Together in Christ: 'Practical Spiritual Devotion' — Acts 2:42

I have been blessed to work with church planters in India, Africa, and Singapore and church leaders in the United States. Because of long-lasting friendships, I also encourage leaders from countries all over the world. One question these church leaders sometimes ask is, "What do we need to do to have a real, Jesus-honoring church service?" The words they use may be slightly different, but the intent of their question is the same. They want to know what goes into a genuine worship experience that honors Jesus.

I believe part of the confusion arises because much of the Western church's worship sometimes seems more focused on entertainment than discipleship, excitement more than fellowship, powerful presentation rather than a move of the Holy Spirit, and emotion more than encouragement. I love powerful, passionate, and exciting worship involving strong preaching and great singing, too. But what about the millions of people who don't have access to this kind of worship experience? And, when I look at the kind of weak Christians many of these "powerful worship experiences" are producing, I am convicted that something is deeply lacking in our modern version of worship.

Thankfully, Luke uses the book of Acts to help us re-calibrate our goals for the times we come together as God's people in worship. Whether in this summary passage or other places throughout the book of Acts, we find these four things consistently present:

1. The apostles' teaching, especially their teaching about Jesus.
2. Genuine fellowship, including sharing our lives, needs, love, and time.
3. The breaking of bread in meals and the Lord's Supper.
4. Fervently offered prayers.

How do our worship experiences compare to those in the book of Acts? Why do you think we have routinely left out some of these four and added a few things of our own? How are our gathering of strangers for an experience different from lives shared in fellowship, love, and meals that we see in the early church? What can we do to ensure these four early church practices are present in the body of believers where we choose to involve our lives?