@FirstChurchofJerusalem
Today's Early Church Wisdom
“I shall not hesitate also to put into ordered form for you, along with the interpretations, everything I learned carefully in the past from the elders and noted down carefully, for the truth of which I vouch. For unlike most people, I took no pleasure in those who told many different stories, but only in those who taught the truth. Nor did I take pleasure in those who reported their memory of someone else’s commandments, but only in those who reported their memory of the commandments given by the Lord to the faith and proceeding from the Truth itself. And if by chance anyone who had been in attendance on the elders arrived, I made enquiries about the words of the elders—what Andrew or Peter had said, or Philip or Thomas or James or John or Matthew or any other of the Lord’s disciples, and whatever Aristion and John the Elder, the Lord’s disciples, were saying. For I did not think that information from the books would profit me as much as information from a living and surviving voice.
~ Papias of Hierapolis (c. 60–130 AD) From the Preface to his lost ‘Expositions of the Sayings of the Lord’
This week's Psalm is Psalm 31 'My Rock, My Shield, My Song'

A Living Record

All human institutions, like physical buildings, have their foundations. They’re built on something, whether it’s the vision for a particular product or service, or to further inflate and promote someone’s ego, or to satisfy human greed, or some other driving force. That ‘something’ will be reflected in one or more stories. The Christian Church is no exception, although it is unique in the fact that its stories are not merely of human origin, but are inspired by Heaven. These remarkable stories represent a collaboration between God and man in building an organisation that would change the world forever. The foundation of the Christian church began to be laid in the years of Jesus’ earthly ministry, and they are reflected in the four Gospel stories of our New Testament. We no longer have living eyewitnesses of Jesus’ earthly ministry amongst us. But we do have a record, thanks to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And that living record, if we will let it, will shape our churches today, just as it shaped the first home fellowships in Jerusalem. 