Acts Lesson 8: Early Church Life {An Awe-some Church}

From Acts 2:42-47, Luke takes us into the early life of the Church; the days and weeks that followed as the 3,120 "charter members" of the Church met together and grew, both in knowledge and in number ("deep and wide")! The Book of Acts is the record of the first generation of the Church and how that one generation expanded to the uttermost part of the world at that time. If we really want to know what the Early Church was like in her character, we look at these verses (2:42-47). We discuss the desired characteristics of the surrendered Early Church, the divine confirmations of the Spirit-filled Early Church, and the daily consequences of the sanctified Early Church. The Early Church had an invigoration and vibrancy that was yet unaffected by the wrinkles, scars, and gray hairs that come from troubles and trials. She was yet naive about the things that lay ahead. Like the freshness, wonder, and purity of a newborn, the Early Church had leaders who had a vivid remembrance of Jesus, Who had so recently walked with them. The Early Church was unified! She may have been inexperienced and naive in certain ways, but she was a model Church in spirit (not perfect, for she was comprised of sinners saved by grace). We can benefit greatly by studying the characteristics that made-up the Earthly Church.