Selwyn summarises the last two months of his study on the subject, ‘A Fresh Look at the Church’; and his three main conclusions follow:
- “When we put the Church of today alongside the Church of the first century, we cannot help but see that we have gone off course.
- We must think not only about how we can develop new programmes for the future but also how we can return to the old paths – to the sincerity, eagerness and enthusiasm of those first-century Christians.
- Every local church ought to go often to the book of Acts and take whatever steps are necessary to make their fellowship a living illustration of what community in Christ is like.”
I find it difficult to isolate what is the main cause of our present predicament, that is, ‘being off course’. There is a lot of activity and there is a lot of material and information available to people within the Church – more than at any other time – yet there is a rise of ‘miliant paganism’ within our society (in the West); and, our influence on governments and policy makers has diminished. In general we are not seen as relevant by many people. What’s your view on this issue?
The main verse for today (Jeremiah 6:16): ‘This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths … “‘; is good, but we know the ancient paths – why is it that we are not following them?
 Selwyn’s prayer for today is a good way to end this study: “Gracious and loving heavenly Father, having seen how Your Church should function, my prayer and deepest longing is this: give us another Pentecost. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”