The Formation of the Church What Empowered it’s development Forster, Daniel

Holy Spirit The formation of the early church would not be possible if not for the presence of the Holy Spirit Spirit led followers Spirit led laborers Spirit led servants Spirit led leaders Jesus declared how the formation of the church would begin, who would be responsible, and how it would happen: Acts 1:8 (HCSB) “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” He sent out the first disciples to be His witness and share His Good News to the ends of the earth He also sent them to make disciples who in turn would also make disciples who all love and live like Jesus, because of the power of the Holy Spirit within them. These are His Spirit led followers, who labor for His Glory and for His Good. (Matthew 16:24 (HCSB) Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. These are His Spirit led servants who have surrendered their lives to Him. (Philippians 2:3-5 (ESV) Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus) These are His Spirit led leaders (everyone) who are empowered by the five fold gifts of His Spirit to go and make disciples by Apostolic, Teaching, Evangelism, Prophetic, and Sheppard. (Ephesians 4:11-13 (HCSB) And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, ⌊growing⌋ into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.

The First Apostles Peter and John in Jerusalem Preaching at the temple daily Preforming miracles Disciples becoming disciple makers Martyrdom of Stephen Phillip the evangelist The spreading of the Apostles by the will of God Acts Chapter 3,4,6,7, and 8 Peter and John were able to preach sermons to the crowds, perform miracles, and bring many to Christ by the Power of the Holy Spirit on them as He led them to say what He wanted them to say, do as He wanted them to do, and begin the formation of His Church; His body in Him From this there are 7 men who are chosen to help assist the apostles in daily mundane tasks; yet as we can see from Stephen and Phillip that the Holy Spirit had much more in store for them than the tasks assigned to them by the apostles. God wants us to make disciples who in turn will also make disciples who all love and live fully surrendered in Christ. This is His Church. In Chapter 8 God uses Saul, soon to be Paul, to be the one who uses persecution to spread the initial church out into the surrounding areas. From this forced spreading, God naturally and organically began the first Church plants. He used no one special to be His church planters; rather He used every day disciples who had come to know and love Him.

Community The first Church community set the tone for future church plants and communities in Christ Power of believers gathered together in community Power of Prayer, Thanksgiving and Worship New way of life as a new creation in Christ Acts 2:42-47 shows how the first community of His Church functioned and operated. All resources were gathered together, and none went without. This was a fulfillment of tithing, and how God was calling His people to surrender all to Him and by doing so all would have their needs met. The first community set the tone for how to live the life as a disciple and follower of Christ. First this was done by gathering daily in prayer, thanksgiving, breaking of bread, worship, and in remembrance of who Christ is and what He has done for them through His death and resurrection (communion). By the Holy Spirit leading the first community of His Church in this way, the standards were set as future plants would come across the region and nations

The Apostleship of Paul Paul to the message of His Good News to the Jews and gentiles of the entire region Paul planted many Churches that in turn planted many other Churches Paul took upon his apostolic role in maintaining, encouraging, lifting up, praying, and creating the existing Churches and leaders who would plant other Churches In Acts chapter 9 Paul is converted by Christ Himself and receives his calling to take His Gospel to the entire region for Jews and Gentiles As Paul planted Churches (as he was led by the Holy Spirit to do so) he in turn also made many disciples who in turn made disciples who would then branch out and plant other Churches in the areas Paul gives us an excellent example of Church planting and the role of the apostolic gift. He never put himself ahead of Christ and always put Christ first in all he taught and discipled. Because of this the organic formation of the Church itself was allowed to grow. None of his disciples put themselves above Christ either and as they in turn made disciples, those disciples went out to plant other Churches that continued to make more disciples and plant even more Churches in all the regions throughout Rome and beyond to the ends of the Earth. Paul also in turn followed up with not only the Churches the Holy Spirit had him plant, but other Churches that were planted as well. He accomplished this through writing letters, visiting the Churches, and sending out trusted disciples to the Churches as well.