The Church in the Book of Acts

What is the Church? Is it a denomination?  It is a congregation? Is it a mystical spiritual body? Is it the place where
clergy work? Is it a building in which people worship? Is it a place where sinners find God? Is it a place where healing takes place? Is it a place where the Word of God is proclaimed? Yes, the Church is all of these, and more.

Jesus promised his followers, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it!”

To the believers at Ephesus the Apostle Paul wrote:
“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s
household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:19-23)

The Apostle Peter also understood the Church. He wrote (in 1 Peter 2:4-9):
“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God.”
The First Century Church was:
•   An Involved Fellowship. New Testament Christians were involved in the mission of the church. There was no room for “secret disciples” in the early church. And today, there is no such thing as secret discipleship. For either the secrecy will undermine true discipleship, or true discipleship will eliminate the secrecy.
•   An Evangelistic Fellowship. A building does not define evangelism. God does. But revivals begin some place. Either inside the church or outside the church. The Graham Crusades began in a tent in south-central Los Angeles. The Welch revivals began in the mines. Wesley preached from his father’s tombstone when he was denied access to a church pulpit. Finney’s first revival began in a schoolhouse. Question: Is anybody being saved where you serve?
•   A Caring Fellowship.  Evangelism was central to the mission of the church—then and now. But once people are saved, fellowship becomes central. Jess Moody said, “People don’t go where the action is. They go where Love is.”
•   A Christ-centered Fellowship. The Holy Spirit never gathers to a denomination. He never gathers to an ordinance. He never gathers to a doctrine. He never gathers to a ritual. The Holy Spirit of God always gathers to the Person of Christ. The very moment we are born of God’s Word and God’s Spirit, we are immediately joined to Christ.  In churches where Christ is glorified, blessings follow.
•   An On-fire Fellowship. The Christians in the Book of Acts were fired up. They didn’t have much materially, but they had power. They had no trained clergy, no robed choirs, no worship teams, no church buildings, no paid staff, no printed curriculum (except the Old Testament), and very little organization. But what they did have was a fresh anointing of Holy Spirit power. Churches today grow when the Spirit of Christ is present with power.
•   An Inclusive Fellowship.  The first Christians were Jews. Pentecost was a Jewish feast. But soon after the dramatic introduction of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem, there was a second Pentecost—among Gentiles. At first, Peter struggled with this, but as he was persuaded that God was blessing the spread of the Gospel among the Greeks, he gave assent to making the church inclusive. Today, growing churches are diverse. Sinners of all backgrounds are welcome.
•   A Praying Fellowship. God works in answer to prayer! When people do not pray, God is not obligated to hear or answer. God loves to hear people pray. He likes focused prayers…individual prayers…group prayers…impossible-situation prayers…spontaneous prayers…intense prayers…persistent prayers…organized prayers. Any prayer will do.

J. Wilbur Chapman, one of America’s most effective evangelists of the early 1900s, said this about prayer:
“Church members have much more to do than go to church as curious, idle spectators, to be amused and entertained. It is their business to pray mightily that the Holy Ghost will clothe the preacher with power and make his words like dynamite!” Is your church a place where people “pray mightily that the Holy Ghost will clothe the preacher with power and make his words like dynamite?” If it is, prepare to expand your facilities. A Divine Visitor is on the way.

      “…A dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit…a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation….”
It’s called the Church of Jesus Christ!