The Community of Believers The New Testament Community of Believers

A recap Early Christianity

The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost 2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them. 5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,[b] 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” 13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

The Fellowship of the Believers Acts 2:42-47 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Starter   Imagine you belong to an early Christian community. In pairs, brainstorm the qualities shared by you all - how do you think you would behave? What would you all do?

2 B The New Testament community of believers - Acts 2:42-47 ‘They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teachings and fellowship’ Didache and kergyma Old Testament prophecies fulfilled – the Messiah has come This has happened through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus He was born of the house of David, and died to save humankind He was buried, but resurrected on the third day, according to the Scriptures He ascended to Heaven and sits on the right hand of God He will come again to be humankind’s judge and Saviour Therefore, all are called to repent and be baptised in his name (They devoted themselves) to the breaking of bread This phrase can have two meanings (They devoted themselves) to the prayers (this includes praise, adoration, thanksgiving, petition, confession and giving God Glory) Prayer in the Temple Prayer in private homes They had all things in common This does not mean an early form of communism It means the Holy Spirit acted in their lives and caused them to care for their less fortunate colleagues

‘They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and fellowship Kergyma ‘a proclamation’ Pattern of the kerygma Old Testament prophecies fulfilled – the Messiah has come This has happened through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus He was born of the house of David, and died to save humankind He was buried, but resurrected on the third day, according to the Scriptures He ascended to Heaven and sits on the right hand of God He will come again to be humankind’s judge and Saviour Therefore, all are called to repent and be baptised in his name

‘They devoted themselves to the breaking of bread

They devoted themselves to prayer

They had all things in common

The New Testament community of believers as a model for the contemporary church   Having established the purpose of the early community of believers we are now going to look at the beliefs and practices of the contemporary church.

In order to see how the contemporary church is modelled on those actions of the early church you need to complete the following table. Try to think about and include actual examples from the modern church. Features of the New Testament Community of believers as depicted in Acts 2:42-47 The contemporary church in providing worship and sacraments, religious teaching, mission, service and outreach, and fellowship for the community of believers. Devotion to Apostles’ teaching - Kergyma  All denominations claim to follow the teachings of the apostles e.g. Jesus was the Messiah, performed God’s work, died, was resurrected, ascended and can forgive sins Fellowship – a special relationship with God and each other    Fellowship comes from partaking in the sacraments, accepting the churches doctrines and following a way of life appropriate for believers Breaking of bread (two meanings)  Eucharist is a sacrament (a visible sign of God’s grace) Devotion to prayers  Prayer in church – Sunday services, mid week services, festivals – Christmas, Easter Prayer in houses – prayer groups – Lent, Advent etc. Outreach/adding to their number  The church should be an agent of God’s mission in the world. Acts 2:46 ‘And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved’. Sold and gave to those in need  Church should help in times of crisis – natural and man made. CAFOD and Tear Fund Had all things in common  Sharing of possessions is not compulsory. Religious orders of monks and nuns hold all things in common. Modern Christians have an obligation to help the sick and poor

Exam style questions A. Explain how the New Testament community of believers acts as a model for churches today. B. ‘The main role of the church is to provide religious teaching.’ Evaluate this view. Main role is religious teaching

B. ‘Contemporary Christian churches should follow the New Testament model.’ Evaluate this view Shouldn’t follow Problems with the early church make it a bad model Paul’s letters highlight lots of problems with the early church ‘arrogance’ and a general lack of discipline Paul’s attitude to women in the church – it is era dependant and not applicable today Should look to Jesus = not interpretations of Jesus Strengths of the early church that make it a good model Can learn from the mistakes of the early church St Paul’s letter to the Corinthians his ‘master piece’ according to N.T. Wright