The Church: A Spiritual Community (Part 5) – Acts
April 2, 2017Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Speaker: Jerry Cisar
In the Book of Acts, Luke gives meaning to the word spiritual in our series title “The Church: A Spiritual Community.” Luke, Paul’s faithful traveling companion, and at times only remaining companion, has written more of the New Testament by volume, than anyone else. Not only was he a literary genius, he has left us with the only historical account of the church in its infancy.
In our series we’ve learned about the church as Peter describes it (1 Peter), and also how Paul describes it in his magnum opus on the church—Ephesians. We viewed the church through the lens of Matthew’s gospel, and last week, Mark’s. How does Luke, a man who probably knew Paul better than anyone else, paint his portrait of the church?
For starters, Luke describes the gospel he wrote as being about what Jesus began to do and teach (Acts 1:1). The implication is that Acts is about what Jesus continued to do and teach. The church, as a spiritual community, is a continuation of Jesus’ messianic ministry in the world. How can the church possibly be a continuation of Jesus’ messianic ministry? What is the source of such power? What are the commitments of this community? What will the outcome be for mission?