They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 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, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47 NIV)
The early church was a community founded on the love of Christ and the worship of God.
It was a community deeply devoted to worship and to the advancement of the Kingdom.
As Luke writes in Acts 2, the early church gathered regularly to break bread, eat together, worship, praise, and grow deeper in their discipleship to Jesus and their relationship with each other.
About the early church, the British theologian Michael Green writes in his book Evangelism in the Early Church:
They made the grace of God credible by a society of love and mutual care which astonished the pagans and was recognized as something entirely new. It lent persuasiveness to their claim that the New Age had dawned in Christ.
The early church made the love and grace of God visible, which was both intriguing and revolutionary.
As you read through both the Acts of the Apostles and other early church writings, you see two core themes presented. One being the early church was a tight-knit community, and the other being they were devoted to worship.
Let’s look at a few of the ways the early church walked as a close-knit community and how they devoted themselves to worship.
The Early Church Community
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in his book Life Together:
Christian community is like the Christian’s sanctification.
The early church centered themselves around fellowship.
Like a family, the early church ordered their lives around the relationships that existed between themselves, each other, and God. And it’s within the context of their community that they developed a deep, strong faith.
As the early church committed themselves to each other in community, they were continually formed into the image of Jesus.
Here are two defining characteristics of the early church community.
A Community of Forgiveness
Tim Keller writes in his article 5 Features That Made The Early Church Unique:
In a shame-and-honor culture in which vengeance was expected, this was unheard of. Christians didn’t ridicule or taunt their opponents, let alone repay them with violence.
The early Christians’ ability to forgive others, even amid suffering and pain, was a faithful witness to the life and teachings of Jesus.
They actively engaged in releasing forgiveness to those who wronged them, even praying for their persecutors, just as Jesus had directed them.
Living as a community of forgiveness in a culture of fighting back gave them authority and empowered them to effectively preach the Gospel of the Kingdom.
A Community of Hospitality
The Early Church was known for their hospitality, welcoming the poor, the marginalized, and the outcasts of society.
They were known for their adoption of unwanted babies, and their care for the sick.
During the urban plagues, Christians characteristically didn’t flee the cities but stayed and cared for the sick and dying of all groups, often at the cost of their own lives. (Tim Keller, 5 Features That Made The Early Church Unique)
Radical hospitality was a core part of the early church and their witness to the world around them.
Whether through meals, money, or ministry, hospitality was a core part of the early Christian community.
Worship in the Early Church
But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead. (Justin Martyr, First Apology)
The early church was a community dedicated to worship.
Each Sunday they gathered to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus through songs, scripture, and the Lord’s Supper.
Derek Demars with Theology Pathfinder writes:
During these gatherings, there would be public reading of Scripture, followed by a lesson or sermon, much like in synagogue practice (see 1 Timothy 4:13), along with the singing of psalms and hymns (1 Corinthians 14:26; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16) and the sharing of prophetic words with interpretations (1 Corinthians 14:26). If a church community happened to receive a letter from an apostle (or later, a regional bishop like Clement or Ignatius, etc.), it would be read publicly for the congregation’s instruction (see Colossians 4:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:27).
To conclude each gathering, the Early Church would partake of the Lord’s Supper to commemorate, live into the death of Jesus, and to look forward toward His Return.
Both daily and weekly the church gathered to strengthen themselves in the faith and to deepen their discipleship to Jesus. These gatherings formed a core part of their life together, and provided the space needed to worship God in Spirit and in Truth, just as Jesus spoke of in John 4.
Through songs, Scripture reading, and the Lord’s Supper, the Early Church deepened their faith and through their worship, they were formed to be Jesus’ representatives in the world.
Want to Learn More About the Early Church
If you’re interested in learning more about the early church, check out our new course Early Church History: From Christ to Constantine (AD 33-325).
Taught by Dr. Justin W. Bass, this course will focus on how Christ providentially guided His Church from Pentecost in AD 33 to conquering Mighty Rome in the Fourth century AD and the five different times during this period where Christianity almost/could have died, but instead rose again.
In this course, you will see how the early Christians loved, thought, and died for Jesus Christ. Above all, you will learn why “Jesus is Lord and Caesar is not.”
If you’re interested in this online course, click here.