“The Biblical Picture is Not of What Someone Receives from the Church….”

Here are some words of wisdom from Darrell L. Bock, writing about Acts 2:42-47, on which I’ll be preaching tomorrow:

The biblical picture is not of what someone receives from the church, although one does receive a great deal, but of what one gives and how one contributes to it. The portrait of the early church in Acts shows that community and the welfare of the group were a priority. …[T]he believers’ preaching was matched by their community, making a powerful testimony for their mission. When the early church said that God cared, the care they gave their own demonstrated this.