If you want to know what the very first Church was like, you need to turn to the Book of Acts in your Bible. (When I use the term “first Church,” I mean the Body of Christ -- the Body of believers that first received God’s Spirit after Jesus’ death and resurrection.) Not the Gospels, for the Church had not been born while Christ was still bodily on earth. Not the Epistles, because the Epistles are letters directing an already-established Church. These books are very important for the Christian today, and the Epistles can give some insight into how the Church functioned originally; but they are
not where you find a play-by-play description of the first Church’s
daily life.
The Church (the Body of Christ) first came into existence when God’s Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost. This was the very first day of the Church. Before that time, the disciples were not the Body of Christ. They were disciples, but not Christ’s Body. When His Spirit dwelt within them, then they were the Body of Christ -- the Church, Christ’s bride. “Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:6).
If you are not convinced that the Church began on the day of Pentecost,
notice how the following scriptures point out that the disciples
would not be ready to go into the world with the Gospel until
they had received the Spirit.
Before Jesus died, He told His disciples that it was expedient for Him to go away: “... for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you” (John 16:7).
Before He ascended, Jesus said to His disciples, “And, behold,
I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49).
Luke, the writer of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, reiterated
Jesus’ command to wait for the promise of God’s Spirit in the
Book of Acts: “He commanded them that they should not depart from
Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith
he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but
ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence”
(Acts 1:4, 5).
When the Apostles asked, “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore
again the kingdom to Israel?” He immediately repeated what He
had said: “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons,
which the Father hath put in his own power.” [The Lord wanted
the Apostles to stay focused on what they needed to receive before
they went into the world and preached the gospel. He immediately
returned to the subject of the Holy Ghost baptism.] “But ye shall
receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and
ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea,
and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts
1:4-8).
“Without the Spirit, the Body is dead” (James 2:26). The Church
was not born until it had received the power of God, in the form
of the Holy Spirit (or, Holy Ghost). Jesus told the disciples
to wait until they received this power before they went into the
world to witness.
In the second chapter of Acts, you can read all about the Apostles
receiving God’s Spirit. This was the very first day of the Church.
This is the first time that people were baptized into the Body
of Christ (“For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body”
1 Corinthians 12:13). “Church” didn’t exist before this day. [A
person is not a part of the body until he or she has received
God’s Spirit, or been “born of the Spirit.”]
Then for 28 chapters, you can read how the first Church members
operated. If you’ve never before read nor studied the Acts of
the Apostles, you’re in for a big surprise. Because most Christian
“churches,” today, no longer function, operate nor resemble the
Church that we read about in the Bible. The Church is no longer
recognizable as what began nearly 2000 years ago on the day of
Pentecost.