• THE PATTERN GOD GAVE
• At first, the pattern that God had given was followed:
  • The first apostles were set directly by Christ. Others were set by them later.
  • There was no chief apostle, but apostles shared a single office, being led by the Holy Spirit in unity.
  • The apostles were to be there until Ephesians 4:11 was fulfilled, which has still not happened.
  • Local churches under local elders (plural) and local deacons (plural) who were set by the apostles. There was no chief elder or lone elder, but two or more elders shared a single office, being led by the Holy Spirit in unity.
• Apostles traveled between churches and received enough salary to do so. Peter and the other apostles traveled with their wives and families.   Apostles were either traveling elders or traveling deacons.
  • All ministries and offices in the Church were set by the leading of the Holy Spirit and by the laying on of hands of those who had been previously set.
  • Doctrine was determined by the apostles. No Scripture was of any private interpretation.
  • Gifts of the Spirit and ministries were given by the laying on of hands of the apostles.
  • Every member was a ministry, building up the church.
  • The church services were according to the pattern given in 1 Corinthians 14.
  • Baptism was for believers only and by immersion. The word, baptism, means to whelm (overwhelm) or to bury.

Events  

• between 27-30 AD, Christ crucified.
• 30 AD, Pentecost: The in-filling of the Holy Spirit in the upper room; the birth of the church.   
• 30 AD, Clement of Rome born.
• 32 AD, Stephen was Martyred.    
• 37 AD, Conversion of Paul.
• 40 AD, Gospel preached to gentiles.
• 41-44 AD, Herod Agrippa 1, King of Judea.
• 62 AD, Paul was executed in Rome    
• 64 AD, Roman persecution of Christians    
• 45 AD, Paul started traveling as an apostle    
• 50 AD, Matthew wrote his gospel    
• 55-65 AD, Mark wrote his gospel    
• 58 AD, Paul wrote the first letter to the Corinthians    
• 60-62 AD, Luke wrote his gospel, and appears to have copied portions of Matthew's gospel.    
• Before 62 AD, Luke wrote the book of Acts.    
• Matthew, Mark and Luke were completed before 70 AD.    
• John wrote his gospel, three letters, and Revelation, probably before 70 AD.    
• All the books of the New Testament were completed before 70 AD.    
• 90 AD Jews confirm the canon of the Hebrew Scriptures, and Christians accept the same canon.

Details & lessons learned

• Peter writes of cleverly designed fables, probably referring to pagan efforts to introduce their own paganism into Christianity.
• Sadduccees were the strongest opponents to the church. They worked with the Pharisees to use the government to limit the free speech of the apostles. This is not unlike the liberals of the present day.Among the Greeks, there were many philosophies and ideas. All of these were based solely on rationalized supposition. In addition, there were the pagans, followers of astrology, witchcraft, sorcery, Cybele worshippers, followers of demonic forces, followers of the goddess Diana, and others. As the Spirit of God moved on the people, some of these groups became angry and defensive of their own gods and philosophies.
• By the end of the first century, it is estimated that 25,000 Christians were martyred, which averages out to 370 per year.