Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Generation One: Discovering Keys to a Fruitful Life from the First Generation of the Church
    Generation One: Discovering Keys to a Fruitful Life from the First Generation of the Church
    Generation One: Discovering Keys to a Fruitful Life from the First Generation of the Church
    Ebook98 pages1 hour

    Generation One: Discovering Keys to a Fruitful Life from the First Generation of the Church

    By Adam Parrish

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    If you hang around any given church in America long enough, you will eventually hear someone say, God only calls us to be faithful! It is a quaint little saying that sounds good as it rolls off the lips. But there is a serious problem with it: it just isnt true. God calls us to be more than faithful. He calls us to be fruitful. John the Baptist put it simply, Produce fruit in keeping with repentance (Matthew 3:8), and Jesus Himself said, This is to my Fathers glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples (John 15:8).

    Too many have settled merely for a faithful life. They faithfully attend church, faithfully give of their finances, and faithfully try to be nice to people. Thats commendable, but do you long for something more than that? Does your heart cry out for a life that transcends faithful duty and actually bears fruitfruit that will last for eternity? Then this book was written with you in mind. Using humor, inspiration, and everyday illustrations, pastor and author Adam Parrish looks to the first generation of the Church for instruction and inspiration to help us fulfill Gods call to be fruitful.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestBow Press
    Release dateJul 26, 2013
    ISBN9781490801209
    Generation One: Discovering Keys to a Fruitful Life from the First Generation of the Church
    Author

    Adam Parrish

    Adam has been pastoring in various capacities since 1996, and holds his Master of Divinity from Nazarene Theological Seminary. His ministry passion is to present the truth of God’s Word in an inspirational, thought-provoking, and humorous way. He is a very blessed husband and a proud father of three boys.

    Related to Generation One

    Related ebooks

    New Age & Spirituality For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Letters To The Editor

      Aug 19, 2019

      Thank you for your wonderfully illustrated Biblical series of articles that you regularly publish. I find that I can’t concentrate like I used to, and love the short, precise, and factual articles. I have learnt so much from reading them. I was fasci

      7 min read

    • Article

      Love Born

      Sep 4, 2020

      Love Born
      3 min read

    • Article

      Radiance

      Dec 30, 2022

      Radiance
      7 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Oct 28, 2022

      Dear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to ke

      7 min read

    • Article

      Proclaiming The GOOD NEWS Laying Everything Down For The Sake Of The Gospel

      Apr 22, 2019

      In Romans 1, we read the story of Paul the apostle giving a message to the church in Rome. After the resurrection, Paul tells the church that their faith is being proclaimed to the whole world; that Jesus, their Messiah, was raised from the dead and

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Best Time to Share the Gospel

      Nov 19, 2021

      “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” – Isaiah 9:6 Wow, it’s almost Christmas aga

      2 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The Editor

      Dec 30, 2019

      Letters To The Editor
      6 min read

    • Article

      Allan & Janine Bagg

      Jun 24, 2022

      Allan & Janine Bagg
      9 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Apr 5, 2024

      D ear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to k

      10 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Jun 24, 2022

      Dear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to ke

      7 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The Editor

      Nov 27, 2020

      I I believe b that we are living in the end times as we read about in all the books of the Gospel and listen to what Jesus had said. He warned of pestilences and famines. I believe that Covid-19 is one of the pestilences, as well as all the locusts t

      7 min read

    • Article

      Josh & Tara McCauley On A REDEMPTIVE Mission

      Sep 4, 2020

      Whilst his friends were out playing cops and robbers, a young Joshua would sit in the front row of church listening to the sermons of his dad (Rhema Church founder, Pastor Ray McCauley) blissfully unaware that one day he too would be standing behind

      10 min read

    • Article

      Ask Val

      Dec 30, 2019

      Ask Val
      2 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The Editor

      Jul 30, 2021

      Dear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to ke

      7 min read

    • Article

      Red Alert

      May 20, 2019

      Why does the Church today appear to be so powerless? Why are so many churches emptying? Why have young people fled the church? Why do some Christians consider ‘gathering together as the church’ to be irrelevant? What is happening in our generation?

      5 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Jul 21, 2023

      D ear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to k

      6 min read

    • Article

      A Burden On The Heart Of The Believer “I Charge You Therefore, Preach The Word!”

      Oct 21, 2019

      Most of us would recognise that the last words of a great and godly man or woman before their death would likely be words of great value. Words to consider and ponder. Jesus’ seven statements from the Cross are of that category and are thus recorded

      5 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The Editor

      Aug 7, 2020

      Greetings in the Holy Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. In your July issue of JOY! you asked what we are grateful for. I’m grateful for the fact that Jesus Christ saved me and my family. My third born son suffered severe burns on his body, and my last b

      6 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Dec 29, 2023

      D ear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to k

      7 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Generation One

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Generation One - Adam Parrish

      Copyright © 2013 Adam Parrish.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      WestBow Press

      A Division of Thomas Nelson

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.westbowpress.com

      1-(866) 928-1240

      Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com  The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

      All rights reserved.

