“Six Marks of a Healthy Church #2

Koinōnia & Diakonia”

​​

Pastor Jeremy Park

​

Acts 2:40-47 (NIV)

​

“With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’ Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.

Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

​

About three thousand people accepted Peter’s message, were baptized, and became the first church.

​

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
— Acts 2:42, NIV

​

Last week, we looked at Kerygma—proclaiming the gospel—and Didachē—teaching the truth.

Today we look at two more marks of a healthy church:

​

Koinōnia — Fellowship / Shared Life
Diakonia — Service / Ministry

A healthy church needs both truth and community.

​

Fellowship without the gospel can become nothing more than a social club. But teaching without fellowship and service can produce knowledge without a changed life.

Fellowship and service are where truth becomes real.

​

⸻

​

1. Koinōnia — Shared Life

Koinōnia (κοινωνία) means fellowship, but biblical Koinōnia is much more than drinking coffee together after church or simply being friendly with church people.

It is practical and life-sharing.

About three thousand people had just been converted, and the first church was born.

The Bible does not tell us exactly how many returned to their home countries after being baptized. But many remained to continue listening to the apostles’ preaching and teaching.

For them, the death and resurrection of Jesus and the beginning of God’s kingdom were not distant religious ideas.

The gospel was revolutionary enough to change the way they lived.

It was real.
It was practical.
It was passionate.

​

⸻

​

What Happens the Next Day?

We sometimes talk about Monday Blues.

After enjoying the weekend, Monday comes—and reality returns.

Think about the apostles after Pentecost.

The Holy Spirit had come.

Supernatural things had happened.

Three thousand people had repented and been baptized.

​

The first church on earth had begun.

It was an incredible day.

But then came the next day.

Now there were very practical questions.

How would this large group of people eat?

​

Where would they stay?

How would their real-life needs be cared for?

This is why Koinōnia was much bigger than:

“Let’s hang out.”

Luke shows what this fellowship looked like:

​

“All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”
— Acts 2:44–45, NIV

​

Acts 4 takes this even further and tells us that there were no needy persons among them because people shared their property when needs arose.

​

So Koinōnia was not simply friendship.

It meant sharing life and taking real responsibility for one another’s needs.

It was about:

Contribution.
Sharing.

​

Private Life → Shared Life

And this shared life became visible in three areas:

Shared Space

Shared Time

Shared Resources

​

⸻

​

Shared Space

“Can I open my space to others?”

Acts 2:46 says that they broke bread in their homes.

​

The early church did not have large church buildings like we have today.

The believers gathered to hear the apostles, but the practical life of the community became possible when people opened their own homes.

​

Someone had to say:

“My space can become our space.”

Opening our homes is not always comfortable.

Even sharing a bathroom can become inconvenient.

​

But Koinōnia asks whether the space God has given me can also become a place where God’s people gather, share life, and meet one another’s needs.

Our church building should have the same spirit.

​

May it become a church with a low barrier—a place that embraces the city and offers rest to people living busy urban lives.

​

⸻

​

Shared Time

“Are we making time for one another?”

“Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes…”
— Acts 2:46, NIV

​

The early Christians did not become a community simply by sitting in the same place once a week and listening to a sermon.

​

They met at the temple.

They met in their homes.

They ate together.

They prayed together.

They gave one another their time.

Community requires availability.

Programs alone cannot create community.

No matter how much we say we love one another, deep Koinōnia is difficult if we have no room in our schedules for each other.

​

We need margin for people.

Recently, I have seen this in my own family.

​

As my wife has depended more on the Holy Spirit, relational walls that had developed over many years have begun to come down.

​

She hikes, runs, eats, laughs, and spends time with people in our church.

As she experiences more joy in relationships, our home has become more joyful too.

​

When she is happy, I am happy.

When our family becomes healthier, that joy also reaches the church.

That is the beauty of Shared Time.

​

⸻

​

Shared Resources

“Is what I have connected to someone else’s need?”

​

“All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”
— Acts 2:44–45, NIV

​

The key phrase is:

According to Need

The early church should not simply be interpreted through modern Communism or used to justify modern Capitalism.

Biblical Koinōnia is different from both.

​

⸻

​

Communism

Communism can say:

“What is yours is not yours.”

But the church in Acts did not force people to give up private ownership or make everyone own exactly the same amount.

Their sharing was not:

Forced Equality

It was:

Voluntary Generosity

People gave because needs arose.

​

⸻

​

Capitalism

Capitalism can say:

“What is mine is mine.”

The Bible does not teach that earning money or owning property is sinful.

But it does challenge the idea that wealth should exist only for:

my comfort,
my security,
and my accumulation.

The gospel says:

“What I have is not only for me.”

Why?

​

Because grace changes the way Christians understand everything they have.

My life belongs to God.

​

Therefore, what I have ultimately comes from God as well.

Christianity does not deny ownership.

