'Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?'
This is the first of five questions asked of those about to be baptized as a part of the baptismal service. Each of these questions asks us to make a promise to do certain things and to live a certain way. But within each of these promises, we can also see the many gifts from God that make living out these promises possible.
When we promise to continue in the apostles' fellowship, we remember that before he died, Jesus asked the apostles to love one another as he had already loved them. Even after the resurrection and ascension, Jesus did not leave us orphaned, but sent us another Comforter - the Holy Spirit - whose fellowship we recall each time we gather. In our worship, we begin with a greeting that invokes this fellowship and very often we close meetings here in the same way. At baptism, we promise to continue to dwell together in the presence of the Holy Spirit which Jesus has promised will be with us always.
To continue in the apostles' teaching, is much the same: apostles share with those around them how God is at work in the world and in their own lives. It is God's transforming power in our lives that makes this teaching possible. This is the help that God provides to empower us to fulfill this promise.
The breaking of bread and the prayers are two more gifts that God has provided for the fulfillment of these baptismal promises. When we gather to break bread and pray together at Church every Sunday, God nourishes us and hears us. But God's promise of nourishment and accompaniment in prayer extends beyond our worship and enables us to live out our baptismal promises by calling us together and then sending us out into the world; just as Jesus called the apostles and then sent them to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
In baptism, we recognize God's gifts to us in the apostolic community that is the Church and we promise to continue to be a part of it.
Next week we will look at our promise to "...persevere in resisting evil and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord."
This is the first of five questions asked of those about to be baptized as a part of the baptismal service. Each of these questions asks us to make a promise to do certain things and to live a certain way. But within each of these promises, we can also see the many gifts from God that make living out these promises possible.
When we promise to continue in the apostles' fellowship, we remember that before he died, Jesus asked the apostles to love one another as he had already loved them. Even after the resurrection and ascension, Jesus did not leave us orphaned, but sent us another Comforter - the Holy Spirit - whose fellowship we recall each time we gather. In our worship, we begin with a greeting that invokes this fellowship and very often we close meetings here in the same way. At baptism, we promise to continue to dwell together in the presence of the Holy Spirit which Jesus has promised will be with us always.
To continue in the apostles' teaching, is much the same: apostles share with those around them how God is at work in the world and in their own lives. It is God's transforming power in our lives that makes this teaching possible. This is the help that God provides to empower us to fulfill this promise.
The breaking of bread and the prayers are two more gifts that God has provided for the fulfillment of these baptismal promises. When we gather to break bread and pray together at Church every Sunday, God nourishes us and hears us. But God's promise of nourishment and accompaniment in prayer extends beyond our worship and enables us to live out our baptismal promises by calling us together and then sending us out into the world; just as Jesus called the apostles and then sent them to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
In baptism, we recognize God's gifts to us in the apostolic community that is the Church and we promise to continue to be a part of it.
Next week we will look at our promise to "...persevere in resisting evil and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord."
DEVOTED TO THE TEACHING OF WHOM?
ReplyDeleteThe three thousand who were added to the church of Christ on the Day of Pentecost continued in devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching.
Acts 2:41-42 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. 42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
These Christians devoted themselves to the apostles' doctrine.
They did not devote themselves to the teaching of Moses.
They did not devote themselves to the teaching of Abraham, Job, Noah, John The Baptist, the Roman Catholic Church, the Baptist Church, the Methodist Church, the Mormon Church, creed books, statements of faith, the Judaizers, the Watch Tower, the Pentecostal Church, the Pharisees, the traditions of men, etc.
THE TEACHING OF WHOM?
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