1. The Church has its Beginning in
the First Early Christian
Community in Jerusalem
(Lesson 2)

2. The Church Developmental
History
Started after Christ’s death and
resurrection. A small group of people
who had heard His message and
experienced Him started gathering in
homes to pray, to share the Word of
God, to break bread, and to share
their goods with one another.
The house church was the genesis
of the Church.

3. The First Christian
Community
 Mission is to proclaim the Kingdom of
God.
 Made tangible the life of unity and love
of the three-personed God.
 God’s love was given equally to all
regardless of social standing.
 Everyone have rights to marriage,
both men and women are expected to
be faithful to their spouses.(Driedger,
2006, 69)

4.  With their witnessing of unity and love,
people became attracted to the
community.
 It constituted the basis of the Church
(Harrington, 2001, 22)
 Their practices became the basis and
later serves as our frame of reference
to evaluate the state of our present-
day church.

5. Church’s Frame of Reference
 A communitarian profession of Faith In
the Lordship of Jesus (Acts 2:41-47);
 Proclaiming the Word of God to and
outside of the Christian Community;
 Celebrating our Communion with God
and another in the sacraments;
 Having a strong sense of fellowship;
 Having a plurality of ministries and
 Continuing Jesus’ mission of Proclaiming
the kingdom.

6. Jewish Christians
 Grew out of Jesus-event were the
Jewish communities that believed in
Jesus yet still felt bound by the Mosaic
law.
 Held their communal prayer services
while they still kept the Old Law and its
traditions by partaking in the temple
worship/ritual.
 Circumcision as a sign of their covenant
with God.
 Jewish Sabbath on the seventh day of
the week and added a celebration of
Ressurection Sunday.
 Faith was the fulfillment of Judaism.

7.  Proclaimed Christ even beyond
Jerusalem.
 Period of Jewish Christianity, centered
in Jerusalem.
 Only thereafter they carried the
Gospel to the Gentiles (Matthew 8:11)
 As a sign of the ever presence of the
Spirit of the Risen Christ
 That bought about the growth and
development of the early Christian
Communities beyond Jerusalem.