Kehidupan Pada Gereja Awal
Petang Sabat
Ayat Hafalan :
“Dengan bertekun dan dengan sehati mereka berkumpul tiap-tiap hari dalamBait Tuhan. Mereka memecahkan roti di rumah masing-masing secara bergilir dan makan bersama-sama dengan gembira dan dengan tulus hati, sambil memuji Tuhan. Dan mereka disukai semua orang.” (Kisah 2:46, 47).
“Dengan bertekun dan dengan sehati mereka berkumpul tiap-tiap hari dalamBait Tuhan. Mereka memecahkan roti di rumah masing-masing secara bergilir dan makan bersama-sama dengan gembira dan dengan tulus hati, sambil memuji Tuhan. Dan mereka disukai semua orang.” (Kisah 2:46, 47).
Rasa mendesak gereja awal tidak dapat menjadi lebih kuat. Cara Yesus menjawab pertanyaan mengenai penubuhan kerajaan Mesianik, meninggalkan isu masa terbuka (Kisah 1:6-8), dapat difahami maksudnya bahawa setiap perkara bergantung kepada ketibaan Roh Kudus dan penyempurnaan misi apostolic. Jadi, apabila Pentakosta tiba, umat percaya yang awal berfikir bahawa segala-galanya telah terpenuhi: mereka telah menerima Roh Kudus dan kongsikan injil kepada seluruh dunia. Bukan kerana murid-murid telah tinggalkan Jerusalem dan telah pergi ke seluruh dunia, tetapi dunialah yang datang kepada mereka (Kisah 2:5-11).
Apa yang telah berlaku kemudian ialah gereja terpisah daripada kebendaan. Mengetahui bahawa waktunya sudah hampir, mereka jual semua yang ada pada mereka dan mengabdikan diri untuk belajar dan bersekutu sementara terus-menerus bersaksi tentang Yesus, tetapi hanya di Jerusalem. Hidup berkaum mereka perkembangkan. Walaupun berkesan membantu golongan miskin, akhirnya menjadi masalah dan Tuhan terpaksa campurtangan agar gereja tersebut kekal bersatu. Masa itu juga mereka mula menyedari bahawa mereka berhadapan dengan penentang. Namun ditengah-tengah semuanya itu, iman mereka tetap tidak tergoyah.
*Sila kaji pelajaran minggu ini sebagai persediaan untuk Sabat – 21 Julai.
Life in the Early Church
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Acts 2:42-46; Acts 4:34, 35; Acts 3:1-26; Acts 4:1-18; Acts 5:1-11; Acts 5:34-39.
Memory Text:
“Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people” (Acts 2:46, 47, NIV).
“Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people” (Acts 2:46, 47, NIV).
The early church’s sense of urgency could not have been stronger. The way that Jesus had answered the question concerning the establishment of the Messianic kingdom, leaving the issue of time open (Acts 1:6-8), could be understood to mean that everything depended on the coming of the Spirit and the completion of the apostolic mission. So, when Pentecost came, early believers thought that everything was fulfilled: they had received the Spirit and shared the gospel with the whole world. Not that the apostles had left Jerusalem and had gone out to the world, but the world had come to them (Acts 2:5-11).
What happened next was the church’s detachment from material goods. Sensing that the time was short, they sold all they had and devoted themselves to learning and to fellowship while continuing to witness about Jesus, but only in Jerusalem. The communal life they developed, though effective in helping the poor, soon became a problem, and God had to intervene to keep the church united. This was also the time when they began to find themselves facing opposition. Yet amid it all, their faith remained unshakeable.
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, July 21.
Disalin semula : A. A. Pondili
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