of the new believers. It begins as they were to devote themselves to the teaching of the Disciples. As with Jesus, the foundation of their teaching was what we call the Old Testament. The rest was Jesus’ teaching, which the which the Disciple had heard, and we now have in the four Gospels. And for us today, we also have the rest of the New Testament, that gives us the actions of the Apostles and their teaching to the church. All guided by the Holy Spirit.

The next discipline was for the development of the fellowship. They were to spend time with each other. They were to break bread with each other. There are two interpretations of the breaking of bread throughout the history of the church. One was the celebration of the Lord’s Supper together. Jesus taught them, “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.’” (Luke 22:19) There are many traditions and teachings of the supper throughout the history of the church. The second interpretation is they would gather together and share a meal. This would be a time of encouragement for the participants, as well as a time to share what God had taught them and had done in their lives.

The third discipline was prayer. This discipline was first a private disciple. This was their time with God through prayer and was to be done every day. Because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, prayer could be continuous. Paul would later teach the church. “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) Prayers were also to be corporate. The Disciples and others had been in prayer together before Pentecost. “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” (Acts 1:14) Prayer would unite the church as it progressed from this beginning.

It is the same for us. If we are to grow and become disciples as Jesus directed, we must spend time in the Scriptures, the Bible. “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15) We are also to spend time developing our fellowship as followers of Jesus Christ. John teaches, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7) We also must be devoted to prayer, individually and corporately. “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” (Colossians 4:2)

In the Love of Jesus,

Michael Block