Making Disciples Who Make Disciples
Jesus commanded His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations and teach them to observe everything that He had commanded. The command is to make disciples We live in a day where we judge the success of churches by baptisms, buildings, bodies, and bucks. Unfortunately this means that Jesus’ command is neglected. Jesus wanted the disciples to be disciple makers. He desired for each believer to mature in their faith until they could make disciples of others. This…
Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes means “the preacher,” and is about Solomon trying to find meaning in life. It is a great book that points to the whole reason for the Bible. Solomon seeks to answer, “What is the point of life?” The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? One generation passeth…
The Lord’s Supper
After doctrine and fellowship the early church was marked by “breaking of bread” (observing the Lord’s Supper.) This seems odd to us, but if you study Acts 2 and 1 Corinthians 11 you will find that the early church held a far different view of the Lord’s Supper than we do today. The Lord’s Supper was prominent When describing the church the third thing mentioned is the Lord’s Supper. If you were to describe a church today how far down…
Proverbs
Before we look at the Prophets, we need to discuss several other books, namely the books of Poetry. We will begin with the book of Proverbs, a book that is filled with wisdom that mostly comes from Solomon. The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; To give subtilty to the simple, to the young…
The Church is a Family
As we look at the Church in Acts 2 and following, we see a very tight-knit community. They are marked by: Constant fellowship The Church was constantly together. They were daily in each other’s homes. They were constantly gathering for worship and fellowship. They were a distinct community. Sharing of possessions The Christians freely shared their possessions. This was done without any compulsion. It is clear from Acts 5:4 that this sharing of needs was completely voluntary. They gave to…
Kings and Chronicles
David, the man after God’s own heart, has now been established as king. He has been told that the line of the Messiah will come through him, and that His kingdom will last forever. And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. And David sent and…
The Heart of Christian Community (John 17:20-24)
The second characteristic of the Christian church that we see in Acts 2 is community or fellowship. Almost instantly the people of God united together as one in hospitality and service. What brought about this change? A heart changed by the power of the Gospel. Fellowship cannot truly take place until the heart is changed. In John 17, we see Jesus praying and describing what His followers would be. The Church is One Jesus Christ only has one bride. The…
Saul and David
And Samuel called the people together unto the Lord to Mizpeh; And said unto the children of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them that oppressed you: And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and ye have said…
Every Believer is to be a Theologian
In Acts 2 we read that there was a dramatic change that took place in each believer. Remember that these were all Jews who knew the Old Testament Law very well. Upon being converted to Christianity they came to realize that they had missed the whole point of the Law, Jesus Christ. This resulted in a continued hunger for the Word of God among the believers. They continued in the Apostle’s doctrine. From this we learn that: Every believer is…
Samuel
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. Judges 21: 25 As the time of the judges comes to an end, the nation of Israel is the midst of great moral decay. The Patriarchs, the priests, and the judges have all failed to bring the nation of Israel out of their sin and back into right standing with God. God now raises up a deliverer for the nation…
The Lord’s Day Gathering
Paul addresses many problems with the Corinthian church throughout 1 Corinthians. In chapter 14 he addresses their aberration from what was normative in New Testament churches particularly in the area of tongues. Although this passage mainly deals with speaking in tongues, we can find the normative pattern of worship that the early church observed during their Lord’s Day gatherings. The gathering was primarily of believers Paul clearly expected the gathering to be primarily of believers. He did acknowledge that there…
Ruth
Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued…