Early Church Brochure

Expectations of members

New believers needed faith, courage and dedication. The expectations of new believers were to have faith, the Holy Spirit, love for others and a vision of a new life (Jackson, 1992, 1996). Ananias was a new believer and he responded to the call of the Lord in Acts 9. Ananias went and found Saul (later Paul) and told him that he was sent to help Saul see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Then Saul could see again and Ananias baptized him.

References Bruce, F. (1964). The Church of Jerusalem. Christian Brethren Research Fellowship Journal , 5-14. Jackson, D. L. (1992, 1996). Lay Members’ Role in the Early Church. Retrieved October 2, 2009, from http:// www.wcg.org/lit/church/ministry/ ministry2.htm Life Application Study Bible. (1997). Grand Rapids: Tyndale House Publishers. Niswonger, R. L. (1988). New Testament History. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House.

Phillip went to Samaria and preached the gospel. He was also led by the Holy Spirit to witness to an Ethiopian. Acts 11:19-21 states those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

Jennifer Felsberg Grand Canyon University BIB 123, New Testament History October 4, 2009

The early church in Jerusalem

The early church & its ministries THE MAIN PURPOSE

Human Need

OF THE EARLY

The believers in the early church pooled their resources. People voluntarily sold their property and material items, then they gave the money to the church. The money was a fund for any new Christian that needed help or had a need to be filled. This sharing was done with spontaneity and abandon. It was also contagious. However, it wasn’t a perfect situation. Barnabas sold a field and gave the money to the church. This was done in all sincerity. A couple named Ananias and Sapphira decided to do the same but hold some of the money back for themselves. For their in sincerity God struck them down dead. The giving of money and possessions was totally voluntary but needed to be given with total sincerity.

CHURCH ARE THE SAME FEATURES THE

CHRISTIAN CHURCH IS BASED ON TODAY:

Teaching the lessons learned from Jesus Christ, fellowship, breaking of bread or communion, prayer, mutual care of one another including material wealth and healing, and lastly the gospel witness. Acts 2 gives the birth of the early church, when the holy spirit came down during Pentecost. This is in accordance with the promise of Christ in acts 1:8 (Bruce, 1964). Peter preached such an awesome lesson that 3,000 men form all over felt led to repent of their sins and get baptized in the name of Jesus. During this period of time the holy church of the whole world was one local church. As word started spreading and they increased in numbers this did not last long. The first church of Jerusalem lasted about 40 years.

The believers broke bread together daily. They would share a meal in each others homes and also partake in communion as they did during the last supper with Jesus. There was also healing taking place in the early church (Acts 3:6-10). The apostles were healing in Jesus’ name, not their own name.

Ministries of the Word The teaching was simple: forgiveness of sins, proclaim Jesus was Messiah and was raised from the dead, and He was resurrected (Niswonger, 1988). Preaching and teaching about Jesus added to the numbers of believers. The apostles also shared Jesus’ life, ministry, and teachings. The Old Testament was their only bible but their teaching was all about the gospel. The apostles still continues to attend temple and synagogue. This caused tension with the Jews who did not believe Jesus was the Messiah. They were forced to meet in homes and witness in public places like Solomon’s Colonnade (Acts 3:11). This was especially true when the gentiles were converted to Christianity. This also led to persecution of believers. In some ways it helped Christianity to grow: when the people were persecuted they ran to other parts, but continued to spread the message of Jesus. "Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went" (Acts 8:4, (Life Application Study Bible, 1997)).