Worship
Consider a couple of citations from two quite different sources concerning worship practices in the first/second century church.
They were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternative verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud,…
Little Children and Jesus
Be Righteous; Be Baptized
Be Righteous, 1 Peter 3:8-17 If you should suffer for righteousness sake, you will be blessed.
Be Baptized, 1 Peter 3:18-22
Baptism…now saves you
Christian Identity and Community in the Roman Empire
Even though Christianity began as a rural movement (Christ emerging from the agricultural region of Galilee; Peter a small-town fisherman, etc.), the real growth and spread of Christianity came in the large Roman cities. Christianity, lived out in faith, in these large, close-quartered cities such…
2020 Series
Be Submissive
1 Peter 2:13-3:7 addresses the subjects of politics, of a master/slave economy, and of the submissiveness of wives to the authority of their husbands. This section of scripture and others like it are often met with disdain by 21st century American culture. Given poor interpretation and application, today’s Christians may have their own issues of embarrassment surrounding…
The Eagle and the Cross
The majority of the book of Acts plays out against the backdrop of the gospel intersecting, impacting and often changing the surrounding Roman-dominated culture. One example is detailed in Acts 19:23-41 where the proclamation of the gospel had a negative economic impact on artisans and merchants who crafted and sold household idols. They lost enough business as a result…
Decide.
Be Mature
This passage begins with the picture of a baby and a bottle of milk, but its message is to grow up into spiritual maturity and completeness.
A second picture in this passage is a construction project. We do not want to be a building half-built. We are to become everything God has called us to be – complete and mature.
THE HOME IN THE FIRST CENTURY
Living in the First Century World #4 The home in the first century was a highly valued institution both in the Roman and Jewish context. The home was an anchor for both cultures—with certain cultural expectations shaping it. To understand the world in which Jesus lived and in which the gospel flourished, it helps to understand the first century home. It is a Man’s World…