The Three Passions
Part 1
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
—Acts 2:42
This past Sunday we started a series that focuses on the three passions of the early church. Our interest is in how the scriptures describe that first group of believers regarding its devotion to certain things and in what those things actually mean.
By way of introduction, we noted that the defining characteristic of disciples is devotion. And though we agreed that the early followers were devoted to Jesus, we also concluded that this devotion expressed itself as a passionate commitment to the following things:
- The apostles’ teaching
- The fellowship (and breaking of bread)
- Prayer
For the next few Sundays (and in the next few posts) we will explore the concept of devotion itself and take a careful look at the early church’s three expressions of that devotion. Our goal is to learn how authentic church life reflects and enacts these passions—and how U-Church might do the same.
It’s exiting to think that, by embracing these three passions, believers can live out in the modern world the experience and witness of that first spiritual collective. We will not attempt to “reclaim” the primitive church, but rather explore how their passions might express themselves through us today.
Stay tuned—and visit us if you like. The door is always open.
