the late session & church
Acts//2:42-47
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 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, 47 praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
the late session is not a church, but it is part of the church > in fact you could call it church because it is God's holy people coming together once a week to learn, pray and support each other so that we can go out into the world for the rest of the week and impact others through the lives we are leading as Christians
Acts//2:42-47 describes how the church should be ideally, but to do this we all need to change our attitudes to a certain extent
· encouragement and appreciation > although we may need to advise others if they are falling off track, try and encourage people in the things they are doing right > try to appreciate people more
· reality > Paul says not to think more highly or lowly of yourself or anyone else in Romans//12:3
· acceptance > God works through all of us (1Corinthians//1:28) so maybe you could reach out this week to someone you haven't really got on with before, or who others see as worthless
· change and flexibility > the church is dynamic and changing because it is made up of people who are also constantly changing, as are their circumstances and needs > through out the book of Acts, many changes occurred: look at chapter 6, chapter 10 and chapter 15
· perspective > ultimately everything we do is for God > don't let God get hidden in all the fun and socializing, He should always be at the forefront of our lives > He should be our lives
· the church is a family > as the late session is part of the church, we are also a family > families make mistakes, annoy each other, embarrass each other but nevertheless still remain a family > also families support and love each other
my hope is that the late session is, and will continue to be, a place where you can: take a break from the world and your worries, somewhere where everybody knows your name, somewhere where everybody feels welcome and is made welcome, a family...
...and also somewhere where we can all learn together, pray together for each other and for others, build ourselves up to spread God's Word and live our lives in a way that people will see a difference in us, something good, and that they might strive to achieve themselves
A :0)
[parts of this article based on section 2 of the Big Picture, DCC, may 2004]
Last updated on Sunday, March 09, 2008 by A :0)