We finish the fourth Gospel on Friday leaving the poetry of John behind and picking up the voice of Luke the storyteller once again as we read his second volume, Acts. Let me suggest that you read again the last chapter of Luke as you begin Acts. That the same person wrote both will be made very clear.
 
Acts 2, which we read on Saturday, is worthy of reading out loud. It is the story of Pentecost and the birthday of the church. The Holy Spirit is given, Peter preaches, the crowd is confused and the church is born (Acts 2:41-47). Pay attention to verses 41-47; I call this spontaneous church ... we see first hand the church in its earliest and purest form: a community that gathers, studies, eats, prays, serves, and shares. What is so profound, is that the church erupts:

• without being told what to do.
• without a committee being formed to make any decisions.
• without a single hesitation.

The church erupted into being doing just what was most necessary: gathering, studying, eating, praying, serving and sharing . . . the marks of the church then and still today.

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The other day in worship, the preacher asked us to take out a Bible and follow along. I was shocked to discover that the Bible I reached for was covered in a heavy layer of dust! I thought, that's what happens to Bibles that are never touched (or, to be fair, that are in a worship center when a big lighting project is at long last completed and a lot of dust is left in its wake). A dust covered Bible is often a symbol of an unused Bible. There is no time for the dust to settle when we read daily. Keep it up faithful readers!