Study 1. The First ‘Church’

Okay, let’s kick this off with looking at the first, more formal gatherings of people who had decided to follow Jesus. Let me set the scene.

Jesus, after having been crucified on the cross is now alive again, and this time appearing to his disciples. Well, actually it was a few hundred people over about 11 weeks who saw Jesus alive again before, the Bible says that they watched him ascend to heaven. 

Before all this happened, Jesus had promised his disciples this:

But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

John 16:7

So, they knew this was going to happen. Jesus had told them he would be taken to heaven, so that the advocate, helper, or Holy Spirit will come. That’s what happens in Acts 2 and kickstarts the more ‘formalised’ gathering of Jesus’ followers. 

After this moment in Acts 2 (hopefully you have had a read of it in today’s Bible reading), Peter goes on to speak to the crowds that gathered around and the Bible records that about three-thousand people decided to follow Jesus that day alone. 

The Bible then tells us that all the believers gathered together, each day praying, sharing communion (bread and wine to symbolise Jesus’ body on the cross), and they even shared their belongings too! Every day more and more people decided to follow Jesus, so this very first formalised collection of people began to increase. 

It is also worth mentioning that after this a severe persecution broke out against the Christians that had gathered, Stephen was murdered for his faith in Jesus and from then on, the church was scattered. (Actually, God had a plan in all this and the church went global!)

A formalised church or gathering was established and built up in a place called Antioch. As these scattered believers ran around the globe, some went to the Greeks and as these people accepted the Good News and believed in Jesus, a church community was born. 

From then on, the church grew and grew, but not without opposition. Many who confessed to following Jesus were treated with utter brutality and murdered for their faith. Yet, still the Good News of Jesus continued to spread and the global church that trusts and follows Jesus is very much alive today.  In 2015, studies have shown that there are around 2.3 billion Christians globally, making it the largest faith in the world. 

It’s amazing to be part of that. You can travel the world and meet men and women who have decided to follow Jesus.

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If you like what you read here in this series, then we have a 4-book set called The Manual Starter Pack that you can get hold of from the CVM shop to drill and mine into this stuff even more. Each book contains a month’s worth of reading notes to explore at your own pace, just go ahead and check out the CVM website