Acts 2:42 says that the early church committed themselves to four very important things for Christian growth. The first is biblical teaching with sound doctrine – they were constantly exposed to teaching that helped to clarify and illustrate the great truths of God’s Word. It has to be our number-one value this year to study and to evaluate our actions, attitudes, and goals based on the authority of God’s Word.

The second value the early church lived by was fellowship. These Christ-followers were committed to each other, shared with each other, carried each other’s burdens, rejoiced with others, and mourned with others. They truly saw themselves as a body, a group who worked together.

All of us on staff at InFaith and others who are reading this post should understand that God encourages us to – in fact, mandates us to – connect ourselves with a local body of believers and that the local body of believers speaks into our lives in a powerful way. I’m thankful for my home church, Sanctuary, in California and for its ministry in my life.

The third value is the breaking of bread. For the early church, the Eucharist – communion – was the time to remember and not forget what God had done for us in terms of His redemptive activity on the cross. The breaking of bread was a daily experience so that they would never forget that the sacrifice had been paid through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

The fourth value is prayer – corporate prayer, individual prayer, prayers in solitude, meditation, times of reflection, and times of letting the Holy Spirit speak into our lives. These are the values – biblical teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer – that I want our mission and the individuals in our mission to agree to this year.