After the death of Stephen, many followers of Jesus fled from Jerusalem yet continued to talk about Jesus wherever they went. When Samaritans received the message of Jesus and then received the Holy Spirit, the Jewish leaders realized they needed to break their old patterns of thinking to stay in line with what God was doing. Unfortunately, as we see in the example of Simon the sorcerer, old patterns can be hard to break... Yet, Peter and John's response to the Samaritans show that old patterns can break, if we submit ourselves to Jesus.
Unselfish Generosity - Basic Practices #7
Another dynamic of the early church was the voluntary, sacrificial giving of those who had extra financially and materially for those who were in need within the church community. This kind of generosity was a fruit of the unity the church experienced because of their shared faith in Jesus. How do we form the kind of unity that leads to this kind of generosity today?