What do you know about the New Testament church? Most Christians don’t know how the early church was set up by the apostles and how Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire. Jesus did not offer any instruction on how the church was to be set up; organizing the church and setting up the leadership was relegated to the Holy Spirit.

The word church comes from the Greek word “ekklesia,” which means a group of people. As the Gospel spread from Jerusalem, each city had new believers. There were no church buildings and Christians met in homes. A bishop presided over each city and he was in charge of the pastors, elders, deacons and teachers. Each bishop was independent, but they worked together in mission work and to collect money when people needed help.

The last of the original apostles was taken to heaven and given revelations in A.D. 90 and John recorded what he saw. There were seven churches in Asia Minor and Jesus dictated a letter to each of them, making correction and offering praise. When the letters were sent out, the first generation of Christians had left the earth and the churches were populated by the second-generation Christians who had never met the Savior.

Emperor Constantine enticed a majority of bishops to join him and form a state church. He promised to end the persecution if they supported him. Roman Catholicism continued in Europe after the split of the empire and this gave birth to the Orthodox churches in the east. The powerful churches in Egypt and North Africa were largely exterminated by the Muslim invasion.

The Holy Spirit set about restoring the message of salvation with Martin Luther’s call to reformation. The Baptists restored water baptism by immersion and the Pentecostals were used to restore the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Attending church is important, but finding a good one can be challenging. False churches abound and discovering a solid bible teaching church is not as simple as it used to be. This is where the leading of the Holy Spirit is important.

Print out the sermon outline and let's examine the Scriptures together Sunday morning at 9:00 AM PST.

Yours in Christ,

Pastor John S. Torell