The

Church
 The Church comes from the eternal
Father’s love, founded in time by Christ the
Redeemer and made one in the Holy Spirit.
The eternal Father,
by a free and
hidden plan of His
own wisdom and
goodness, created
the whole world.
His plan was to
raise men to a
participation of the
divine life.
(LG 2)
Already from the
beginning of the
world the
foreshadowing
of the Church
took place.
(LG 2)
 “Rather, we speak
God’s
wisdom, mysterious
, hidden, which God
predetermined
before the ages for
our glory,”
(1 Cor. 2:7)
The Church has been seen
as "a people made one with
the unity of the Father, the
Son and the Holy Spirit.“
(LG 4)
Creation (Adam and
Eve)

The Call of
Abraham
(Covenant)

The 12 Tribes of
Israel

The Liberation
(Moses)
 JESUS: Life,
Mission, Call

The Twelve
Apostles

The
Commissioning

The Holy Spirit and

the Pentecost
The Son, therefore, came, sent by the
Father. It was in Him, before the
foundation of the world, that the
Father chose us and predestined us to
become adopted sons, for in Him it
pleased the Father to re-establish all
things.
• To carry out the will of the Father,
Christ inaugurated the Kingdom of
heaven on earth and revealed to us the
mystery of that kingdom. By His
obedience He brought about
redemption. The Church, or, in other
words, the kingdom of Christ now
present in mystery, grows visibly
through the power of God in the world.
• Jesus mission was focused on the reign of
God
• He spoke of the Kingdom of God’s desire to
make us, his children, enjoy fully his love as
our Father
• Jesus’ deeds proved he truth of his
preaching
• Jesus led a lifestyle that pointed to the
passing value of wealth, fame and worldly
power
 This inauguration and this growth are both
symbolized by the blood and water which
flowed from the open side of a crucified
Jesus,(5) and are foretold in the words of the
Lord referring to His death on the Cross: "And
I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all
things to myself".
 The Apostles
• Jesus chose Twelve who became eye and
ear witnesses to his words and deeds
• Their number corresponded to the 12 tribes
of Israel, a number that meant total or
universal
• It was Jesus who called them
• Peter (Mt. 16:18) was handpicked by Jesus
to be his “brothers’ strength”, the “rock upon
which Christ was to build his Church
The Twelve Apostles
• They were to be the nucleus, the seed from
which the Church would grow
• Renewed by Christ’s resurrection and
empowered by the Holy Spirit to spread to all
nations “what they have heard and seen with
their own eyes, what they have watched and
touched with their hands.” (1 John 1:1)
“I have been given all authority in heaven and
on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples
from all nations. Baptize them in the Name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, and teach them to fulfill all that I have
commanded you. I am with you always until
the end of this world.” (Mt. 28: 16-20)
The Pentecost
Acts 2:1-12
The Pentecost
• Seven weeks after the Passover is the
Jewish Feast of Weeks, which is known as
Pentecost
• The fiftieth day after the Passover (a Jewish
harvest time festival, one of the annual
feasts in Israel)
• The Feast of Pentecost is a Christian
adaptation of the fiftieth day feast celebrating
Moses’ reception of the Law on Mt. Sinai
• As Moses ascended and returned with the
gift of the Law, Jesus’ gift was the Holy Spirit
• The gift of the Spirit on Pentecost signaled
the beginning of the Church’s mission
• Marked the beginning of a new stage in
salvation history
• Luke presented the Holy Spirit as the driving
force in the proclamation of the message
that Christ has died and had risen
• Not a strange new Spirit but the same Spirit
present as the life-giving power of God in
creation and throughout the ages
The Pentecost Spirit
• The prime mover of the mission of the
Church to the whole world
• Source of strength to endure persecution
• Force in the missionary efforts to spread the
Gospel
• Forms the followers of Jesus into eucharistic
bearers of salvation as the new People of
God
The Descent of the Holy Spirit
• The apostles were emboldened to proclaim
the message of salvation as they were more
fully converted to faith in Christ
• Peter preached on the day of Pentecost
• Many accepted the faith and were baptized
• Opened the door of the Church’s mission to
the whole world
Points for Reflection
• What do you think is the significance of the
apostles speaking in “different” languages?
What does this signify about the mission of
the Church in the world?

