Lessons from the Expansion of the 1st Century Church

Marci is a believer and a committed lifelong learner. She and her husband, Chad, have been married for a few years with two beautiful children. Chad is growing in his walk and understanding his role as a Husband and Dad. As a couple, they have been growing in their understanding of Missions, the Church, and their role in the church growing. Chad and Marci lead a Sunday School Class and are actively trying to be obedient to God’s calling on their lives. 

They were invited to a cohort studying with a BILD Equip resource with other strategic leaders from their church. These leaders took an in-depth look at the book of Acts through the keys to the establishment and expansion of the 1st-century church. For 4 weeks Marci and Chad poured over the book of Acts looking for keys to the establishment of the first-century church. They read and reread Acts over and over again. They participated in the conversation with their peers at an exceptionally high level of understanding. Their first and foremost keys in the list they created were Prayer and Fasting. They then began to dive deep into their understanding of the desire of the Holy Spirit to be more involved in their decision-making. They felt convicted to pray and fast for their local community and surrounding areas. 

Marci said one night, “what if we didn’t meet for Sunday school sometimes and prayed for our city instead?” 

Their lead pastor quickly jumped in, “I have been praying that some people would come forward to begin prayer walking the surrounding areas around our church. Would you guys do that soon?” 

Marci and Chad prayer-walked multiple neighborhoods near their church just 2 weeks later with their Sunday School Class. There Church now has a plan to call the larger body to prayer and fasting later this year, there is a vision to multiply healthy churches and to birth more leaders of leaders. God and the Holy Spirit were already at work in Chad and Marci’s hearts and their local church’s leadership. The City Church Network’s Equip resources allowed the local church the opportunity to facilitate a conversation with their leaders to broaden their perspective as they begin to think about a larger vision. The resource allowed the leaders of leaders to be trained.