Perhaps the most well known and well worn text pertaining to the Church functioning as a community is Acts 2:42-47 – the Message Bible puts it this way They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers. Everyone around was in awe–all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met. They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.

Much has been written, preached and taught from these few verses, for some it has ecome prescriptive requirements of proof to qualify as a true Church body, others see them as a description of a Church in love with Jesus and each other. I believe the more we understand just who we are and who resides within us, and the more we see that the Jesus in us is the answer to the world’s woes – the more we will see this kind of community manifest. This picture is more than a few verses of church history, it is a description of a dream that we must carry and desire.

Don Basham – Pastor and author penned these words that I think powerfully portrays these same sentiments.

A Covenant of Community
A community of God’s redeemed people: bound together in covenant love, submitted to compassionate authority and rulership, and manifesting peace, holiness and family faithfulness, expressed through revered fatherhood, cherished women and motherhood with sincere and obedient children.

A community where loving correction and instruction produce healthy growth and maturity; where dedication to excellence produces the finest results in arts, crafts, trades and commerce, providing prosperity and abundance for all its members.

A community of faith, worship, praise and selfless ministry, manifesting individually and corporately the gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit.

A community where all life is inspired and directed by the Spirit of Jesus Christ and is lived to His glory as a witness and testimony to the world.