What were the churches like at the time of the Apostles? If we are clear what was in the beginning, then we can also be clear what has happened since then, and why our desire today should be to return to what God established in the New Testament with the first churches.

Soon after the time of the Apostles, this testimony began to be lost and was gradually replaced by lifeless teachings and traditions.

Though not without problems, these early believers experienced Christ in their daily life. The truth was proclaimed, and all the saints in a city practiced the church life together in oneness. Soon after the time of the Apostles, this testimony began to be lost and was gradually replaced by lifeless teachings and traditions. However, the Lord began to recover and restore progressively what had been lost. Thus, the history of the Church may be viewed as an initial testimony raised up by the Lord, the loss of that testimony, and subsequently, its gradual recovery by the Lord through the centuries.

This section is divided into the following four subsections:

Pre-Reformation History Reformation History Post-Reformation History and Recovery Present Recovery

It presents a brief history of the Lord's recovery from the time of the apostles to the present. We are the happy recipients of all that transpired before the 21^st century. We have such a rich heritage. May we continue until our Lord returns to end this age.

The following four phases of the Lord's recovery are considered in more detail in separate websites because of the significant contributions made.

Martin Luther and the Reformation Count Zinzendorf and the Moravian Brethren John Nelson Darby and the British Brethren Watchman Nee and Witness Lee and the Local Churches

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