July 15, 2025
From Attending Church to Attending to People

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Acts 2:42

Jesus calls us from attending church to attending to people. The Greek word koinonia doesn't mean showing up to services or making small talk after worship. It's a business term that means partnership, joint ownership, shared investment in something valuable together. These early believers moved beyond sitting in rows to sharing their actual lives with radical vulnerability. When Christ becomes your common treasure, attending to His people becomes more important than attending church events.

The shift from attending church to attending to people transforms everything about Christian community. Before Jesus, Roman society was built on transactions where everything had a price. Jewish culture maintained strict boundaries about who was clean enough to associate with closely. But Jesus' death and resurrection created a new family where former enemies could share their deepest struggles and greatest joys. This wasn't about perfect church attendance but perfect love attendance to each other's lives.

Attending to people means their pain becomes your priority and their growth becomes your goal. The early church didn't have perfect people putting on Sunday smiles for weekly services. They had broken people who had found healing in Jesus and were committed to helping each other grow through daily life together. Koinonia means your pain becomes my concern and my joy becomes your celebration. This level of care only happens when people shift from church attendance to life attendance.

Christ's sacrifice motivates this shift from religious attendance to relational investment. When you grasp that Jesus gave up everything to attend to your deepest needs, casual church attendance becomes impossible. The same love that moved heaven to rescue you now moves your heart to attend to others He died to save. Koinonia isn't about getting your weekly spiritual fix but about pouring Christ's love into people through consistent, intentional care.

Moving from church attendance to people attendance requires death to your comfort and convenience. Most people prefer the safety of sitting in rows where they can control how much of their lives others see. But when Christ's love captures your heart, you discover that true joy comes from attending to others' spiritual growth and practical needs. Do you attend church faithfully but remain distant from people's real lives? Are you moving from religious attendance to relational investment? Your willingness to attend to others reveals how completely you've grasped Christ's attendance to you.

Godseekers, the revolutionary fellowship of Acts 2 happened because Jesus attended to them first before they attended to each other. Christ didn't maintain holy distance but entered fully into human brokenness to heal us from the inside out. He didn't just attend heavenly worship but attended to earthly wounds, meeting every need with sacrificial love. When you experience this kind of personal attention from Jesus, you can't help but attend to others with the same generous heart. This is how Jesus builds authentic community, by transforming church attenders into people attenders.

Prayer

Dear Jesus, thank You for not keeping Your distance from my brokenness but entering fully into my life to heal and restore me. Your sacrifice shows me what true koinonia looks like, and I want to love others with the same generous heart You've shown me. Help me move beyond surface relationships into the vulnerable partnership You've called us to. Give me courage to share my real struggles and wisdom to invest deeply in others' lives. Transform my heart so completely that authentic fellowship becomes natural. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Personal Reflection

  • Who in your life currently knows your real struggles and regularly prays for your spiritual growth?
  • How is Christ calling you to move beyond casual church attendance into deeper koinonia partnership with other believers?

Step of Faith

Today, I will reach out to someone in my church family and share a real struggle or need, moving beyond surface conversation into authentic fellowship.

Categories: 2025, Devotionals, The Way



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