Follow-up Archive

January 16, 2008

The Power of Community: How Unity Produces Fruitfulness
By Sarah Guldalian

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My prayer is that the Lord adds to our number daily those who are being saved -increasing believers in Christ's church, in the congregations we have been placed, and in our families. This is why Equipping to Share workshops are taking place all over the country, training God's people to be better equipped in evangelism for the bearing of fruit.

As the Coordinator, one question I'm constantly asked is this: How can we be more effective and fruit-bearing as Christ's church? In Acts 2, there are answers to this question. First, let me share the story. It can be summarized as follows:

On the day of Pentecost, the twelve disciples were all together in one place in Jerusalem. There, in Jerusalem, were God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. Peter stood up with the eleven and addressed the crowd. He warned them and pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." Three thousand people accepted his message and were baptized that day!

This group formed a church community, which is called "the fellowship of believers" in Acts 2. By their obedience to the Lord, He did just what we are praying for: He added to their number daily those who were being saved. What is it that they did that the Lord blessed and, as a result, added to their number daily? Acts 2:42 tells us:

They devoted themselves.
- To the apostles' teaching
- To fellowship
- To the breaking of bread, and
- To prayer

As a result, "everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved" (Acts 2:43 & 47b).

The God of the fellowship of believers is the same today as He was yesterday. As His chosen people, which the Bible says we are in 1 Peter 2:9, we are members of the fellowship of believers and should also devote ourselves diligently. As a result, we can trust the Lord for the same results: numbers upon numbers of people brought into a relationship with Christ. What we need to do is devote ourselves as a community as the fellowship of believers did in Jerusalem.

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