A Christian who has had an experience with God will have an insatiable desire to be with other Christians he can’t remain isolated. It is the living stones, each individual Christian, being built up together to form a temple together rather than lying alone in a field. The church is nothing more than the dwelling place for God on the earth. When the new wine is preached, a new wineskin will spring up to contain it. One of these, this one in Antioch (which probably was originally a “home group”) became, looking back, the church that was the home-base for evangelizing the world! And new churches were planted, naturally, spontaneously, not by any “apostles” or “vocational” Christians, but by “laymen” who were just living the life that God had ordained for them. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord” (Acts 11:19-21). who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus. “Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. Then, as a result of this terrible, life-rending persecution, a wonderful thing happened! After the stoning of Stephen, a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem and they were “all (3000+) scattered throughout Judea and Samaria and they went everywhere preaching the word” (Acts 8:1, 4). Planting a church in New Testament times was no big deal-it just happened. Practically, how does a church like this begin? How does it function in the manner we discussed last week? However, it is only successful if applied by one who is walking solely by faith in his vertical grace relationship with the God who is “above us.” These all function with the eternal law of God as our standard, which is how we relate to the world “beneath us.” (The application of that law, horizontally in these institutions, is the purpose of Jesus’ rule, through us-to bring all the earth under His gracious, loving law). That rule is experienced through the three institutions of the family, the church (which we are currently discussing), and the civil government. God’s plan for us is clearly delineated in Genesis 1:26-28: we are created to bear His image, to rule over the earth, to have children and fill the earth with offspring. It is always helpful in any situation such as this one, to keep in mind the big picture of the eternal plan God has for mankind. The organism produced by the new wine of the gospel of the grace of God threatens the organization of the old wine. Furthermore, the church, if they are unwilling to drink of the wine he has discovered and undoubtedly shared with them, will be uncomfortable with him as well. When someone experiences the grace of God for the first time and attempts to bring it into the old wineskin (Mark 2:22) of the traditional church, he will eventually become dissatisfied with his church experience. New wine will always, ultimately, produce a new wineskin, never the reverse. "A worshiping, teaching and equipping church preparing the way for the Lord Jesus Christ in establishing His kingdom for the end time harvest."Īs God's New Wineskin Church, we have ENTERED our NEW BEGINNING to EMBARK on our NEW SEASON to EXPERIENCE NEW THINGS and to ENVISION our NEW IDENTITY in CHRIST through the POWER of the HOLY SPIRIT.Understanding the New Testament church, as we are endeavoring to do in these b log postings, involves making the biblical distinction between its message-the new wine of the gospel of the grace of God-and the new wineskin-an appropriate church structure to hold it. To NETWORK with the BODY of CHRIST in creating a SIGNIFICANT IMPACT in our cities and nations that will TRANSFORM the lives of families and individuals. To INTRODUCE Jesus personally to every INDIVIDUAL as the only WAY to GOD's amazing love and saving grace. To WIN families for the Lord Jesus Christ who will give their highest WORSHIP and SERVICE to our one True God. GNWChurch is a Christian church held in San Diego, CA (on Home Ave).
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