Early Church and stuff....
Ok, this is very long…. I typed it out over two nights. I hope you take some time to look it over…….
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I’ve been thinking about the early church lately. It must have been so exciting. Christians gathered together (they weren’t called Christians at the beginning) to pray and the walls shook! The Apostles performed the same kinds of miracles that Jesus did. And, they all brought a little something to the faith.
It must have been a little scary too! There was always the threat of Roman soldiers persecuting Christians on command from their superiors and probably just for the fun of it too. If the threats from soldiers wasn’t enough, they had to make sure the Jewish rulers weren’t trying to kill them as well. Identifying yourself as a Christian could mean that your were thrown out of the synagogue and disowned by the Jewish community that you knew. But, some were and they counted it worth it.
Besides the excitement and the fear, the early church was probably really unorganized too. This is one reason why Paul writes to the church at Corinth and gives them a little guidance on what a gathering should look like and feel like. It is recorded in
1 Corinthians 14:26-33
26What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. 27If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. 28If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.
29Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 30And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. 31For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. 32The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. 33For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.
Does that part of Scripture reflect our current church culture? Not just our small home fellowship, but other churches as well? The answer would be no! I wonder if the early Christians would even recognize one of our “modern day” gatherings?
When was the last time you had a word to share? When was the last time you prayed in a group? When was the last time you led a song or gave some insight into the faith? In the famous words of the Wolf Brand Chili commercial, “that is just too long!”
What would it take for fellowship to look, feel, and act more like it must have looked, felt and acted in the early days of the faith?
Well, for one thing – it should be made up of people who are “participating” in the faith. Christianity and our church services weren’t supposed to be spectator sports. But that is exactly what they have become. They were supposed to be about people who have had a touch from God, learned something new, had a testimony or a good report, shared an inspiring Scripture they read or a conversation they had. It was supposed to be about bringing a song from your heart, praying with no fear, opening up and trusting.
Second, our weekly gatherings should be a crescendo, a culimination of 6 other days of walking with Jesus. It is a celebration – that we wouldn’t want to miss! It should be a joyful time and not a chore. We should come with expectation, “What is the Spirit going to say to us today?”
Third, we need to remember that we don’t need perfection. I’m sure the early church gatherings had bumps in the road. Can you picture it, “Where are we meeting this week, In the catacombs or at Joey’s house?” I’m sure they didn’t always sing on key and they had issues about what to do with kids. When it comes down to it, if we were perfect, Jesus wouldn’t have needed to come anyway! It’s ok if things are always smooth or out of order – it would be expected in the early gathering I’m sure!
Lastly, the early church formed community. There is Scriptural evidence that they met in homes and in large meetings at “Solomon’s Portico.” We never see a church service in the New Testament the way we know church today; where you can go inside, sing, pray, read the Bible and not really know anyone who is sitting around you.
The world is desperately trying to fill the gap that the church has left by creating community in so many different ways. I could sit here an list a bunch but let me just turn your attention to one.
Yahoo has started something called 360. It is your own webpage that allows you to stay “connected” to your friends, family, or just the public. On your 360 page you can share photos, your blog (online journal), the groups (email groups) that you are involved in, feeds that your subscribe to, lists like favorite movies, books, and TV shows, reviews, online radio stations, and all the friends and “community” that you have created…. I visited one 360 that had over 150 friends!
To make it fun, I created my own. You can see it here - http://360.yahoo.com/todd_sepulveda
I “invited” one of my old school friends to be listed as one of my friends on my page – his name is Thad.
The sad thing would be if my 360 page becomes more of a community than the church I attend. I hope that would never happen. I hope to do my part so it doesn’t. I hope you will do your part too!
Todd
p.s. If you need a “Daily Bible Log” or a “ Prayer Focus” sheet, you can get them on the yahoo group for the church, under the files section - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/assurancechurch/ or you can get them on the church website – www.assurancechurch.com
You can do all kinds of free stuff at Yahoo – like create your own webpage – very easily, create your own interest group, email, and get your own 360! If you do any of those, let me know so I can add you to my community! ;-)
_________________________________
I’ve been thinking about the early church lately. It must have been so exciting. Christians gathered together (they weren’t called Christians at the beginning) to pray and the walls shook! The Apostles performed the same kinds of miracles that Jesus did. And, they all brought a little something to the faith.
