Hey there my fellow Bible readers. I hope that your DAILY time in God’s word is blessing your socks off, I know my socks are lying on the floor. WOW!!! I am loving the book of Acts. The connections that are being made are fascinating. In the Text that I read the other day, Acts 18:24-28, I learned about a man named Apollos (No, not Apollo Creed). Apollos was a mean, lean Scripture machine, which is what I hope we ALL become. My take away from this passage was not just a character study of the man Apollos, but a character study of the Church. You’ve heard the old adage, “Behind every good man is a good woman”. Well, Behind every good believer is a good Church. This passage gives us three reasons why the local church is important. Before I explore those reasons, let me define what is meant by “local Church”.
First off let me tell you what the local church is NOT:
A. The local church is NOT a brick and mortar BUILDING on the corner.
B. The local Church is NOT a DENOMINATION.
C. The local Church is NOT a political ORGANIZATION.
D. The local church is NOT an INDIVIDUAL.
So, what IS the local church? The New Testament is clear, the local church is a GROUP of Christians (i.e., a BODY of believers) who regularly gather in Christ’s name to accomplish His purposes (cf, Heb 10:25; Eph 1:22-23; Col 1:18; 1 Cor 12:12-31).
Okay, So why is the local church important? Like I stated at the outset, Acts 18:24-28 gives three reasons why the local church is important to the follower of Christ. From here on out I will refer to the local church as the “Body of Christ”.
Reason number one: The Body of Christ DISCIPLES us. Acts 18:24 states that Apollos, “...knew the Scriptures well….” Well, HOW did He know the Scriptures well? Verse 25 states that, “He had been TAUGHT the way of the Lord….”. When he arrives in Ephesus, he meets Priscilla and Aquila who after hearing him preach take him aside in order to explain the way of God even more accurately. Priscilla and Aquila notice some gaps in His theology and they lovingly bring him up to speed (Gang, we call this discipleship).
Reason number two: The Body of Christ ENCOURAGES us. Verse 27 states that Apollos had been thinking about going to Corinth for ministry. Well guess what? The brothers and Sisters in the Ephesian Church ENCOURAGED him to go. They saw Apollos’ vision for ministry and they gave him enthusiastic support.
Reason number three: The Body of Christ COMMENDS us. Verse 27 states that not only did the Ephesian Believers encourage Apollos but they also COMMENDED him. How did they commend Him? They wrote a letter to the Corinthian believers asking them to welcome him. “Hey, Corinthian brothers and sisters, accept our brother Apollos, embrace him, he’s a good faithful brother in the Lord, we hold him in the highest regard”. If you recall Acts chapter 6 there was a need to choose some men to fill the role of Deacons. It was the CONGREGATION that did the commending (Acts 6:3-6).
If you’re not part and parcel of a local body of believers. I encourage you to start the journey of finding one today. Why? Because apart from the local Church you will not experience the Discipleship, Encouragement and Commendation that you need and deserve as a follower of Christ.
Blessings,
Rev. Todd
