Becoming the Church

[Richard_1]

Becoming Church



I start this series of studies to see if we can come to a knowledge of the attitude of the early church that helped shape it into what it was in the scriptures. I know that there are a lot of people who believe we have lost a lot of what the first true Church was like and that today we have something quite different. The trouble is that we can't go back in time and be that same group but maybe we can examine and explore the reasons and attitudes that motivated the early believers.

One of the first things you notice is that they were always gathering together in groups and sharing that life and experiences of being a believer.

Acts 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Acts 14:7 And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.

It was the gathering together for more than just a sermon and singing on Sunday but they were gathering every day to praise the Lord and have fellowship. Even when Jesus was here on earth He had groups of people following Him around and that they were always seeking to talk and fellowship with each other. In fact that was one of the things said in the book of Hebrews 10:25

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Now in our times we think of assembling together as just when we have Church services but in the early Church you see more of a daily continuing of the gathering together as seen here in Acts 2:46

And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,

When Paul was exhorting the brethren in Ephesus in Acts 20:20 you can see that same idea of going from house to house fellowshipping and teaching was a predominate attitude or motivation of the Church.

And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house,

The one thing we do know is that they gathered together for safety but there seemed to be a real spirit of community behind them. It seems as though they were so over come by the new life that they wanted to just be around others who believed and who were putting off this world and its life to just follow what they had learned and seen. Sometimes I believe the life style that has developed now has caused us to lose some of that community feel and desire. It is so easy to just go to Church and go home and shut out every thing in our own little worlds. Maybe instead of just going home after Church we could invite each other over to our homes and fellowship and share and sing and not just leave it all at the Church door as you leave.

I think if we want to have the same attitude and zeal for the Lord as was with the early Church we need to find out how to restore that sense of community and uniqueness of being the called out believers in the Lord.

[eddybear]

I couldn't agree more, that the sense of community is something extremely valuable that seems to have been lost. I think in this, sadly, the church is reflecting society. Of course, there are exceptions, and plenty of Christians who do live in community. I'm afraid I'm not one of them, at least not in 3-D, but I have been blessed by some really meaningful friendships with people online, including some here.

[Lily]

I agree also. Although I think communities in general seem to have died a death. I was brought up in a community and I have very happy memories.

[Richard_1]

One of the first things you notice about the early Church was the complete emphasis on fellowship not only individually but as the corporate body of believers.

We often use the word fellowship when we talk about our relationship with one another and within the idea of being the Church. So lets look at Jesus view of fellowship. We know that the Lord said that the world would know we were His disciples by our love one for another and love is the main ingredient of any fellowship

John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

One of the hardest things we do at times is being able to get along with someone in an intimate setting. It is that setting that we have to be real close to on a constant basis. It is easy to find what our faults and weaknesses are at that time. Some times it is like having sandpaper rubbing on our skin.

This idea of fellowship that we get in our dealing with the Lord and the rest of the Church should not just done on a casual basis but in real close proximity to one another. This needs to be a type of proximity that causes us to learn how to endure one another’s weaknesses and faults without division, judgement or strife.

The Lord while He was here on the earth chose how close He would have people be in relationship to the fellowship He would have with them. He kept the Pharisees who were at opposition at a certain distance from Him yet allowing the place for them to change and draw close. While those who chose to follow Him He kept at a much closer proximity to Him seeing their willingness to be open and humble instead of having to be right in their own eyes

Mark 8:34-35 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.

There is no other fellowship that can be closer than to share a common purpose and action in this life. Ask yourself why the Lord regarded this close proximity fellowship as a way to be with His disciples and to establish the actions of those who would become His expression of life on this planet through the Church. It is hard to be close to anyone when your own righteousness is your biggest concern.

All we have to do is to look at the relationship that Jesus shared with His Father and the Holy Spirit before the world began. The fellowship that they shared in the Godhead was one of very close proximity. In this fellowship we see the love that was expressed between them

John 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.

We can see that love was one of the most important actions that took place in that close fellowship that the Lord had with the Father. And the only way people will know that we are truly His disciples is for us to love one another and the only way to know that this love is real is to see how it stands up under that close proximity fellowship that we have with one another.

Do you embrace a fellowship that is so close that it can get under your skin and rub you the wrong way and live through it by expressing the same love for one another as the Lord expressed for us or do you keep the brethren at an arms length not letting them to get to close? This is the question before us now.

[XianPugilist]

The things I saw about the early church was their acts of love through faith. Something most churches I would visit teach you can't work your way to heaven, totally ignoring that we were saved for works. it's really no wonder that people fail to learn that we were saved to do HIS WORKS. We are His tools of righteousness. THey lived it. They fed the poor, clothed the poor, buried the dead, etc... Even of those not of their faith. I think it was PLINY the Younger that wrote his superior asking, what should I do with these "Little Christs"? (christians). They do blah blah blah good things and I find no fault with them.

