Where Heaven Meets Earth

"They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." -- Acts 2:42 (NASB)


Since the First Century, Christians have been gathering to 1. Hear the Word of God, 2. Have fellowship with one another as the Body of Christ (not the type of fellowship that the world thinks of, simply spending time together, but actually unifying as one Body), 3. Take Holy Communion, and 4. Pray (prayers consisting of psalms and hymns). Christianity (known then as "The Way") has always gathered for the Word and Sacraments in a setting similar to what we call Church. When we talk about "the historic liturgy," we're not tossing about a meaningless term. The Liturgy of the Church is hundreds upon hundreds of years old, and much of it is taken from biblical texts that are thousands of years old. The liturgy creates such unity between the church of today and the church of the First century. People, in their own laziness or arrogance, often ask why they need church if they already have faith. Because it's where Heaven meets Earth. It's where God pours out His Gifts. And genuine, saving faith in Christ does not refuse the Gifts of Christ. The Christians of the AD 30s knew this. But it seems like a lot of Christians have forgotten.

-- Jonathan