Churchwork
03-14-2006, 12:48 AM
How the Church Began!
By reading the Bible, we can sit with the resurrected Christ in his school of discipleship. By believing in Him, we can receive His power by the Holy Spirit to be new people. By joining with other Christians, we can take part in doing His work on earth.
Luke says that the disciples were eyewitnesses to all that happened to Jesus Christ - His life before His crucifixion, and the 40 days (Acts 1.3) after His crucifixion as He taught them more about the Kingdom of God.
Today, there are still people who doubt Jesus' resurrection. But Jesus appeared to the disciples on many occasions (http://biblocality.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1850#post1850) after His resurrection, proving He was alive.
Look at the change the Resurrection made in the disciples' lives. At Jesus' death, they scattered - they were disallusioned, and they feared for their lives.
After seeing the resurrected Christ, they were fearless and risked everything to spread the Good News about him around the world. They faced imprisonment, beatings, rejection, and martyrdom, yet they never comprimised their mission.
These men would not have risked their lives for something they knew was a fraud. They knew Jesus was raised from the dead, and the early church was fired with enthusiasm to tell others. It is important to know this so we can have confidence in their testimony. Twenty centuries later we can still be confident that our faith is based on fact.
By reading the Bible, we can sit with the resurrected Christ in his school of discipleship. By believing in Him, we can receive His power by the Holy Spirit to be new people. By joining with other Christians, we can take part in doing His work on earth.
Luke says that the disciples were eyewitnesses to all that happened to Jesus Christ - His life before His crucifixion, and the 40 days (Acts 1.3) after His crucifixion as He taught them more about the Kingdom of God.
Today, there are still people who doubt Jesus' resurrection. But Jesus appeared to the disciples on many occasions (http://biblocality.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1850#post1850) after His resurrection, proving He was alive.
Look at the change the Resurrection made in the disciples' lives. At Jesus' death, they scattered - they were disallusioned, and they feared for their lives.
After seeing the resurrected Christ, they were fearless and risked everything to spread the Good News about him around the world. They faced imprisonment, beatings, rejection, and martyrdom, yet they never comprimised their mission.
These men would not have risked their lives for something they knew was a fraud. They knew Jesus was raised from the dead, and the early church was fired with enthusiasm to tell others. It is important to know this so we can have confidence in their testimony. Twenty centuries later we can still be confident that our faith is based on fact.