I have been spending some time in the book of Acts these past two weeks.  As I started on chapter five, I was struck by this summary of the first church:

The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.

I always loved that last sentence — that people were coming to know Christ daily.  But this time, as I read these verses, it struck me that no one but the believers gathered together for the meetings. Even though people held them in such high regard, there remained this fear or awe that kept others away from the Christian gatherings.  If that were the case, then how did more and more people come to know Christ?

It had to be outside these meetings!   Believers were coming in to be informed and impassioned about Christ but they were going back out to live and speak these truths to their friends and neighbors.   They may have met together at the “hub,” but it was their lives out at the “rim” that made the difference.

Where is the strength of our Christian lives lived out — at the hub or the rim? Where are we working harder to get the message out through our lives and words? If we want to learn from the first church, then we had better start making “rim-work” a priority.

I hope to see you this weekend.  (And don’t forget to set your clocks forward by an hour on Saturday night.)