When the gospel is preached and the Holy Spirit changes hearts, the church springs into being: people are born again and they become, together, the people of God. But what is church? In Acts 2, we see the church is a group of people devoted to Jesus, one another, and the world in at least 10 ways:

(1) through faith and baptism,
(2) by having called and qualified leaders,
(3) by gathering regularly for preaching and corporate worship,
(4) by gathering regularly for Bible study, prayer, and meals,
(5) by having rightly administered sacraments,
(6) by living in unity, empowered by the Holy Spirit,
(7) by taking holiness seriously,
(8) by giving generously of time, talent, and treasure,
(9) by being grace-saturated people, seeking to love the world like Jesus,
(10) by taking the Great Commission seriously—to get the gospel message to everyone, everywhere.

Although the church is a devoted people, our hope and joy is not found in our devotion to Jesus. Rather, our hope and joy is found in Jesus’ devotion to us. “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:10) and “This is how we know love, that he laid down His life for us” (1 John 3:16). Jesus loves the church. Do you? Jesus is devoted to the church. Are you?