Daily Bread - Dec 01 2006

Acts 17:2 - "And according to Paul's custom he went to them and preached the word to them for three Sabbaths."

The idea that meeting in a church building took place as an evolution of Christian practices is simply not true. It was Paul's custom to meet in the Synagogues, which of course would be equivalent to the church meeting today (Acts 9:20; 13:5, 14; 14:1; 16:13; 17:10,17; 18:4, 19; 19:8; 28:17, 23). When Jesus was not preaching to the masses, He was also found ministering in the Synagogues (Matthew 12:9; 13:54; Mark 1:21; 3:1; 6:2; Luke 4:16; John 6:59).

The church today is a pattern of what the Holy Spirit established in the first century. The local church is an essential and vital part of both the witness of Jesus Christ in communities as well as the place of nurturing and training those who come to Him (Mathew 28:19-20; Hebrews 13:17). The church is the place that God ordained for His saints to assemble (Hebrews 10:25). The church is where the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire empowered the believers (Acts 2:1-4). The church is the place where God placed the gift of apostles, prophets, evangelist, pastors, and teachers (Ephesians 4:11-12; Acts 13:3; 1 Timothy 5:17). The local church is the place where all of the gifts of the Spirit are in full operation (1 Corinthians 12:28; 14:12, 24-26). The church is the body of Christ where Jesus is revealed and the fullness of God is manifested (Ephesians 1:22-23). It is to the church that the Epistles of Paul are addressed. It is in the midst of the church that Jesus now stands (Revelation 1:12-20). It is the church which Jesus purchased with His own blood, and it is the church which is armed with the authority that the gates of hell cannot prevail against (Acts 20:28; Matthew 16:18).

Blessings,

Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
www.abidingplace.org