The Early Church

Sermon Acts 1-6 - The Beginning

As our church begins a slight change and restarts with a new Methodist denomination, my thoughts go to the new Christian movement of the followers of Jesus. They too were moving away from the old and toward the new. So, for the next few times I speak, I plan to examine the early church and continue through the foot-steps of Paul. We looked at his letters in the few months prior to Easter. This time I want to look at his evangelical journeys.

Both the formation of the early church and the travels of Paul are recorded in the book of Acts written by Luke; the same Luke who wrote the Gospel. Little is known of Luke. His name is only mentioned three or four times in Scripture. I agree with scholars who suggest he was most likely a Greek and was not one of those who followed and observed the ministry of Christ. If so, his gospel was not first-hand accounts. He relied on the reports of others for his information. If you examine his gospel closely, you will find most of his perspective was that of the women who followed Jesus. I believe the book of Luke was a research paper, and his sources were the women. The first several chapters of Acts were also pure research gained through the stories of the apostles.

Luke addresses both his Gospel and the book of Acts “to Theophilus”. These are the only places in the Bible he is mentioned, and his identity remains both a mystery and a point of conjecture among theologians. I have my own theory. Paul refers to Luke as his “physician”. Physicians of the day were much more than physical healers. They were learned men who routinely ventured into astronomy, philosophy, and metaphysics. They were also frequently slaves. Romans enslaved tradesmen and other skilled and learned individuals from the provinces. At the time of Christ, approximately a third of all inhabitants of Rome were slaves some of which were highly educated. It is also recorded that Paul had other slaves on loan from their newly converted Christian masters. I believe Luke was a slave to Theophilus a new non-Jewish Christian. I may be wrong, but that is what I am led to believe.

The first chapter of Acts describes the promise of the Holy Spirit. Matthew reports a similar conversation. I actually like his better than Luke’s. The last line in the book of Matthew says, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) Luke says the same thing only in different words. The Holy Spirit is the power of God. It is the presence of Jesus Christ.

When Jesus empowered his disciples with the Holy Spirit, he instructed them to spread the word to the ends of the world. God wanted all human beings to hear the good news of salvation through Christ, and he chose the disciples as His instruments. The Disciples were full of joy and missionary zeal after Peter’s speech at Pentecost. Recall they baptized over 3000 new converts that first day. Those converts were from all parts of the Roman Empire and did a lot to spread the new faith, but Peter and the others soon forgot all about what Jesus had instructed them and stayed in Jerusalem. Peter and John preached in the synagogue so much they angered the establishment and were whipped for their efforts and told to cease and desist. They still didn’t get it. Then they were thrown into jail only to be rescued by God Himself. That got their attention and they went into hiding. It wasn’t until soft spoken Stephen was stoned to death for telling the truth of Christ that the disciples final decided to do what Jesus told them to do.

How many of us fail to listen or at least, fail to hear the call of Christ? How many of us believe we know what is best for us and fail to hear the voice of God? God will always triumph in the end. God will always get His way, whether we decide to be His instruments or not.

When it became evident to the disciples, they would either do what Jesus told them to do or be executed, they chose to follow Christ. Was that so hard. Yes!! Actually, it was. Inertia is a strong influence; we tend to cling to the familiar. Jesus didn’t say it would be easy.

According to legend, Mary Magdalen, Lazarus, and Joseph of Arimathea went east into what tis now France where Mary Magdalen dropped out of the convoy and started a convent that is still there today. Legend losses tract of Lazarus, but Joseph of Arimathea went all the way to England. He supposedly carried part of the crown of thorns and planted a cutting beside his new church. The briar that still grows there is the only one of its kind outside of Judea.

Doubting Thomas carried his faith all the way to India planting churches along the way. He was eventually martyred with a spear.

Simon Peter preached in the same areas as Paul until he was eventually crucified in Rome during the persecution by Nero. Some stories say he objected to being glorified with the same fate as Jesus, so he was crucified upside-down.

James the Great made it all the way to Spain and back to Jerusalem where he was beheaded by Herod.

Of the eleven disciples remainig after Judas, ten were martyred for their new faith. Only John lived into his old age, but was tortured several times and spent much of his later years writing while in exile.

Phillip was crucified in Turkey. Andrew crucified in Egypt on an X shaped cross. Bartholomew was tortured to death in Armenia along with Thaddeus. Mathew and Simon the Zealot were both executed in Persia. James the Less completed several missionary journeys before he was stoned to death in Jerusalem.

These martyrs were the same ones who hesitated to leave their familiar surroundings. The same ones who balked at the Great Commission. What happened? Once they decided to follow Jesus instead of their own path, their faith grew. Their expanding faith gave birth to Christianity. Their faith made it possible for millions of people to have eternal life.

Leaving the denomination is a giant step for us, but there is no real choice for us. We are undertaking this adventure, and it will be an adventure, in order to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. None of us will be asked to make the sacrifice that the disciples made, but we are entering unfamiliar, uncomfortable waters. We need to follow where Jesus leads us.

Our gracious Heavenly Father. You have pointed the way for us. You have pointed us toward the salvation found through Christ. Please guide us. Am