The Spirit Descends, a Church Arises

The Spirit Descends, the Church Arises

In Acts 1 and 2, we find the opening scene to God’s establishment of the Church.  Luke (the author of the book of Acts) reminds his audience of Christ’s resurrection and tells of Jesus’ last instructions to his disciples: 

“And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."  (Acts 1:4-5)

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (v.8)

So the disciples waited, replaced Judas (whose shameful suicide Luke doesn’t hesitate to mention), and waited some more. 

1When the day of Pentecost (an annual Jewish feast day celebrating the giving of the Mosaic Law to Israel) arrived, they were all together in one place. 2And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2)

The promised Spirit had arrived with power!  Peter then preaches the first, albeit simple, gospel message to the people nearby.  It basically went something like this:  You remember Jesus? The one who did all those crazy-awesome miracles?  Yeah, the one you had crucified.  Well it turns out he is the Messiah.  But don’t worry!  He has risen from the dead and offers forgiveness for your sins.  Repent and be baptized! 

A whopping 3,000 people were baptized after being “cut to the heart” by Peter’s gospel proclamation.  This certainly jumpstarted things!  And this “assembly” or Ekklesia would form the skeleton of what we know as the Christian church. 

What classifies a group as a church? And what was this early ekklesia like?  Keep reading throughout the week!