It must have been a little scary too! There was always the threat of Roman soldiers persecuting Christians on command from their superiors and probably just for the fun of it too. If the threats from soldiers wasn’t enough, they had to make sure the Jewish rulers weren’t trying to kill them as well. Identifying yourself as a Christian could mean that your were thrown out of the synagogue and disowned by the Jewish community that you knew. But, some were and they counted it worth it.
Besides the excitement and the fear, the early church was probably really unorganized too. This is one reason why Paul writes to the church at Corinth and gives them a little guidance on what a gathering should look like and feel like. It is recorded in
1 Corinthians 14:26-33
26What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. 27If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. 28If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.
29Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 30And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. 31For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. 32The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. 33For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.
Does that part of Scripture reflect our current church culture? Not just our small home fellowship, but other churches as well? The answer would be no! I wonder if the early Christians would even recognize one of our “modern day” gatherings?
When was the last time you had a word to share? When was the last time you prayed in a group? When was the last time you led a song or gave some insight into the faith? In the famous words of the Wolf Brand Chili commercial, “that is just too long!”
What would it take for fellowship to look, feel, and act more like it must have looked, felt and acted in the early days of the faith?
Well, for one thing – it should be made up of people who are “participating” in the faith. Christianity and our church services weren’t supposed to be spectator sports. But that is exactly what they have become. They were supposed to be about people who have had a touch from God, learned something new, had a testimony or a good report, shared an inspiring Scripture they read or a conversation they had. It was supposed to be about bringing a song from your heart, praying with no fear, opening up and trusting.
Second, our weekly gatherings should be a crescendo, a culimination of 6 other days of walking with Jesus. It is a celebration – that we wouldn’t want to miss! It should be a joyful time and not a chore. We should come with expectation, “What is the Spirit going to say to us today?”
Third, we need to remember that we don’t need perfection. I’m sure the early church gatherings had bumps in the road. Can you picture it, “Where are we meeting this week, In the catacombs or at Joey’s house?” I’m sure they didn’t always sing on key and they had issues about what to do with kids. When it comes down to it, if we were perfect, Jesus wouldn’t have needed to come anyway! It’s ok if things are always smooth or out of order – it would be expected in the early gathering I’m sure!
Lastly, the early church formed community. There is Scriptural evidence that they met in homes and in large meetings at “Solomon’s Portico.” We never see a church service in the New Testament the way we know church today; where you can go inside, sing, pray, read the Bible and not really know anyone who is sitting around you.
The world is desperately trying to fill the gap that the church has left by creating community in so many different ways. I could sit here an list a bunch but let me just turn your attention to one.
Yahoo has started something called 360. It is your own webpage that allows you to stay “connected” to your friends, family, or just the public. On your 360 page you can share photos, your blog (online journal), the groups (email groups) that you are involved in, feeds that your subscribe to, lists like favorite movies, books, and TV shows, reviews, online radio stations, and all the friends and “community” that you have created…. I visited one 360 that had over 150 friends!
To make it fun, I created my own. You can see it here - http://360.yahoo.com/todd_sepulveda
I “invited” one of my old school friends to be listed as one of my friends on my page – his name is Thad.
The sad thing would be if my 360 page becomes more of a community than the church I attend. I hope that would never happen. I hope to do my part so it doesn’t. I hope you will do your part too!
Todd
p.s. If you need a “Daily Bible Log” or a “ Prayer Focus” sheet, you can get them on the yahoo group for the church, under the files section - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/assurancechurch/ or you can get them on the church website – www.assurancechurch.com
You can do all kinds of free stuff at Yahoo – like create your own webpage – very easily, create your own interest group, email, and get your own 360! If you do any of those, let me know so I can add you to my community! ;-)
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