Psalm 148:12-13, "Young men and maidens together, old men and children! 13 Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven."
Acts 2:42-47, "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved."
Acts 4:32, "Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common."
Acts 21:4-5, "And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 5 When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city. And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed."
Ephesians 6:1-2, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 'Honor your father and mother' (this is the first commandment with a promise)."
Hebrews 10:24-25, "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."
9 comments:
Eric,
Good work! Now I hate to be the fly in the ointment, but where do you see age integration in Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32? I'm not seeing it.
-jeff
Another passage is Nehemiah 8, where men, women, and all those old enough to understand stood for hours listening to Ezra read the Torah, while the Levites translated (Hebrew to Aramaic probably) and explained.
Jeff,
Yours is a legit question.
I admit that the two passages you mentioned are not as explicit as the others. However, the entire feel of 2:42-47 (especially 2:44) and 4:32 is one of complete unity and togetherness. Although children are not stated, the thrust seems to be that everyone in the church was together.
Laura,
I agree! That's a great one, too.
Eric,
Agreed! I can't imagine a passage that describes Christian unity with more clarity. This is one of my favorite passages (Acts 2:42-47).
-jeff
Plus, if they were breaking bread in their homes, they certainly wouldn't have had a nursery or Sunday school, so I imagine the little kids would be running around.
Arthur, That's the very picture that popped into my head. It's unlikely they'd ship the kids off to the kiddie table.
Hey - but then there would be noise! What would we ever do if there wasn't absolute silence?
Indeed...I've no idea how they ever managed. :-)
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