What made the early church so attractive?

"What was it about the early church that made it so attractive, so that thousands of people were joining by the day? What was so special about Christianity that people were willing to even give their lives for the cause?"

Five things, in particular, stand out:

1. The church was a place for a new start.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Cor. 5:17).

2. The church was a place where one could find truth.
"I am the way the truth and the life," Jesus said, "no one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).

3. The church as a place of genuine liberty.
"If you hold to my teaching, you are truly my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free" (Jesus, John 8:31-32).

4. The church was a place of Spirit-filled living.
"So I say, live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature" (Galatians 5:16-17).

5. The church was a place of warm fellowship.
"Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, just as in fact you are doing" (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

The church "was" all of these things and can still be! It's up to you and it's up to me to make it a reality. Pray that God will bless the church will the same vitality and enthusiasm that made it a dynamic force for good in the ancient world.

-Billy-