The Early Church

The present generation has seen tremendous changes occur. There has been a sexual revolution. Promiscuity and alternative lifestyles are increasingly acceptable. Drugs are being legalized; alcohol abuse is common. Honesty and integrity have fallen in the streets.

The church is too often influenced by world culture rather than being a prophetic voice against it. God’s pattern for church leadership is being ignored. Doctrine is minimized; experience is emphasized. Many members have few convictions about their beliefs.

If the church is to maintain its distinctive character and be a force for God, it must cling to the Word of God. It must not conform to the predominate ethics of world culture.

It is the author’s prayer that this book may stir God’s people to examine the Word afresh for directives for the conduct of His work and continuance of His church. Devotion to the Lord and obedience to His commands walk hand in hand. “Test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thess. 5:21).


Contents

Foreword

1.  The Early Church

2.  “According to This Word”

3.  The Name

4.  A Temple But No Walls

5.  Let Us Make a Name

6.  The Symphony of God

7.  How Is Your Breaking of Bread

8.  “The Church in Your Home”

9.  Do You Need a Building?

10.  Functioning as a Body

11.  How Big Is Too Big?

12.  You Are Brethren

13.  Double Honor

14.  The Woman and the Church Meeting

15.  The Servant of God and the Lord’s People

16.  Called to Preach

17.  Commendation

18.  Pray the Lord of the Harvest . . .

19.  An Endangered Species?

20.  What Shall We Call Them?

21.  Team Work?

22.  “Ten Shekels of Silver Per Year”

23.  Whom Shall I Help?

24.  Mendicant Preachers

25.  The Pillar and Stay of the Truth

26.  Why Not Try the Local Church?

27.  Fossilization?

Footnotes

Bibliography


Author bio


Donald L. Norbie, a Bible teacher and author, was born in Minnesota in 1923. While attending high school in Tucson, Arizona, he was led to Christ by T. B. Gilbert in 1938 and began to fellowship with the Bible Chapel there.

After spending several years in the Navy during World War II, Donald returned to college. He received a Master of Arts degree from Wheaton College in 1949. Thereafter, he taught for three years at Emmaus Bible School. He and his family then moved to Oklahoma to do evangelism and Bible teaching. In 1964, they moved to California. Then in 1970, Donald and Marie moved to Colorado where they continued their activities in Bible teaching, evangelism, writing, and church planting. Marie went to be with the Lord January 9, 2014.

Of special interest to Donald is the New Testament church. Books that Donald has written include Acts: The Pattern Church, 1 Timothy: Timeless Truths, 2 Timothy and Titus, New Testament Church Organization, The Early Church, Divorce and the Bible, Baptism: The Church's Troubled Water, The Lord’s Supper: The Church's Love Feast, He Loved to Plant: A Biography of T. B. Gilbert, and Danny, A Life Cut Short.