16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Shortly after calling his first disciples Jesus sends out 12 to go and teach what they have learned to others. Jesus’ instructions are simple. Go to those who welcome you, share about Jesus, pray for those present. The disciples return to Jesus with stories of miraculous things happening and lives being changed. Jesus invites us to join the places that he is already moving, and to share the stories of how we see God on the move.

In Acts 15 we see one of the first large church gatherings. Their agenda was to answer this question: who is part of this group? The disciples start with a long list of things that matter to them, but quickly narrow the list to just a few items. That belonging in Jesus should not be an overwhelming list of dos and don’t, but focus around a few core things that define an alongsider.