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The Church in Action
Luke wrote two books -Luke and Acts. In Luke we read and experience the Good News about Jesus Christ through his ministry on earth. In Acts we read and experience the birth of the Church and how it moved into action with the Good News into the wider world.
The first Christians had very little organisation, but they accepted and belonged to each other, and were open to welcome those who were attracted to what they had to offer - a new life, forever in the care of God, made possible through repentance, and faith in Jesus Christ, who had shown himself to be God in human form.
What drove them in their mission was the inspiration and strength of God himself which came through the work of the Holy Spirit. The agenda was God's, not theirs. Where the Holy Spirit showed them to go, they went; what the Holy Spirit told them to say, they said; what the Holy Spirit guided them to do, they did. They did nothing without prayer and fasting. They knew nothing of committees and formal structures. They belonged to God and to each other and lived their lives in prayer, praise and mission. The Holy Spirit was the starting point for all that they did.
As we let God speak to us, may we be strengthened in our faith and enabled to share Jesus Christ with those around us so that the Church and the Kingdom of God may grow.