We have the biblical references to those acts, where Paul coached them to continue, etc... (i'll find them upon request)... and outside references as well. THEY LIVED THE LOVE. I think the church members today pay more lipservice to love. I don't think they understand that to LOVE/AGAPAO requires action. Gal 5:6 talks about this directly. You can't claim to agapao your neighbor if they have a need and you don't do anything. That's a whole topic on what the word means. Maybe I'll start it? hmmm.

Eph 4 also says we grow in unity and knowledge of Christ through works that the church is to prepare us to do. It also says we will be perfected through those works, to the maturity of Christ, to the same size glass as he was, and as full as he was. Except it doesn't use the glass analogy, but the words are the right picture of what it describes.

Yes we should worship GOD, in praise, song, prayer, and devotion. But the early church, were charitable providers. Those were the ones that went to heaven in matt 25. It's the way love is described in mat 5:40-48, to love as perfect as HE did. They lived it. We talk it. We need to get back.

[Onesiphorus]

Whilst ,not disagreeing about we do His work following and because of our salvation ,you are confusing the Gospel of grace with what is commonly called today the social gospel a secular gospel and in no way connected with Christianity .

You cannot compare the the church formed in Acts 1&2 with the church the body of Christ ,
They fed their own poor
They clothed their own poor
They buried their own dead

They were separatists to put it biblically

Even as far as Chapter 10 we see Peter and what was the attitude of the Acts 2 church when he visited Cornelius ..prior to te visitation during his dream he considered it unlawful to visit a house of a gentile ,this was well after pentacost ,and this was the teachingof the church formed at Pentecost .

Do not confuse "humanism " with Christianity , if you or anyone else feel they want to perform a charitable act ,then do it ,but do not say it is because it is a sign of our christianity ,the only reason we are Christian is because of Christ and The love of God ,that is how we are Christian ,and signs of our Christianity ,well there actually are none

We may or may not be used by our Lord for works ,but we will probably never be aware of them

[Guard]

Do we cease being the Churech when we walk into the front door of our house ?

Rather than going to Church we should be the Church

Best to let Jesus into that little world we live in and into our homes

They say "A minister should live near his Church and be a part of that community and be involved in that community" surely his community is his next door neighbour ?

They say that a Christian should be involved in the communtiy more so....

ummm hold on ...he is ...is'nt he ? how can he not be ?

Yes small towns and villages are now cities and blocks, but a Christian is a Christian whether in a buuilding or community or whether living in the wilderness of Judea
............

The Church is there to glorify God and that is the main focus and aim of the Church and to send and proclaim the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God, that is OUR mission, and that is our commission, the great commission

That is where we have as a body of beleivers going to a "brick building" gone slightly off track

But every person has his or her own mission as the body of Christ who is "The Church" and has been and is becoming and will be, this is how the body works....but as a whole this is our destiny and mission....to glorify God

As indeed the angels glorfy God, so we glorify God "THE CHURCH"

IF there was any criticism of the Church now I would have to say that this focus of commission is lacking, therefore what must be my own personal response ?

My own personal response must be....go out and tell people, stop looking inwards and start looking outwards. terry

Once people start coming into that brick building they too will start to become and would be the "Church" and THIS WOULD BE THE REVIVAL OF THE CHURCH

THEN people would wake up and many would leave because they could not surely worship with THOSE people

This would be the Churches awakening as hundreds fall in from the street

REVIVAL starts with me ...in my heart

Not by words but by power

[XianPugilist]

Well, since PLINY the YOUNGER was not Christian, and he commented on them taking care of those outside of their own, I guess history has me convinced otherwise. And in lieu of Mat 5:40-48 I find the biblical support for that as well. And in Paul's letters he coached them to work and it wasn't just for the church in his epistles, although sometimes it was mentioning them specifically. OF COURSE they took good care of their own. But they were known for more. They were separatists, at the time of Acts 1&2? But still worshipped often in the Jewish synagogues. That's a hard sell.

It's not humanism in any concept.
Gal 5:6, Matthew 25 last parable sheeps and goats, matthew 5:40-48, Eph 4:10-16 you gain Xian maturity through works. They dont' save you, they mature you.

Do you realize if you don't LOVE as GOD commanded, (study that word agapao and know what it means, it requires demonstration or ACTION), then you aren't in Him and He isn't in you. 1 j 4:16. You were saved to do good works. eph 2:10. To do those works, or as Paul put it, faith expressing itself through love, the expression IS THE WORKS.

If we aren't doing the works in our lives, because our heart moves us to, your faith is questionable. I'm not making that claim, JAMES wrote it. I'm merely citing the man.

GRACE, what a concept. CHEAP GRACE makes God as santa claus, where he gives what you want with the magical phrase "in Jesus name". He condemns you to hell, then saves you Just to be nice! and all you have to do after that magic bath and altar call, is have milk and cookies at church once a month or so (communion), and you are good!

