Internal Life of the Worshiping Community

A glimpse of the church's life in the earliest stages is provided in Acts 2:42, which states that the Christians "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. " These categories in general continue to characterize the church's activities throughout the New Testament period. Instruction Teaching, as mentioned above, is not the same as the public proclamation of the lordship of Christ, but is instruction in the theological, historical, and practical foundations of Christian faith (Heb. 6:12). The apostles were teachers of the Word (Acts 5:42; 15:35; 1 Tim. 2:7) as well as preachers, and one of the qualities of an overseer was the ability to teach (1 Tim. 6:2; 2 Tim. 2:24). Pastors were teachers also, but teaching was a general activity open to any qualified member of the assembly (Rom. 12:7; Col. 3:16; James 3:1). Women were instructors of other women (Titus 2:34) but in deference to custom were not generally given a role…