But it calls us beyond ownership into:

Stewardship

I may be the legal owner.

But spiritually:

God is the Owner.

I am the Manager.

So the principle of the early church was not:

Equal Distribution

but:

Generous Contribution

The goal was not for everybody to own exactly the same amount.

The goal was:

No one in genuine need should simply be ignored.

​

Making money is not the problem.

Owning things is not the problem.

The question is whether what I have can become connected to the needs of the community.

​

In Schindler’s List, Schindler looks at what he still owns and realizes:

If he had sold one more valuable possession, perhaps one more person could have been saved.

Koinōnia asks us a similar question:

“What could what I have become for someone else?”

​

So:

Shared Space — Open your space.

Shared Time — Give your time.

Shared Resources — Share what you have.

Koinōnia is not simply people who enjoy being together.

It is making room for one another in our space, our time, and our possessions.

​

⸻

​

2. Diakonia — Service / Ministry

Diakonia (διακονία) means service or ministry.

​

It means:

“Using what God has given me for someone else.”

​

The word Diakonia itself does not appear in Acts 2, but the spirit of service is already there.

​

In Acts 6:1, Diakonia appears explicitly as the church responds to practical needs.

The love of the early church did not remain an emotion.

​

Love became service.

If Koinōnia asks:

“What do we share?”

Diakonia asks:

“How can I serve?”

​

⸻

​

1) Serve for the Common Good

“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”
— 1 Corinthians 12:7, NIV

​

Sometimes people give and receive simply because the relationship benefits both sides.

​

But biblical Diakonia is different.

I plug myself into the community for the good of the whole body.

Maybe we first came to church asking:

“What can this church do for me?”

But as we mature, the question changes:

“How can I be used for my community?”

​

⸻

​

2) Serving People Is Serving the Lord

Paul says there are different kinds of service, but:

“the same Lord.”

​

We may be serving people, but ultimately our service is offered to God.

So serving the community is not separate from serving God.

Serving people can become serving the Lord.

​

⸻

​

3) Serve One Another

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others…”
— 1 Peter 4:10, NIV

​

The word translated serve is:

διακονέω — diakoneō — 디아코네오

It means:

to serve,
to minister,
to care for another person’s needs.

​

The movement is:

Receive a Gift

→ Steward the Gift
→ Serve One Another

Christian service should be mutual.

We should not always expect older people to pay for younger people, or people with more money to serve everyone else.

The church does not exist below ordinary social responsibility.

​

The church should go beyond it.

Our church has a beautiful culture of caring for teenagers and international students.

But now I want to challenge our college students and young adults:

Begin serving the teenagers coming behind you.

​

Do not stay forever in the position of receiving love and service.

Become people who move toward others.

​

⸻

​

Serve with Everything God Has Given You

We can serve with three kinds of gifts:

Spiritual Gift

Gifts specially given by the Holy Spirit.

Natural Talent

Abilities God has given us through creation.

Acquired Skill

Abilities developed through learning and training.

​

All three can become tools of Diakonia when they are offered to God.

Bezalel in Exodus 31 is a good example.

God filled him with the Spirit and also gave him wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and craftsmanship to build the tabernacle.

So ministry is not only for people who preach, speak in tongues, or lead worship.

A person who makes coffee can serve.

A cook can serve.

A photographer can serve.

An artist can serve.

An accountant can serve.

​

Someone who cares for children can serve.

Someone who fixes computers can serve.

Someone who listens well can serve.

When what you have is offered for someone else’s need, it becomes Diakonia.

​

⸻

​

Every Ministry Is Service

A pastor’s preaching is not automatically the greatest ministry in the church.

God’s Word is foundational, so preaching matters deeply.

But preaching itself is still a form of service to the community.

​

The pastor serves through the Word.

Someone serves through the table.

Someone serves through music.

Someone serves through finances.

Someone serves through space.

​

Different kinds of service.

The same Lord.

Do not privatize everything God has entrusted to you.

Share your space.

Share your time.

Share your resources.

Use what God has given you.

​

A truly rich person is not measured only by how much they possess, but by how much they can share.

​

⸻

​

What Is the Power Behind This Community?

At a BTS concert, even grandparents come with younger generations as members of ARMY.

Why?

There is something deeper than appearance, performance, or music.

People long for:

Belonging.

Connection.

Community.

People from different races, nations, and generations enter a shared space and hear messages of acceptance, beauty, unity, and love.

​

Then what about the church?

The original church was meant to be even more:

Powerful.

Real.

Radical.

What made that possible?

​

Agape

God’s love came to sinners first.

His love restored the value of people.

Inside that love, walls of nationality, language, and age begin to melt away.

The church is a small piece of heaven planted in this world to show that Koinōnia.

​

We cannot create it through human effort alone.

​

We need the Holy Spirit.

May the Spirit lead us deeper into God’s world and bring the right purpose and new life into all our relationships and service.