Sunday, October 09, 2005
An Apostolic Church?
I've been thinking...
I don't think the ancient church grew the way we think it grew; in the way we reinterpret their growth through cell mutiplication etc. It seems to me that the church expanded as apostles were sent out from the church to other cities and regions.
I think of passages like Acts 10 (Cornelius's House), Acts 20 (Ephesian Church) etc., where Peter and Paul both go from house to house proclaiming Christ and making disciples.
I think of John Wesely's circuit preachers. His classes didn't multiply themselves as much as his preachers started new ones all the time.
The "local" church focused mostly on building Spirit-directed, agape-filled community and serving the local needs of the city. They did this because they were fulfilling their calling to love God with all their hearts and love one another as Christ loved them. They wanted to share the Gospel in deed and word. From within these same communities, apostles were called to be sent out to other cities and regions to spread the word and build more communities.
I truly wish that I could do this.
I don't think the ancient church grew the way we think it grew; in the way we reinterpret their growth through cell mutiplication etc. It seems to me that the church expanded as apostles were sent out from the church to other cities and regions.
I think of passages like Acts 10 (Cornelius's House), Acts 20 (Ephesian Church) etc., where Peter and Paul both go from house to house proclaiming Christ and making disciples.
I think of John Wesely's circuit preachers. His classes didn't multiply themselves as much as his preachers started new ones all the time.
The "local" church focused mostly on building Spirit-directed, agape-filled community and serving the local needs of the city. They did this because they were fulfilling their calling to love God with all their hearts and love one another as Christ loved them. They wanted to share the Gospel in deed and word. From within these same communities, apostles were called to be sent out to other cities and regions to spread the word and build more communities.
I truly wish that I could do this.