• Looking at how she came about, what is the

basic nature of the Church? Is the Church
just like any human organization or group?
Why?
The First Christian
Community and the
Spread of the
Church
Reflect

• Think of a particular organization or

club where you belong. How did it
begin? What inspired its formation?
What is its vision?
 “…Day by day the Lord added to their
number those who were being saved…”
Acts 2:42-47
• “They devoted themselves to the
apostles’ instruction and communal life”
• The members of the early Church were
made one by their constancy in listening to
the preaching of the apostles and in
gathering together in fellowship
• “Those who believed shared all things in
common.”

• “They would sell their property and goods,

dividing everything on the basis of each one’s
need”

• “They went to the temple area together every

day and prayed.”

• “While in their homes they broke bread and took

their meals in common.”
•Then the Lord asked Cain,
Where is your brother Abel?
He answered, “I do not
know. Am I my brother’s
keeper?”
Gen 4:9
 Signs of Visibility
• Breaking of the Bread
• Agape
• Diakonia
• Koinonia
• Kerygma
• Didache
• Common Prayer
• Charisms
• Leaders
• Unity in diversity
• Apostles
• Deacons - Stephen
• Episkopoi (overseer) = bishop
• Presbyteroi (elders) = priest
• Diakonoi (servers) = deacons
 The Early Church at Jerusalem
• The Church at the beginning lived with the
traditional Jewish forms of worship and still
regarded itself as the fulfillment of Jerusalem
• Parting ways was necessary (conflict; vision
and practice)
• Center of the conflict was the belief in Christ,
which led to the first outbreak of persecution
in the stoning of Stephen
The Early Church at Jerusalem
• The Christians were accused by the Jews as
deserters and traitors
• With the destruction of Jerusalem in the year
70, the special pre-eminence of the early
Church in Jerusalem was at end
 The Community at Antioch

• The first Gentile Christian community since it

consisted primarily of non-Jews.
• Its members were called Christians for the
first time
• Not much is known about the inner structure
of the community
St. Paul’s Missionary Journeys to
the Gentiles
• Saul of Tarsus
• Diaspora (Language and Culture)
• Tribe of Benjamin
• Man of Wisdom (Jewish Law)
• Zeal and Passion to defend the Faith (Law)
• Damascus Experience (Acts 9)
• Blindness and Baptism
St. Paul’s Missionary Journeys to
the Gentiles
• Paul with Barnabas began his first missionary
journey (Antioch, Cyprus and Asia Minor)

• Council of Jerusalem in the year 49 (Acts 15)

 Second Missionary Journey
• Paul accompanied by Silas, started his second
missionary journey
• Visited the Churches he founded in Asia Minor
• Paul took Timothy as his companion
• Philippi – the first Christian community he
founded in Europe
• Thessalonica
• Athens (philosophers)
• Corinth (stayed for 18 months)
• Ephesus
 Third Missionary Journey
• Traveled over land from Antioch to Northern
Galatia and Phrygia to Ephesus
• Spent two years and a half in Ephesus
• Wrote his magnificent letters to Corinthians,
Romans, Galatians and others
• Looking toward Rome and Spain
Paul’s Mission and Beyond
• Detached Christianity from its Jewish-
Palestinian exclusivism and carried it into the
world (pagan territories)
• He assigned leaders to every community
• His letters formed the oldest written sources
of information about our faith and the early
Christian Church
Rapid Spread of the Gospel
• Internal peace and order in the whole
Roman empire that lasted for about two
centuries
• The Romans completely dominated the
Mediterranean world
• Travel and trade
• Construction of roads and highways
• Growing spiritual hunger amidst the moral
decadence and the crass idolatry of the
times
Points for Reflection
• What were the distinctive characteristics of
the early Church in Jerusalem that made it
the exemplar of what “being Church” really
means?
• Why was the conversion of Paul one of the
high moments in the history of the Church?
• What was the significance of the Council of
Jerusalem for the Church of the future?