Like the members of the early Church, we remain fully committed to proclaiming the message of the coming Kingdom of God and Christ's pivotal role in it. Likewise, we remain fully committed to preparing a people to serve as Christ's helpers in that Kingdom.
As noted earlier, it is the small but faithful Church described in
the book of Acts that those of us in the United Church of God, an
International Association, look to as our model and spiritual ancestor.
To fully appreciate why the Church described in Acts serves as the sole
model for our beliefs, mission and organization, one must understand
at least some of the little-understood history of Christianity.
For that reason we include here a brief overview of what happened to the
Church Jesus built and to the religion that bears His name.
Acts 2 records the beginning of that Church. From relatively few people,
the Church spread from first-century Judea to the far corners of the Roman
Empire and beyond. Yet it remained small in numbers (see Luke 12:32), partly
because it resolutely refused to be drawn into the compromising, corrupt
mixture of paganism that dominated religious belief in the Roman Empire.
The Church of God began on the biblical Feast of Pentecost. On that day
God poured out the power of His Spirit on the disciples who were gathered
in Jerusalem in obedience to His law and Christ's personal instructions
(see Acts 1:4-5; 2:1-4).
