Sharing in All Things

Today, I (Kate) read Acts 4:32-37.

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.  And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.  There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.  Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.

My first thought after reading this passage was:  THIS is how the Church should function.

And then I quickly realized that it does. 

"Sometimes I get frustrated that we, as the Church, don't function properly.  but as we raise support, we are able to experience this [Acts 4:32-37] and allow others to, too," I wrote in my journal.

Today I am grateful that God has given us the opportunity to live in community with others.  We don't live in a specific community where we live in the same town and spend regular time together, but we live in community with people from all over the United States who do not say that any of the things belong to them on their own.  It's a group of people who help to meet our needs - financially by giving money to GEM to support the ministry God is leading us to in France and also physically by opening their homes and sharing their food and beds and comforts with us.  We even have quite a few Barnabases in our community!

I pray that we'd continue to experience a community like in Acts 4 and that others, perhaps by joining us in ministry, would also experience this blessing.