Faith at Work: The New Kin-dom - Early Church Practices and Witness
Episode Description
Discover how the early Christian church lived out their faith in the first and second centuries through this compelling exploration of ancient Christian apologetics and historical accounts.
Drawing from the remarkable Epistle to Diognetus (discovered in 1436 as fish market wrapping paper in Constantinople), alongside writings from Pliny the Younger and the book of Acts, this episode examines the distinctive practices that defined early Christian communities. Learn how these believers created a “new kinship, a new kin-dom of sorts” that transcended traditional royal consciousness and kingdom rule—establishing radical relationships between humanity and humanity, and humanity and God.
The episode challenges modern Christians to ask the same questions early believers wrestled with: What is the movement of God among us, and how do we become part of it? Over 60 years of discernment following Pentecost, early Christians developed practices of shared meals, worship, catechesis, and ethical living that drew people to faith not through political power, but through an attractive, countercultural way of life rooted in kinship rather than domination.
Discover why their actions matched Jesus’s words, how they balanced exclusivity with invitation during times of persecution, and what lessons their witness holds for contemporary faith communities seeking to embody the gospel today through a kin-dom vision of beloved community.
Topics covered:
* Historical Christian apologetics and the Epistle to Diognetus
* Early church practices from Acts 2:42-47
* Roman perspectives on Christianity (Pliny the Younger)
* Catechesis and faith formation in the early church
* Living as “resident aliens” and citizens of heaven
* Radical hospitality and communal care
* Patient witness versus political evangelism
* Kin-dom theology and beloved community
* Becoming a discerning church in modern times
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