Notes prompted from the book “The patient ferment of the early church” by Alan Kreider.
I think there are three main areas of discussion :
1) The early church saw patience as being crucial. Do we ? How patient are we ? Why ?
They saw it as being part of being faithful to God who was in control. Do we still think that? Why or why not?
2) Visible difference. When someone became a christian they were often visibly different to others around them. This was both a result of their faith habits, and of the fact that mostly they lived in settings where you could see the difference (no tall fences). How is that different to our lives? What could we do the change that?
3) Ferment : although the early church did concentrate on discernment, they also allowed things to ‘bubble up’ from inside. Is there anything bubbling up in your life? Share your ideas and pray together.