Celebrating the Apostolic Culture

by Presbyter Joseph Concepcion

Reading for the day: Acts 2:42

It is important that we, the church of Christ in the fourth watch, preserve our apostolic culture. The early church, when Jesus Christ was taken from them, did not scatter because they held on and continued in the apostolic culture. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayers,” (Acts 2:42).

First, let’s revisit what culture is. Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, religion, notions of time, roles, and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving.

In concise terms, culture is who we are and what rules and convictions we follow and principles that define our actions.

Why is culture important? 

First, culture creates a unique identity to a group of people. The Lord speaks of the need for the world to know that we are His disciples in John 13:35 where He says, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you love one another”.  By having a loving relationship with one another, His disciples create an identity of being Christ’s followers. 

Second, culture creates allegiance. When we follow the same ways, systems, and convictions, we understand each other better. Naturally, people stick with people who understand them. For example, the fourth watchers’ character of embracing suffering in our service bonds us together and enables us to weather adversities as a church. 1 Peter 5:9 says, “Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” From this verse we can see that our understanding of the inevitability, the role, and the nature of suffering in the life of Christ’s disciples makes us firm in the faith, making us overcomers, which in turn furthers our culture of resilience and steadfastness. 

Thirdly, culture creates principles, providing something to hold on to and to fight for. Principles guide and protect, and are needed in order to maintain the biblical teachings through the passing of time. We are faced with the great challenge of relativism in our time – the belief that there is not one truth. Believers have to contend with the alluring doctrine that a person can do whatever they want and believe whatever they want to believe. Yet it remains true that God’s nature, ways, and will remain unchanging throughout the ages, therefore, His church must remain true to the apostolic culture the early church lived and upheld.

His church must remain true to the apostolic culture the early church lived and upheld.

What are four of the core aspects of the apostolic culture?

First, it is authority strong. Only when authority is present and strong can we serve God according to His will and discharge our duties effectively. The authority in the church must come from God and those who lead in the church must have received the authority from Him. Christ gave authority to His apostles – the authority to preach the gospel and build the church, as we can see in  Matthew 28:18-19, “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

This is what we can also see in Luke 9:1, “When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases.”

We can see, therefore, that it is to the apostles the authority is given. This is just so for the gift of apostleship is the first gift of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:11, 1 Corinthians 12:28).

In the PMCC (4th Watch) we preserve and continue the biblical apostolic authority. God raised up an apostle, our late Apostle Arsenio T. Ferriol, who built God’s church for fifty years. And since the church is still here, God raised and called another apostle to continue the work of leading and shepherding God’s people, hence, we have Apostle Jonathan S. Ferriol. 

Because we have the apostolic authority, we therefore have the authority to grow as Christ’s body (2 Corinthians 10:8), and the authority to build each other up (2 Corinthians 13:10). 

In the PMCC (4th Watch) we preserve and continue the biblical apostolic authority.

We must uphold and continue in the biblical and apostoic authority God has designed and give us His church in the fourth watch. Being authority strong must identify us as a church, it makes us allegiant to God, to our leaders and to one another, and must make us strong in our principles and convictions. 

Secondly, the apostolic culture is unity driven. Naturally, Christ’s body the church must be united, as a body should be. For the last fifty-one years, our unity as a church has brought us to expansive ministries around the world, saving thousands of souls from sure eternal destruction, blessing families and communities through our unity in discharging our duties. 

Our unity must be stated in words and actions. Our example is David’s armor bearer in 1 Samuel 14:7 where he says to King David, “Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.”  We must have the same resolve with our leaders in the church, especially with our new apostle. Amasai’s cry in 1 Chronicles 12:18 should be ours as well. “Then the Spirit came on Amasai, chief of the Thirty, and he said:

“We are yours, David!
    We are with you, son of Jesse!
Success, success to you,
    and success to those who help you,
        for your God will help you.”

The success of the church leadership is the success of the church. Division renders us unable to stand (Matthew 12:25). It is unity that has enabled us to accomplish great things for the Lord in the last fifty-one years. 

For example, the houses of worship in the Philippines and in other countries such as Japan, Australia, Spain, Dubai, United States, and Canada, are testament to our unity with our leaders and with one another. The main headquarters of the church, the Shiloah Building, the AATF Complex in Cavite, the AATF Prayer Mountain in Baguio, the GMC in California, and the newly acquired land for a future campsite in Washington State, are all evidence of our unity. Let us continue the apostolic culture of unity. God is not done yet. 

It is unity that has enabled us to accomplish great things for the Lord in the last fifty-one years.

Thirdly, the apostolic culture is growth passionate. The biblical and apostolic ways naturally lead to growth and expansion. The church is alive through the Holy Spirit, and anything that is alive grows. We need to continue to follow the apostolic ways if we want to see growth in our service to God, individually and collectively as a church. We must be consumed by our passion to grow.

From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work (Ephesians 4:16), our value and worth in front of God is our contribution to the overall growth of the Church of Christ in the End-time.

Let us ask ourselves, what have we done to grow our churches? What have we done to grow our brothers and sisters? What have you developed lately to grow your faith? This year is the year of increase! Let us all aim to grow. For example, this year we will host the Home Free Global Crusade in Edmonton on May 25, 2025. Have you scheduled or booked your ticket already?

We need to be growth passionate. Whenever there’s a way or chance to grow, we will be part of it. We need to have something God will grow for it is He who makes things grow. 1 Corinthians 3:6 says,  “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow,” and in verse 9, it says that we are God’s coworkers, therefore, we need to seek to be used to grow God’s work.

This year is the year of increase!

And last but not the least, the apostolic culture is Jesus focused. We need to make Jesus known in our time today. We must have the same conviction as with the Apostle Paul: “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” This conviction is the main occupation of God’s apostles, in Greek, apostolos, God’s sent-ones. Their calling and ministry is to preach the gospel of salvation. As we partner ourselves with our apostle and the rest of our leaders, we partake in the ministry of saving souls from eternal damnation. On a personal level, we need to be God’s mouthpiece and letter to those around us, so that they see God’s work in us and be salt and light to them. In all areas of our lives – career, relationships, finances, and all our aspirations, we must remain focused on our Lord and Saviour, and lift Him up so that many may see the light of the glory of His saving grace. 

We need to make Jesus known in our time today […] In all areas of our lives – career, relationships, finances, and all our aspirations, we must remain focused on our Lord and Saviour.

We celebrate our Apostolic Culture and we will continue to preserve and strengthen our Apostolic Culture by learning, practicing and passing it on to the next generation until Jesus Christ returns.

Reflection: Choose one of the four aspects of the apostolic culture and reflect on how you may help promote it.