Some distinctive marks of the early church: lessons learned from Peter, James and John

Based on the scultpure by Nicola Pisano (c. 1220-1284), Sts Peter, Paul and James, Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

I was privileged to bring the evening Bible teaching at the Moray Coast Convention in Buckie which ran from Monday 3 August 2026 – Friday 7 August 2026. I was very grateful for the opportunity to fellowship with the believers there again, (I spoke at the convention in 2016 and 2019). This year, they asked me to explore the distinctive marks of the early church and the lessons that we can learn from them.

I decided to approach the question by exploring some lessons from Acts and the tensions and different leadership roles that were taken by Peter, James and Paul. I began on Monday evening by setting the scene and drawing our five key distinctions that I returned to as I journeyed through the week. Those distinctives were that the early church was:

1. Prayer-saturated
2. Spirit-following
3. Word-rooted
4. Mission-orientated
5. Jesus-centred

On Tuesday, I turned our attention to the centrality of the Lord Jesus himself. From Wednesday – Friday I explored the example, snippits of the theology and some lessons we can learn from Peter, James and Paul respectively. I also explored the interactions and tensions that we see between Peter, James and Paul, particularly in relation to the issues that were addressed at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15), and the summary that Paul offers us in Galatians 2.

Many of those who attended the convention asked for my notes. So here they are. The notes are in PDF form, and are actually the notes I used for my preaching. The font is set at 16, and they should be straightforward and easy to follow. I have uploaded them as they are, in the format that all of my messages are written. If you want a summary, or a contents guide then it is as follows:

• Distinctive Marks of the New Testament Church: Kingdom People in a Waiting World: Luke and Acts. An intrudction to the series (Pages 1-5)
• The Church That Carried the Future: Acts and the Distinctive Marks of Kingdom People. [Main Texts: Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-37; 5:12-16; 6:1-7; 9:31; 11:19-26; 12:1-17; 13:1-3; 16:5; 19:20; 28:30-31] (Pages 6 – 18)
• Jesus: The Kingdom at the Centre: The Church Begins Where Jesus Is Lord [Main Texts: Luke 4:16-21; Luke 6:20-49; Luke 9:18-27; Luke 10:1-24; Luke 12:35-40; Luke 17:20-37; Luke 22:24-27; Luke 24:44-49; Acts 1:1-11] (Pages 19 – 37)
• Peter: Grace for the Broken Witness: Failure, Restoration and the Expanding Kingdom [Main Texts: Luke 5:1-11; Luke 22:31-34, 54-62; Luke 24:34; Acts; 2:14-41; Acts 3:1-26; Acts 10:1-11:18; Acts 12:1-17; Galatians 2:11-14; 1 Peter 1:3-9; 1 Peter 2:9-12; 1 Peter 4:12-19; 1 Peter 5:1-4; 2 Peter 3:8-13] (Pages 38 – 58)
• James: Kingdom Wisdom in a Divided Church: Holiness, Justice and the Faith That Becomes Visible [Main Texts: Luke 8:19-21; Acts 12:17; Acts 15:1-35; Acts 21:17-26; James 1:19-27; James 2:1-26; James 3:13-18; James 4:1-10; James 5:7-20] (Pages 59 – 78)
• Paul: Mission at the Edge of the World: Grace, Conflict and the Unhindered Kingdom [Main Texts: Acts 9:1-31; Acts 13:1-3; Acts 16:6-10; Acts 17:16-34; Acts 20:17-38; Acts 28:23-31; Romans 15:14-24; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; 1 Corinthians 15:1-28; Galatians 2:11-21; Philippians 1:12-26; Colossians 1:15-23; 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; 2 Timothy 4:6-8] (Pages 79 – 107)

I hope the notes are helpful. It looks like they may become a book, so your prayers would be welcomed. Please feel free to use them for your own sermon preparation, for study, for reflection or for small groups etc. All I ask is that, if you use them publicly, you acknowledge that you have used them by pointing people back to either my blog, or me via Kensington Temple (smo@kt.org).

At the heart of all we are doing at Kensington Temple London City Church (KTLCC), is the desire to see people discipled. We are committed to doing this through small groups, which we call cells. They are the beating heart of our life together, and at the heart of the cell is the message of the Kingdom of God. Everything we say and do at KTLCC is built around the theology, message and hope of the Kingdom. Our ministry in London, and around the world, is committed to raising Kingdom leaders, planting Kingdom churches, growing Kingdom cells, making Kingdom disciples and releasing people into every sphere of society to be Kingdom ambassadors. We are excited by what the Lord is doing and covet your prayers.

If we can serve or help you in any way, we would love a conversation.

May these notes help you, in some way, to be part of serving the purposes of God today by learning from yesterday.

Malcolm J. Duncan