Being the Church Then and Now
Issues from the Acts of the Apostles
William Loader
In these studies we shall be looking at the early chapters of the Acts of the Apostles and I have called the series of five studies: "Being the Church Then and Now: Issues from the Acts of the Apostles". There are issues which have been with the Church from the beginning and which every generation must face afresh. Luke, the writer of the Book of Acts, helped the people of his generation to face the issues by telling the story of Jesus in the gospel of Luke and the story of the earliest years of the Church in the book of Acts. He was writing only a couple of generations down the journey. He has collected together memories and traditions which had come down to his generation and put them together in a way which highlights the concerns of his own day. We are indebted to him not only for the information he gives us in the process, but above all for the issues he points up. He will be our guide and at the same time we shall take into account wider resources of the New Testament as they cast light on the events and the issues he records.
Being the Church 1
Study 1 "Will you at this time restore the kingdom to
Israel?" (Acts 1:6)
When the vision fails to materialise, what do we do?
Now also in Swedish translated by Weronika Pawlak
Being the Church 2 "Why do you stand looking up into heaven?" (Acts 1:11)
Telling the Story and Securing its authenticity: ministry
and responsibility
Being the Church 3
"These people are not drunk as you suppose" (Acts 2:15)
The language of spirituality and cultural monopolies
Being the Church 4 "You received the Law as given by angels and did not keep it." (Acts 7:53)
Religion and the Fundamentalisms: on not losing touch with the centre
Being the Church 5 "In him we live and move and have our being,
even as some of your poets have said." (Acts 17:28)
The captivity of images and the creativity of imagination: on being open to the
Spirit