Session 4: The Early Community in Acts 1. Establishment of the Early Church
3. The Appearance of the Church
In Acts 2:37-47, we can look at the content of the meetings of the early church. Here, we find evangelism, baptism, the teachings of the apostles, miracles and signs, fellowship, sharing possessions, the Lord’s Supper, praise, recitation of hymns, and prayer meetings.
i. A church with the work of the Holy Spirit. From the day of Pentecost in the book of Acts, the work of the Holy Spirit was the dominant reality in the life of the early Christian community, and the Holy Spirit was the source of all leadership. The early Christian community in the book of Acts never made an important decision without the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Without the help of the Holy Spirit, they never began the work of ministry and evangelism for the church community. In view of this, the early church in the book of Acts was a community that was thoroughly guided by the Holy Spirit. It can also be seen that all the leaders of the early Christian community in Jerusalem in the book of Acts were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, they were a multicultural/multi-polarized community, but they were rubbed and mixed by the Holy Spirit to form one holy church in beautiful harmony. And
the church that appeared in the book of Acts was able to live day-by-day and in every moment of life with courage and power through the Holy Spirit. Because of this work of the Holy Spirit, the early Christian communities were able to sell all their possessions and share with each other, living together and eating and living together as a community.
ii. A church where the Word was alive. The early church, the Jerusalem church, was a church committed to the Word and a church established through apostolic tradition. Therefore, the early Christians in the book of Acts did their best to listen to the apostles’ teachings and live by their words after experiencing the Holy Spirit. In other words, they devotedly participated in the teachings of the apostles. Teaching the Word and listening to the Word were the most important things in the life of the early
community. Therefore, the early Christians preached the Word wherever they went. By doing this, they did the work of making disciples through the Word of God. As a result, the number of disciples increased and the number of churches increased.
iii. A church where the fellowship of saints developed. These early communities developed the “communion of saints.” Fellowship here is not simply brotherly or sisterly love that comes from any kind of warmth or humanity, but koinonia fellowship that creates wonders and signs. At the same time, it involved the whole act of collecting and distributing donations along with the offerings and articles offered during worship. This koinonia was accomplished from the religious aspect, from the socio- political aspect, and from the economic aspect. In this way, the range of meanings implied by the word koinonia, which expresses the fellowship of the early house church, is very large.
Although this word is not related to the family, it was used to express the relationship between members of the house church as if it were the intimacy between family members. The noun koinonia stands out in the sense of participating in some common thing or activity, that is, participation in the Holy Spirit, faith, Christ and his
sufferings, the ministry of the gospel, and financial support, meaning that people had a direct relationship with each other. It was used in the sense of participating.
iv. A church that shared bread. Early communities frequently “shared bread together.” Sharing this bread could mean a community meal, or it may have been a reference to the sacrament. This communal meal was a sacred love feast in which people in the society of the time shared fraternal and sisterly love, encouraging, comforting, and loving each other. In addition, the Lord’s Supper was an important table sharing as Christians faithfully recalled and commemorated the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ and participated in the redemptive acts of love of Jesus Christ. Therefore, whether it was a communal supper of love at the breaking of bread or a sacrament
commemorating the redemptive death of Jesus Christ on the cross, it provided at least one meal a day for the poor. Therefore, it was a joyous, joyful, and blessed day to break bread for them.
v. A praying church. Another characteristic of the early Christian community was prayer. The early community in Mark’s upper room on the day of Pentecost was a community that prayed to God with all their heart, and it can be seen that they prayed in the temple and gave praise to God.
When they prayed together, they built the Jerusalem Church. In the book of Acts, the phrase “with one heart” is at the heart of ecclesiology. Also, when raising people, they were established through united prayer. They were filled with the Holy Spirit when they prayed, and they overcame the crises of the church through prayer.
vi. A healing church. As a healing community, the early church would gather together at Solomon's Palace to hear the gospel and experience healing. The Jerusalem church healed sins with one heart. Through prayer, not only with the heart but also with
the mind, they experienced the healing of the sickness of the body, that is, disease. They also experienced the healing of the sickness of the spirit.
vii. A missionary church. In the early church, the whole church had the same heart and chose missionaries. They chose Judas, Silas, and Paul as their missionary. Also, the early church supported the missionary work with the same heart. This passion for missions did not last for a moment. In the early church, the whole church continued to carry out missions with the same heart, and they continued to send missionaries. Just as the sending Jerusalem church helped the mission field, the mission field churches also helped the Jerusalem Church.