12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
Check out the motley crew that comprised the early Church. Among others, we have fishermen, a tax collector and a Zealot. As Pastor Kessler mentioned in today's sermon, those last two would get along together about as well as an ACORN member and a Tea Partier, since the Zealots were looking to run the Romans out of town and Matthew the tax collector would have been seen as a turncoat Jew. On top of that, you have a bunch of women who'd not normally be in the loop of such a prayer meeting.
Not exactly what the Judean headhunters would round up for you if you were looking to start an organization. However, that was the Church in its embryonic state, and it did far better than the seminary-trained rabbis that Manpower Judea would have sent over, with the exception of Paul, the Jew's Jew who became Mr. Gentile Outreach.
That is the miracle of the early Church, that the Holy Spirit was able to slap together a bunch of people who'd be at each other's throats save their common love of Christ. Even with that, they were more than occasionally at odds.
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