CHURCH:
BUSINESS MEETINGS

Throughout the New Testament after Pentecost one marked characteristic of all Christian meetings was the believers’ preoccupation with their risen Lord. Even the first Church Council (which might be called a “business” meeting if such a thing really existed in Bible times) was conducted in an atmosphere of great dignity and deep reverence. They talked of God and Christ and the Holy Ghost and the Scriptures and consecrated men who had hazarded their lives for the name of Jesus. They conferred for a while, then drew up a letter of instruction and sent it to the Gentile churches by the hand of Judas and Silas. It is of course unthinkable that such a meeting could have been held without some kind of agenda. Someone had to know what they had gathered to discuss. The important point to be noticed, however, is that proceedings were carried on in an atmosphere of Christian worship. They lost sight of the program in the greater glory of a Presence.

Acts 15

The Root of the Righteous, 106, 107.