The Acts of the Apostles is not merely a history of the early Church: it is, above all, a faith document. It was composed from faith, and it is to be read in faith. It can engender faith in one who comes seeking God, and deepen the faith of the Christian reader. The picture presented in today's passage is somewhat idealized: Luke does not yet deal with the difficulties and differences which surfaced in the community. This does not mean that Luke's portrayal is false. We need to see a thing realistically, of course, but at the same time we need to look at reality in a somewhat idealistic way in order to draw greater hope and encouragement from the ordinary events of life. For the early Church in Jerusalem, the ordinary things of the life of pious Jews were also the ordinary things of their lives, such as going to the Temple to pray, with the added Christian practices such as the breaking of bread. Their hearts were "exultant and sincere". Do we rejoice so deeply in the gift of faith? "They won the approval of all the people". Does the joy of our faith attract people to Christ?