ICS Daily Devotions
Four Pillars of Church Activities

Acts 2:40,42 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” …And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

God established the church to shine His glory on this earth and multiply. Peter preached in Jerusalem and many people were added to the church daily. The Book of Acts give us some hints what makes the church effective and fruitful. There are several principles to consider. The church must be effective in relation to God, to individual, to church members, and towards the world.

For the first, the primary task of Christ’s body is related to God and is expressed in worship and prayer. Secondly, when it comes to an individual, the church serves as an opportunity for Fellowship when people of God meet together. Thirdly, the church members need to be involved in some kind of Instruction and teaching to be a more efficient part of the Body when they educate themselves in the Scripture. Last but not least, the Great Commission sends the church members out to serve in the area of Evangelism. For the church to be most productive and effective, all four pillars must be balanced and work in harmony.

If we overemphasize worship and prayer, we will have a superspiritual church that will overheat soon because there will be no personal relationships. On the other hand, if we overemphasise fellowship, we will end up with a kind of social club rather than the real church. The atmosphere will be too relaxed. If we put too much emphasis on instruction, the church will be full of puffed-up theologians that will be ready to take on any theological debate but the life of the Spirit will be missing. It will be a dry atmosphere. At the same time, if we only emphasize the Great Commission and evangelize, without proper training, education, and fellowhip, and prayer, we will all the time put ourselves in the front line of the spiritual fight between the Gospel and the devil without the spiritual armor and we will be losing our strength quickly. The church will be in danger of burning out.

Acts 2:47: And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

All those four aspects are equally important without overemphasizing one over the other, if we want to build a prosperous church. There needs to be a balance. If we achieve it, the four pillars affect each other and produce additional qualities. The worship and instruction bring about certain level of holiness in the church. People worship God and read the Bible. If we instruct people and fellowship with them, just as Jesus walked with his “disciples,” we built discipleship. People will be changed by your own personal example. If we evangelize and simultaneously try to approach the people through fellowship to feel their needs, we can build strong charity work. It is important to help those in need. And eventually, if we preach the Gospel and worship God, the Spirit of God will descend and convict the hearts of people. There will be salvation. The number of those who will join the church will grow every day.

1 Cor 12:28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.

The church in Corinth struggled to find the balance and Paul needed to correct it. The local Christians had difficulties to understand their own place in the ministry of the church. The crucial point is the distribution of the actual ministry gifts and practical organization, and how we succeed to adapt the principles into our culture and concrete circumstances of the people in the congregation to make everyone fruitful. It concerns different ministry segments, cell groups, meeting places etc. All is done by individual church members working with one another harmoniously in the Body of Christ. If this relationship is effective, it will positively influence the whole local congregation. Let us find our own place in the church, as God has called each one of us, and serve Him well in our congregation.

Sermon Series: In Search of a Supportive Minister