Acts2:42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.
COMMITMENT TO APOSTOLIC TEACHING
After the upper room experience, there was a spirit of devotion and commitment among the brethren in the early church. Their experience wasn't just a one off thing, it had a resultant effect. The early believers had a four fold commiment: commitment to the teaching of the apostle, to fellowship, to sharing meals( Lord Supper inclusive) and to prayer. We need not stress the later but we shall look at the first three. Apostles' Teaching, the foundation of the church was laid by the teaching of the apostles, most of what we call basic bible doctrines ( not dogma) are products of what the apostles taught. The upper room believers were devoted to this divine apostolic teachings little wonder why their life radiated Christ: 'When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people. (It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.)" (Acts11:26 NLT).
A believer grows through teaching not through preaching. We use the foolishness of preaching to proclaim Christ to unbelievers but it is through the wisdom of teaching we explain Christ to the believer. A believer cannot grow until you expose him to continuous teaching and constant relational discipleship. I noticed that in the early church, they did more of teaching meetings than jamboree meetings. Supper room churches and believers care less about teaching and explaining Christ to the people. Every meeting is either a prayer meeting where we tell people to come and take their blessings. It is a "God bless me" meeting. Even contemporary church in the early days of Christianity placed a great premium on teaching to the extent that a Sunday school movement was birthed by Robert Raikes. Today, that practice is lost by modern church. They see it as archaic. In most churches, even weekly meetings for teachings are week and only a few attend because a lot of people are busy at work. The opportunity to gather people on Sunday into small groups to explain Christ is a precious and rare opportunity we must not neglect.
Some of us grew immensely from the Sunday school classes we attended and till date, what we learnt is still in us. Believers who have been faithfully attending teaching classes( sunday school inclusive) are always sound. Why should our generation shift this major landmark? An upper room believer will not miss Sunday school neither will he be comfortable with celebration service only, he will not be comfortable with a church where Christ is not taught deeply, clearly and soundly. An upper room pastor will spend time in study, first for his own life and to transmit sound doctrine to the church. This is the pattern of the bible especially the new testament church. Today, if we organize a praise jamz, crowds of believers will come but the moment we advertise a teaching meeting where new testament doctrines would be taught, supper room Christians will go into hiding. One of the signs that shows how committed you are to personal spiritual growth is your commitment to bible teachings.
Father, I refuse to be a supper room Christian. I receive grace to be committed to the accurate teaching of God's word in Jesus name.