Good Things

By Kevin Rutherford

    Some people love bad news. They like to hear about terrible things that have happened to other people, or they enjoy hearing of other people’s sins. If this were not true then there would be no rack at the grocery store for the tabloids. If you like to hear about bad things, then you won’t like this article. This article deals with those good things that were said about churches in the first century.
    Good things about the church at Rome:
1. They were beloved of God (Romans 1:7).
2. Their faith was spoken of throughout the whole world (Romans 1:8).
3. The church at Rome had many hard workers (Romans 16:1-16).
4. Some in the church there had even risked their lives for Paul (Romans 16:3, 4).
    Good things about the church at Ephesus:
1. They trusted in the Lord (Ephesians 1:13).
2. They had a strong faith (Ephesians 1:15).
3. They loved the saints (Ephesians 1:15).
    Good things about the church at Philippi:
1. They fellowshipped Paul in an encouraging way (Philippians 1:3-7).
2. God had begun a good work in them (Philippians 1:6).
3. One of their members had worked so hard for the cause of Christ he had nearly died (Philippians 2:25-30).
4. They supported Paul in his preaching (Philippians 4:10-20).
    Good things about the church at Colossae:
1. They had great faith (Colossians 1:3).
2. They had great love for the brethren (Colossians 1:3).
3. The gospel was bearing fruit among them (Colossians 1:5, 6).
    Good things about the church at Thessalonica:
1. They were commended for their work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope (1 Thessalonians 1:3).
2. They received the word with joy and were examples to others (1 Thessalonians 1:6, 7).
3. The word of the Lord went out from them into many places (1 Thessalonians 1:8).
    Let us do everything we can to see that these good things that were said of first century churches could also be said of the church today. 

- Kevin Rutherford preaches for the Warners Chapel church of Christ in Clemmons, NC. He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://warnerschapelchurchofchrist.org/