@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'

Spiritual Gifts

God's supernatural toolkit

The Holy Spirit endowed the early believers with various spiritual gifts, such as the ability to speak in other tongues, prophecy, healing, and discernment. These gifts were given for the equipping of the church in every age, yet sadly, they have been forgotten in parts of the contemporary church. Part of the reason for this is the view held by some that miracles, signs, and wonders ceased at the close of the apostolic age (c.500 A.D.). This would be a tenable view if it were not for the fact that such phenomena continued to be reported throughout church history and are seen operating today in those parts of the church that embrace baptism in the Holy Spirit. These gifts were instrumental in establishing the first church, building up its members, empowering its outreach, and addressing the needs of the community. They were exercised not merely by the apostles but by all believers as the Spirit gave them and believers were willing to move in them. Like the men and women of the first century, you have a supernatural toolkit. Be encouraged both to use the gifts you have been given and to desire a greater gifting.