Is the Church important?

An Apostolic Arrangement

One of the things I have found amazing about Jesus’ ministry is the calling of the 12 disciples. If Jesus was God then why would he need a group of guys to help him do his ministry. One would think Jesus could do it on His own.

The fact that Jesus didn’t just do it on his own reveals one of the most amazing things about the way God initiates his mission in the world today. God chooses people to partner with him in the Missio Dei.

There is arguably no book in the Bible that demonstrates this axiom as powerfully then the Acts of the Apostles. The word apostle (ἀπόστολος) means “one who is sent.” The book of Actsis a powerful account of how the ministry of the few that Jesus called became a movement that spanned much of the known world at the time. Through it all there is a powerful message that God has chosen a people to connect to his work in the world.

Over and over a pattern emerges… God miraculously shows up, but does so in conjunction or in connection to the Apostles.
Here are just a few examples of the dozens found in Acts:

1. In Acts chapter 8: 26-36 God takes the initiative and connects with an Ethiopian man, but God does this by miraculously transporting Phillip, a man who had been chosen to be a Minister by the Apostles just two chapters prior.
2. In chapter 9 God takes the initiative and reveals himself to Paul, by a revelation. However God also connects Paul to the disciples by sending a member of the church, Ananias, to his through a vision. Paul is then brought to Jerusalem, and meets with the Apostles there.
3. In Chapter 10 a God takes the initiative connecting with a roman soldier through a vision. At the same time he sends Peter, an Apostle, to the man’s house. The soldier is Baptized on Peters orders (verse 48).
4. In Chapter 11: 27-30 God takes the initiative in sending a prophecy to the Church in Antioch, and he does it through people from the Church in Jerusalem.
5. In Chapter 12: 5-19 God takes the initiative and frees Peter from prison by miraculously sending an Angel, but the Angel leads Peter down a street where he meets with members of the Church who were praying for him.

The list could go on and on, and not just in Acts, but throughout the whole of Scriptures. In the Old Testament God declares to Abraham that God’s plan to bless the whole world will be completed through Abraham’s family are

My question for you: How are these two things connected TODAY?