Woodmen Valley Chapel

Learning the Cadence of the First Christians
Matt Heard, Senior Pastor
Selected passages from Acts
Learning the cadence of the first Christians can be a difficult task in a culture like ours. This series takes a takes a careful look at a group of Christ-followers who were starting a new chapter: the first Christians as they were becoming the church. Snapshots from the early days can teach us valuable lessons about what it means to be the church as well as what it means to follow Jesus come Monday morning.

Series: Ancient Lessons for Real Life: Learning the Cadence of the First Christians
Message: We're Not Home Yet
Speaker: Matt Heard
Scripture: Acts 1:6-11
Date: September 9, 2001

We're travelers. Sojourners. Pilgrims. Yet the world around us insists, "This world is all there is. It's home…You'd better grab as much gusto as you can..., deaden as much pain as you can..., and avoid as much hardship as you can... through any means necessary. Because tomorrow, when you die, it's over."
The early church lived a life in powerful contrast with the surrounding first-century culture of the Ancient Near East, whose belief systems and world views were not drastically different from those of our own society. At the center of this contrasting lifestyle was the early Christians' deep and joyful belief that they had a home (with Jesus Christ), but that they weren't there...yet.

Series: Ancient Lessons for Real Life: Learning the Cadence of the First Christians
Message: Our Home Away From Home...In the Midst of Heartbreak
Speaker: Matt Heard
Scripture: Acts 2:42
Date: September 16, 2001

As the body of Christ, the early church learned they had a "home away from home." After what many refer to as the birth of the New Testament church in Acts 2:1-41, verse 42 shows the essence of what being a "home" for one another—what "doing church"—was all about. For followers of Christ, heaven is indeed our ultimate "home." We're not home yet, but it's important to realize that we are not left to helplessly try to figure things out on our own or passively live with our heads in a religious bubble until we get there. During this in-between time—filled with a lot of hardship, pain and uncertainty—we have a home away from home, to which we are to devote ourselves. It's called the church—an "outpost of heaven," in Augustine's words.

Series: Ancient Lessons for Real Life: Learning the Cadence of the First Christians
Message: From Ritual to Reality
Speaker: Matt Heard
Scripture: Acts 3:1-10
Date: September 23, 2001

When it comes to our religious or spiritual lives, why do we do what we do? Too often we find ourselves simply going through the motions. That might work if we're merely playing religious games, with no connection to real life. But if what we want is to grapple with our Monday mornings by authentically facing the realities of living in a fallen world, we must move away from hollow ritual and toward truly engaging in the greatness and grace of Jesus Christ. Today we continue our look in the book of Acts at some snapshots of our ancestors in the faith—the first Christians as they were becoming the church. As we read about their amazing encounter with a lame man, we get a wonderful overview of what some of the differences really were. Powerful things happen when people begin to move away from merely playing church and toward the realm of doing life deeply together. Vibrancy and authenticity begin to characterize our lives and ministry. Our walk with God moves from hollow ritual— being cloistered in a religious bubble—to real life.

Series: Ancient Lessons for Real Life: Learning the Cadence of the First Christians
Message: Obeying Out Loud: The Lesson of Impact
Speaker: Matt Heard
Scripture: Acts 4:13-22
Date: September 30, 2001

Impact. It is a word that will undoubtedly describe the life of a person who is relating intimately with Jesus Christ and boldly following Him. Our impact may reach our family, our associates in the marketplace, people in authority or our friends. It may touch many people or just a few. It may extend to a sphere of influence on the other side of the world or in our own neighborhood. It may be a cause of great joy for some or a source of aggravation for others. Our impact for Christ may cost us merely our time, or it could cost us our very lives. To say that the first Christians were making a difference in the lives of those around them would be an understatement. As we examine the initial stages of the early church's influence on their world, one lesson becomes very clear: following Jesus will require courageous faith and will lead to a life of impact.

Series: Ancient Lessons for Real Life: Learning the Cadence of the First Christians
Message: Swimming Upstream
Speaker: Matt Heard
Scripture: Acts 5:12-21
Date: October 6, 2001

The River of Life is both beautiful and dangerous. It is filled with moments of celebration and moments of difficulty. Its unexpected splash can refresh us one day and terrify us the next. The older we get, the more treacherous we discover the River to be. And the longer we are carried along by its currents, the more aware we become of its difficulties—difficulties we didn't notice quite as much in earlier years. When a person becomes a follower of Christ, we are tempted to hope that we will be taken from the dangerous water. That we will be exempt from difficulty. Some evangelistic offers capitalize on such desires by including such an exemption in their presentation of the gospel: "Trust Jesus and your problems will go away." Yet the true gospel of Jesus Christ makes no such promises. It doesn't take an authentic follower of Jesus very long to discover that God's intention is not to exempt him or her from hardship. In fact, God's call for us is to swim upstream—against the flow!