The followers of “The Way” in the first seven chapters of Acts learned how to do church.  They were taught regularly by wise leaders. They prayed and saw answers to prayer. They shared with those who were needy. They witnessed to non-believers through their words and their actions. They experienced an explosion of church growth. They participated in church administration and personnel matters.  Best of all, they were believers in the Son of God.

They also had bonus events to build their faith. The apostles were regularly doing miracles.  Church discipline was administered with abrupt finality on Ananias and Sappira. Apostles were jailed and then miraculously set free. At his speech and stoning, Stephen saw a vision of the Lord, and all who were there saw his face “like the face of an angel.”

Then everything changed.  The Jewish leaders had enough and began persecuting church members, so that most were forced to flee for their lives.  Where did they go?  All over Judea and Samaria.  What did they take with them?  How to do church; how to be witnesses; how to live as believers of Jesus Christ.  God was actively directing and amplifying his promised plan as announced at the Ascension.  The witnesses would certainly tell the good news – Jesus was a righteous man who was crucified, dead and buried, and then rose again from the dead; those who believe in him would have eternal life. In addition, the church members would be able to testify and teach about how a community of faith can grow together – teaching, prayer, sharing, leadership, discipline.

It must have been a huge hardship to go from a comfortable, joyful, contented community in Jerusalem to life on the run and settling in some rural or small village neighborhood.  But the believers told their stories and shared what they had learned.  They were not all eyewitnesses of the risen savior, but they were all eyewitnesses of the peace and blessings He bestows.  And the kingdom grows. 

 

See yesterday’s post for a related message on At The Right Time.