I’m not sure that many of us would want to return to the first century, fascinated though we may be by the period. Every age has its challenges, but today we benefit from many developments and advances enabling us to potentially live better and longer. Life for the early disciples in first century Jerusalem would have been both exciting and challenging. They witnessed the inception and early expansion of what was then known as the ‘Way’, but they also had to face opposition from the religious establishment and the persecution that it spawned. Thankfully, we do not have to return to the first century to learn from it. We have a written record of the early years of the church, the New Testament book of Acts put together by Luke, as well as additional historical and archaeological evidence, from which we can build a fairly accurate picture of what first century church life was like. One of the most prominent features of that picture is the love of the first disciples. The first church at Jerusalem offers a timeless model of love-driven community, eternal principles as relevant today as they were then. These are roots worth returning to!