by Lindsey Abston Painter | 24 August 2019 | A few months back AT editor Loren Seibold wrote a piece about modesty—about how it’s a man’s responsibility if he chooses to sin, and he should take responsibility for his own temptations, not blame women’s appearance. It was an excellent piece and made me want to […] Source: https://atoday.org/modesty-from-a-womans-perspective/
Sunday: A New Kind of Community
After Jesus’ ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the group of believers grew rapidly and created the early church, a new kind of community among the followers of Jesus, and initially led by His original disciples. However, this new community was not just something that they made up among themselves; rather, it was built on the teachings and ministry of Jesus and drew on the long history of the Hebrew Scriptures and their prophets.
Read Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-37. What do you identify as the key elements in these descriptions of the early church community?
While it seems the Israelites had failed to ever fully live out the blueprint for a just and generous society, the early church community took seriously the instruction that “there need be no poor people among you” (Deut. 15:4, NIV). One of the practical expressions of their faith was sharing their material resources—even selling land and contributing the funds raised (see Acts 4:34-5:2)—to meet the needs of their fellow believers, as well as to be a blessing to those outside the fledgling community, particularly through the ministry of healing (see Acts 3:1-11, Acts 5:12-16).
Yet, this community was not a utopian society by any stretch of the imagination. As the number of believers increased, tensions grew about the administration of these resources, particularly in relation to the daily distribution of food to widows (see Acts 6:1). The disciples, who were the natural leaders of the group, wanted to focus on preaching the gospel. In order to deal with the situation at hand, they needed to do some re-organizing.
Thus, seven people were appointed to focus on the practical matters of the church community. This was perhaps the first recognition of the different ministries and abilities to be exercised in the church; at the same time, it demonstrated the importance of practical ministry for the church’s life and witness. “The same principles of piety and justice that were to guide the rulers among God’s people in the time of Moses and of David, were also to be followed by those given the oversight of the newly organized church of God in the gospel dispensation”. – Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 95.
Try to envision what it must have been like in that early community. How can we reflect those same principles today? |
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SabbathSchoolNet/~3/4PJuU3tsqgM/
How to Slay Your Giant
Haffner to Leave Kettering Church to Join Loma Linda University Faculty
23 August 2019 | Dr. Karl Haffner, senior pastor at the Kettering Seventh-day Adventist Church sent a letter this afternoon to church members announcing that he has accepted an invitation to become Vice President for Student Experience at Loma Linda University. He is a highly-respected preacher and author who has served the congregation of 1,500 […] Source: https://atoday.org/haffner-to-leave-kettering-church-to-join-loma-linda-university-faculty/
Why are young people leaving the church?
Dear Readers: No question from a reader this week. But recently I came across this bit of wisdom from an AT reader, who gave me permission to share it. Church: Why are young people leaving the faith? Young people: Well, you see, we’re discouraged by the fighting about totally irrelevant issues while real crises are […] Source: https://atoday.org/52058-2/