Christs mission was to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). What was the content of their message? The Book of Acts contains 40 references to Gods Word. The Gentiles? The Gospel is always centered on Jesus Christ and his work on the cross, yet there are times when Paul enters a synagogue and tries to convince Jews from the Hebrew Bible that this is true, and other times when he sits with pagans and attempts to show that even their own philosophy points to the God of the Bible. Maybe they prayed that more and more people would follow Jesus. It provides a vital link between the gospels and the New Testament epistles. The apostles were given unusual miraculous power, authenticating them as Gods witnesses to Jesus Christ and His resurrection. Help TGC bring biblical wisdom to the confusing issues across the world by making a gift to our international work. The church is to continue teaching as Jesus taught. It is to Gods glory to save men and women from diverse racial and social backgrounds and to bring them together to labor for His cause. page on this website for ideas that are adaptable to any lesson. Soon some would pay for their faith with their lives. 7 John R.W. The Jerusalem church in these early days can serve as a model of what a church should be like. Arrange to have the children help prepare the Lords Supper for the church or watch those who prepare it. However, the life in the church was also very beautiful, and many, in later times, have longed for the type of life . Authors should also supply a hyperlink to the original paper or indicate where the original paper (http://scriptura.journals.ac.za/pub) may be found. But the suffering did not deter these men from obeying the orders that Christ had given them. 11 Christopher J. H. Wright,The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bibles Grand Narrative(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2006), 22-23. The book of Acts provides a detailed, orderly, eyewitness account of the birth and growth of the early church and the spread of the gospel immediately after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The main theme of their recorded messages is Jesus Christ and calling to repentance and to salvation through faith in Him. You can go just about anywhere in the world and buy a Coke. When Saul of Tarsus is converted, it is plain that the Lord sovereignly saved him and sent Ananias to open his eyes (Acts 9:1-19). I like the sentence from Acts 2:46: Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. Within a few decades, the church grew from 120 people to thousands of people. He was taken up into heaven, but His work on earth did not cease. Some PersonalConsiderations: Hays provides a good overview of the Lukan tradition and the distinctive elements of his vision. Everywhere were the disciples gone they were treated unfair, because of the gospel. Acts 5:21, Acts 5:25, Acts 5:42 The apostles continued teaching in the temple. [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2002], 2:1580). As Schnabel argues, those demanding a revolution in our understanding of missionaway from the traditional missionary focus on winning people to faith in Jesus Christ, concentrating rather on a holistic understanding of Jesus claims do so without strong supporting evidence.14Schnabel,Early Christian Mission, 2:1580-81. Than they went to Judea and they won Cornelius and other people. Barnabas, who pioneers the first Gentile church in Antioch and who goes with Paul on the first missionary journey, slips into oblivion after chapter 15. Trevin Wax is vice president of research and resource development at the North American Mission Board and a visiting professor at Cedarville University. Write church building over one box. In the second case, he is making a minor adjustment in order to remain socially accepted. Unique to his identity as the divine Messiah, Jesuss mission was vicariously to die for the sins of his people (Matt. What were the motives of the early Christians? His vocation is to proclaim good news to the poor (liberation and . But that wasnt the most important event that took place in Jerusalem at that time. In short, while the disciples were never told to be avatars of Christ, it is everywhere stated, either explicitly or implicitly, that they were to be ambassadors for Christ (2Cor. We have also our responsibility for the task of teaching so that we can present everyone perfect in Christ (Col 1:28). 9 David J. Bosch,Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission(Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1991). They met together in the temple courts and in their homes. How did the Christian faith that began with a few followers of Jesus in Israel spread to Rome and points beyond? Do you think you can be a good example and help your church be like the church in Jerusalem? In talking about the mission of the church, we are not trying to enumerate all the good things Christians can or should do to love their neighbors and to be salt and light in the world. Even so, we are never to live under self-will, but only for Gods will. How do Gentiles relate to the God of the Hebrew Bible? What pathways were used by the early Christians in carrying out the mission? 1:1). 10:12). This was a very Jewish church in Jerusalem. Luke begins by stating that Christ had chosen the apostles. The mission of the church, in other words, cannot be reduced to our traditional understanding of missions. Since the Day of Pentecost, all believers are indwelled by the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation (Rom. Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases on Amazon.com. Gods Word is the seed of the gospel that has within it the power to give life to dead sinners (Luke 8:11). Perhaps a skeptic had tried to convince Theophilus that his faith was based on myths or legends. Before Jesus was taken up into heaven, He gave orders to His apostles. They taught people about Jesus every day. The new believers relationship with God has social and ethical ramifications which go beyond the typical confines of religion in the ancient world. On the other hand, can someone who is in Christ attend a birthday celebration at a pagan temple without actually worshiping any god? While leading figures such as Peter and Paul and their ministries dominate the narrative, there is a substantial amount of evidence that many more people than the apostles were involved in spreading the Gospel under different, at times adverse, circumstances. Or children can draw people inside the building. Let's look the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles ( Acts 14:21-27) and see there the true path of priests, teachers, and leaders in the Church. Before engaging the text, we need to consider briefly the purpose and emphasis of Acts. Pro je Zjeven tk kniha k porozumn? (Thai) Who is the Creator? Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. They shared everything. Who wrote the book? The church devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread (Lords Supper), and to prayer. Strictly speaking, the church is not sent out, but sends out workers from her midst. Jesus was always focused on the task of reconciling sinful men with the holy God. He believed in and powerfully taught Gods Word. While the Book of Acts emphasizes the ministry of two great men, Peter and Paul, it shows clearly that these men were not one-man shows. He emphasizeswhat Jesus has done in bringing Gods salvation to the world. The church listened to the apostles teach about Jesus. Sneak Peek Interview: Women & Work with Courtney Moore, A Simple Way to Help Get 100,000 Bibles to Kids in Africa, To Love and to Cherish, Not Bite and Devour, This Makes Jesus Glorious and Exposes Our Helplessness, Who Would You Miss? Being part of the church means that you follow the churchs leader, Jesus. Johannes Nissen identifies three categories of fellow-workers with Paul. The title of the book of Acts comes from the Greek word praxis, a word often used in early Christian literature to describe the great deeds of the apostles or other significant believers. And so it goes throughout the Book of Acts. top. The Jerusalem church met in the temple courtyard and in homes but they were still a church. Before copying or reproducing any portion of this website please carefully read the Mission Bible Class Copyrights and Permissions Page. The church was filled with awe (Acts 2:43). While we have four gospel accounts of the life of Jesus Christ, there is only one Book of Acts. This outward thrust of the gospel is the main story line of Acts. Thus we read that the word of God kept on spreading (6:7). The Holy Spirit chose and made him into a worthy instrument for the preaching of the Good News to the gentiles (Act 9:1-19). On the first day there were almost 3,000 people in it. While Jesus was totally unique, perfect in all of His ways, we are given the daunting task of representing Jesus Christ to the world as His body. Im blogging through Richard HaysThe Moral Vision of the New Testamentover the next several weeks. When salvation is genuine, those who come to the Lord know and testify that it was not their decision that saved them. The life of the early church was difficult but beautiful. 4:1-5) has been one of my main directional verses in ministry. These elements of mission also explain many of the problems Paul faces in fulfilling his calling. . Outline: A simple outline of Acts is contained in Acts 1:8: With that as a brief introduction to the book, lets look at the first two verses, which develop an important theme: By the power of the Holy Spirit the church is obediently to continue to do and teach what Jesus began. They fight against Jesus and now they keep fighting against his disciples because they spoke about Him and His resurrection. Have children draw 2 boxes on a paper. Discuss together as they draw. The believer is a new creation and therefore has a new relationship with God. Its narrative supplies a bridge connecting the life and ministry of Jesus to the life of the church and the witness of the earliest believers. Throughout Acts, Luke puts a distinct emphasis on the sovereignty of God in the progress of the gospel. To be sure, Gods cosmic mission is bigger than the Great Commission, but it is telling that while the church is not commanded toparticipatewith God in the renewal of all thingswhich would, presumably, include not only re-creation abut also fiery judgmentwe are often told tobear witnessto the one will do all these things. In Luke, we saw the emphasis on the teaching ministry of Jesus. I. Amazing events had been taking place in the city of Jerusalem! Where Hays ismost helpful in his balanced approach to the churchs sociopolitical challenge in Acts, neither leaning too far towards anti-imperialism nor taking Conzelmanns view that the church was docile and politically innocuous. Long has taught full time at Grace Christian University since 1998, specializing in Bible and Biblical languages. When they were beaten, they rejoiced that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for Christs name, and they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ (5:41-42). One key to understanding Acts is to see that it is a transitional book, showing how the worship of God moved from the Jewish temple, to the hesitant acceptance of Gentiles into the Jewish church, and finally to the Christian worship of predominately Gentile churches all over the Roman empire. It was a very big church! 1:8;2Thess. Because of Stephens persecution many Christians went to others cities like Antioch (11:19-20). The church began on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4) with the Apostles preaching the good news about King Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. The holiday was held 50 days after the Passover so it makes sense that it was known, at that time, by the Greek word for 50, or Pentecost. The divine commission is fulfilled only because of their love for the Lord. Second, the missionary communicates a new way of life to those who respond to the good news. The family "was the basic unit in the . Kevin DeYoung (PhD, University of Leicester) is senior pastor of Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, North Carolina, Council member of The Gospel Coalition, and associate professor of systematic theology at Reformed Theological Seminary (Charlotte). Where the Spirit is at work, liberation is underway. From 1977-1992 he was the pastor of Lake Gregory Community Church in Crestline, California. What can you do when someone in the church needs help? Majority of Jews spoke about apostles many things which were not true, for example they called the Christianity a sect in Acts 25:14. 10:14-17; 15:18;1Cor. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20, NIV). The followers of Jesus throughout the centuries are writing the remainder of the book. He sees the apostles work in Acts as deliberately mirroring and carrying on Jesus work in Luke. I assume Paul would be someplace between these two extremes, based on a reading of Galatians and 1 Corinthians. Rather, they were witnesses, relaying to others what they had seen and heard. 15:1-2, 11;Col. 1:28). 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