Bonhoeffer wrote of Cheap Grace in The Cost of Discipleship. That's his word, not mine.

Grace is like a coin. It's got a pretty side, (heads), and an ugly side, (tails).

The heads side is the salvific side.

The tails side is the works side.

If you don't think GRACE is including works, then read the parable of the vine.
God is the gardner. HIS ability makes it all possible.
JESUS is the vine. HIS work makes the branch bear fruit.
WE are the branches. All we do is hold the fruit HE made.

IF you have any fruit, it's HIS fruit, he just used you as his catalyst/tool/instrument of righteousness to present it to His loved ones, the very people that are His enemies. (mat 5:40-48) AS WELL AS those in the Church.

Actually read the vss, especially the mat 5.

If you cut a quarter in half, so you can see the heads half and the tails half at the same time, how much is that worth? That is what James wrote about.

[XianPugilist]

Rather than going to Church we should be the Church

I agree with this statement 100%. But we differ HUGELY on what we think that is. (which is ok, makes for good convo)

They say that a Christian should be involved in the communtiy more so....

Gal 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.

That is where we have as a body of beleivers going to a "brick building" gone slightly off track

If we want to proclaim what the CHURCH really is supposed to look like, let's go to the Book!

NASB Eph 4:11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the [fn4] saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the [fn5] knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature [fn6] which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 [fn7] As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness [fn8] in deceitful scheming; 15 but [fn9] speaking the truth in love, [fn10] we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together [fn11] by what every joint supplies, according to the [fn12] proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

Did you notice you are to be as MATURE AS CHRIST was on earth, and that it comes through works. Why were we "saved"? There was a reason.

NASB Eph 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

ONLY SOME were given gifts to teach and preach. Although not mentioned only some were given the gift of evangelizing. Which doesn't mean you'll never be called to evangelize. BUT ALL ARE COMMANDED TO LOVE AS PERFECTLY AS GOD THE FATHER DOES! And if we don't love we simply aren't His.

NASB
43 "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.' 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may [fn42] be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Therefore [fn43] you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Or love perfectly as your Father loves, even to you providing for your enemies.)

NASB 1Jo 4:8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
NASB 1Jo 4:16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has [fn4] for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

that LOVE, AGAPAO, isn't Agapao if you don't have the evidentiary exercise or application of it evident. A substantial action, not a warm fuzzy thought. It's not talking about preaching here. That substantiated action is synonomous with works. We were saved to LOVE GOD LOVE NEIGHBOR, not preach. We preach as part of the LOVE, but there are those with gifts that do the preaching more than most. But ALL of us are to love. If we fail there, we never knew Him.

This would be the Churches awakening as hundreds fall in from the street

I bet, those that aren't in the Church/brick building today, could for the huge majority be preached to by billions, relentlessly and would not come to the brick building. Why? Because the preaching doesn't match up with the living. WHY? Because, especially in the Western Church, the whole doctrine of Works, has been ignored for knowledge/study, and preaching.

We have to learn to LOVE. If we LOVE, and it's evident, then your preaching may have meaning. Until then, the horse can't even find the cart to get behind it, it's so far outta whack.

Do we really think we can learn to love but not act on it, and love as God does?
Do we really think we are saved if we dont' LOVE as God does?

Love first, preach if you have to.

bd

[inquisitive]

Why did Jesus do works on earth?

If Jesus came to be the way the truth and the life (light), to serve not to be served, to show you how to live, to be an example of what a christian is, someone in Christ, why do you think you dont need to follow in His footsteps? why only partly and not all?

I dont understand the concept of only needing to basically be a part timer, or like i mentioned in another post, love the fact we have been awarded Grace from God, therefore we no longer need to keep even our manners?

Since when has been becoming a christian, been an excuse to be less loving or reaching out, i just dont get it. You are no longer of this world but still supposed to be in it!

How do you show none christians that Jesus is the way the truth and the life, that it is a true way to live your life, when you act lesser of a humane human being than when you wasn't a believer, under the excuse of ' I now understand the bible, as im a self professed theologian now, so the bible tells me now i dont have to help you, because i have my get out clause of Grace now' sounds extreme but thats the impression im getting.

Isn't there a time in your walk, where its time to put down the pen and paper, or laptop or pc in this case, and walk the talk?

I just cant believe that if Jesus was here today, He would be advocating not helping your neighbour, because the bible tells you so (according to some peoples interpretations), im still finding it hard to accept that the bible in its entirity is not for every individual, i dont get how some books are so disregarded.

I'm no big historian whatsoever, and have never heard of most of the names that get dropped in here, but i would think there is a difference between old writings which tell you history of the world in biblical times, to what was actually compiled into the bible. The books in the bible must surely be set aside than general history books, otherwise they wouldnt have made the cut in the first place. With this deduction, i cant help but think the bible in its entirity is for all christians, and not only a selective few, we think apply to us today.