After Jesus Christ was crucified and resurrected, he appeared to his disciples and commissioned them to go out into the world and preach the gospel, making disciples of all nations (Mt 28:19). But first, he instructed them to remain in Jerusalem until they received the Holy Spirit which later came to pass on the day of Pentecost, as they were all gathered in the upper room (Acts 2:1-3). It was on that very day that Peter the apostle stood up and delivered his first gospel message and thousands of people repented and believed God’s message and got baptized (Acts 2:14-41).

As Jesus had prophesied to Peter in Matthew 16:18, that he would build his church on the revelation of who Christ is, God used the same Peter to deliver the first gospel message and plant the first church. Following that day, Acts 2:42-47 gives us a perfect model of how the original church functioned as “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42), thereby underlying for us how God had always intended for his purposes to be accomplished through the church.

The First observation we can make from the first church is that they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. This church valued spiritual growth by making themselves available and leaning in to understand who Jesus was and what he had done. By doing so, they were able to accurately represent him to the world around them as they had been called to do. Today, what we need most are true believers who can reflect and demonstrate who Jesus truly is. 1 John 2:6 states, “Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.” We must always imitate Jesus in our daily conduct and behavior, along with our thought process, words, and decisions. In every aspect of our lives, we must walk the same way that he did, and we can only accomplish this by devoting ourselves to growing in God’s word the same way the first church did.

Secondly, the first church devoted themselves to fellowship. The Greek word used in Acts 2:42 for fellowship is Konoinia, which means to have an association and communion with, particularly in sharing in something. Today we can often mistake fellowship for simply meaning enjoying each other’s company or eating and having fun together. There is nothing wrong with that aspect of fellowship, however, when we limit fellowship to those elements alone, then our church fellowship culture will lack substance and resemble more like that of the world.

Our fellowship needs to be rooted in our shared love for Christ, as well as our devotion to his word, our faith in him, our submission to his ways, and our discipline of prayer. This level of fellowship is crucial to our church experience because:

1.  It helps us express love towards one another and encourage each other to do good works. In Hebrews 10:24-25, we see this to be a major factor for us to come together regularly, as it states, “let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

2. It has a huge impact on unbelievers. Jesus told his disciples, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (Jn 13:35). Our love and fellowship for one another encourages others towards faith and a relationship with Christ.

3. It has a direct impact on our spiritual growth. When we build godly fellowship with fellow believers, we allow for elements of accountability and encouragement to develop our spiritual maturity. We are better and stronger together.

Lastly, the first church was a church devoted to prayer. God’s primary plan for the church has always been to be a place of prayer for all nations (Mk 11:17). The discipline of private and corporate prayer is extremely necessary, so much so that Paul told timothy, his successor in ministry, “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people” (1 Tim 2:1). Prayer is a partnership with God which shows that we are yielding ourselves to his will and agenda for all things. Prayer is not meant as a seal of approval for our own desires to be accomplished, but rather, for a way to inquire of God’s will for us here on earth as it is in heaven (Mt 6:10). It is the way God has ordained for his will to be done here on earth. A praying church is a powerful and unstoppable church.

In the end, we read in Acts 2:47 that, “The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." Only God can make the church successful in its purpose, but only when the church functions according to its original design. As a result of an earnest devotion to godly teaching, fellowship, and prayer, the first church was able to grow in numbers and impact those around them. By modeling their faithfulness and sincerity to God’s ways, we can also ensure that today’s church is essentially purposeful and powerful.