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      ISBN: 978-1-4908-0119-3 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4908-0120-9 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2013912283

      WestBow Press rev. date: 07/24/2013

      Contents

      Introduction

      Chapter 1       Why Don’t We Talk about This More?

      Chapter 2       The Gift

      Chapter 3       Life Together

      Chapter 4       A Miraculous Healing

      Chapter 5       The First Martyr

      Chapter 6       A Dramatic Conversion

      Chapter 7       Preparing for Change

      Chapter 8       A New Name

      Chapter 9       A Miraculous Deliverance

      Chapter 10       Conflict!

      Chapter 11       Hearing the Spirit

      Chapter 12       Bloom Where You Are Planted

      Author’s Note

      For Pastors

      Appendix

      Sources

      Endnotes

      I thank my wife and sons, who are daily reminders of God’s grace in my life. The joy they bring me is more than I deserve!

      I also thank the incredible people of Faith Community Church of the Nazarene. They were guinea pigs who heard this book preached before it became a book. They also provided a sabbatical that helped me finish it!

      I express gratefulness to my parents, whose steadfast model of the Christian faith has always stood as an example to my brother, Deven, and me.

      Most of all, I want to give praise to God, who one night long ago, while I prayed in an empty sanctuary with Jim Finch, called me to feed His sheep (John 21) and preach the gospel (Isaiah 61). My prayer is that this book will help fulfill that calling on a wider scale than I have done to date!

      Introduction

      I have a startling news flash that will shock and surprise you. Are you ready? Here it is. The church is not perfect! You might need to catch your breath after that astonishing revelation! Okay, I’m being a little sarcastic. The truth is that the church really isn’t perfect, and that is no surprise to anyone. The church today isn’t perfect, and neither was the church we read about in the book of Acts. There is a simple reason for this. The church has always been composed of these curious, imperfect beings we call people. The church is not perfect because people are not perfect.

      But in spite of all her imperfections and blemishes, I have to say that I unabashedly love the church. The church is the vehicle our loving and gracious God has chosen to carry the life-changing message of His love and grace. Indeed, the very fact that He has chosen this imperfect institution for such a world-changing mission is evidence in itself of His grace. I once heard someone say something to this effect: The church is the only institution whose membership is limited to those who know they don’t belong.

      None of us deserves to take part in what God wants to do in the world. But by His grace, He calls us to do just that. He calls us to live fruitful lives through the power of His Spirit within us—lives of love, grace, and mercy. He calls us to be more than faithful. He calls us to be fruitful.

      I believe most of us want to live fruitful lives: lives that matter, lives that make a difference. I know our own selfishness often overpowers that desire. But the desire is there. The question is, How do we give flesh to that desire—how do we live lives that truly matter and make a difference?

      To get answers on these matters, we have to start with God’s love letter to us: the Bible. And I believe the best place to start in the Bible is the New Testament’s book of Acts. In this account of the early church, we see individuals and the church collectively bearing fruit for God’s kingdom. And as I will point out later in this work, they were operating purely on the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. They did it without church-growth conferences or pastors’ sermon series that are turned into books!

      If that is true, then why shouldn’t we look to the first generation of the church for wisdom in how to live fruitful lives? We look to them not because they were perfect but because they were effective. They took the mission given to them by the mouth of Jesus Himself, and they ran with it.

      If a generation is defined as forty years, then there have been approximately fifty generations of the church so far. Some have been more fruitful than others. All have made mistakes and blunders. But there are at least two things they all have in common: All are composed of sinful, imperfect people who have accepted God’s gracious gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. And all have a mission to proclaim the message of that salvation to the ends of the earth—no matter our circumstances.

      Jesus said that when the whole world has had a chance to respond to the gospel, the end will come (Matthew 24:14). If I’m reading that correctly, it means we have a part to play in the timing of Jesus’ return! Will we be the generation that accomplishes this task? And if so, how do we do it? As Generation 50, we could do a lot worse than to draw inspiration from Generation 1.

      Chapter 1

      Why Don’t We Talk about This More?

      If I asked you to name the two greatest events in the history of Christianity, it would be pretty easy, right? The crucifixion and resurrection, hands down. What if I asked you to name a third? Pentecost, perhaps? Pentecost was, after all, the birth of the church! Okay, now what if I asked you to name a fourth? If you’d say Paul’s conversion, that’s not a bad choice. In fact, we might debate more than a few things for that spot.

      But if I were answering that question (which I am, because I’m writing this book!), I would choose that glorious, yet often overlooked event recorded at the beginning of Luke’s second volume, otherwise known as the book of Acts.

      In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1