From Solomon’s Portico to Synod Halls

Acts 3 - 4 and the Spiritual Condition of the UK Church

The early Church described in Acts 3 & 4 stands as both an inspiration and an indictment. It reveals what covenant faithfulness looks like when God’s Spirit is truly welcomed, and, by contrast, exposes how far many of today’s mainstream UK denominations have drifted from that same fidelity. Acts is not merely history. It is a mirror.

A Church marked by power

Acts 3 opens with Peter and John encountering a lame man at the Beautiful Gate. They do not offer programmes, policies, or carefully crafted statements. Rather, they offer Christ. “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” (Acts 3:6)

The man is healed instantly. He walks, leaps, and praises God. The miracle draws a crowd, and Peter immediately redirects all glory away from himself: “Why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?” (Acts 3:12)

Here is the first sharp contrast with much of today’s Church. The apostles refuse celebrity. They refuse institutional self-congratulation. They refuse to centre themselves. Instead, Peter preaches repentance: “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out.” (Acts 3:19)

The gospel proclaimed in Acts is not accommodation, but conversion, not affirmation, but transformation.

The gospel proclaimed in Acts is not accommodation but conversion, not affirmation but transformation.

By contrast, many UK denominations now hesitate to speak plainly of sin. Repentance has been replaced with reassurance. Holiness with inclusivity rhetoric. The call to be “born again” (John 3:3) has been softened into vague spirituality. Where Acts proclaims Christ crucified and risen, today’s pulpits too often proclaim therapeutic comfort, political fashion and social acceptance. This is not renewal. It is retreat.

Courage under pressure 

In Acts 4, Peter and John are arrested for preaching Jesus and the resurrection. They are threatened by religious authorities and commanded to remain silent. Their response is uncompromising: “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to Him? You be the judges.” (Acts 4:19)

And again: “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:20)

This is covenant faithfulness: obedience to God over institutional security. Truth over approval. Yet today, many mainstream denominations reshape doctrine to align with prevailing cultural ideologies. This is particularly true around sexuality, gender and the uniqueness of Christ. Rather than standing prophetically, they pre-empt opposition by surrendering biblical conviction. Scripture speaks plainly: “Don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God?” (James 4:4)

Instead of enduring persecution, leaders increasingly seek applause. Instead of guarding the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3), they negate it. This is not compassion. It is capitulation.

A Church filled with the Spirit 

After their release, the believers in Acts 4 do not organise campaigns or issue statements. They pray and heaven responds: “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” (Acts 4:31)

Power follows prayer. Boldness follows surrender. Authority follows discipleship. The early Church is Spirit-led, not bureaucracy-led.

The early church is Spirit-led, not bureaucracy-led.

Much of the contemporary UK Church, however, is governed by committees, along with safeguarding frameworks, legal anxieties and public relations strategies. These may have their place, but they have too often displaced fasting, repentance and dependence on God. The warning of Scripture feels uncomfortably relevant: “having a form of godliness but denying its power.” (2 Timothy 3:5)

Historic buildings remain. Vestments and liturgies endure. Titles persist. But the manifest presence of God has quietly departed from many sanctuaries without the  (so-called) shepherds even noticing.

Radical unity and sacrifice 

Acts 4 concludes with extraordinary generosity: “No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.” (Acts 4:32)

Leadership is sacrificial. Resources flow toward mission and need. No one hoards authority or wealth. Contrast this with modern ecclesiastical hierarchies, where assets are protected, senior leaders are comfortably remunerated and declining congregations are managed like failing enterprises. God warned through Ezekiel: “Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?” (Ezekiel 34:2)

That warning has not expired.

Broken covenant: From revelation to relevance

At its core, today’s crisis is not merely moral or cultural. It is covenantal. God’s people are called to be distinct: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16)

Yet many denominations now redefine holiness to mean social acceptability. Doctrine is revised through consultations rather than Scripture. The Bible is treated as a discussion paper instead of final authority. This mirrors ancient Israel’s rebellion: “They have forsaken my law, which I set before them.” (Jeremiah 9:13)

When churches bless what God calls sin, when they silence what God calls truth, and when they sideline what God calls sacred, they do not merely modernise. They apostatise.

From replacement to reconciliation: A prophetic call

There is another deep fracture beneath this drift: the Church’s historic rejection of her Jewish roots and the widespread embrace of replacement theology, the belief that God has discarded Israel and substituted the Church in her place. This teaching is neither apostolic nor biblical. Paul warns Gentile believers: “Do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. Do not be arrogant, but tremble.” (Romans 11:18-20 KJV)

The Church does not replace Israel; she is grafted into Israel and Scripture declares: “For God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.” (Romans 11:29)

God has not revoked His covenant with the Jewish people. Peter affirms this directly in Acts 3: “And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers.” (Acts 3:25)

Yet much of Christendom has cultivated theological arrogance toward the Jewish people, producing centuries of hostility and exclusion.

Israel is not discarded. She is called back. Yet much of Christendom has cultivated theological arrogance toward the Jewish people, producing centuries of hostility and exclusion. Today this continues in subtler ways: marginalising Messianic Jewish believers, disconnecting Jesus from His Jewish identity, and preaching a gospel severed from its Hebraic foundations. Jesus Himself said: “Salvation is of the Jews.” (John 4:22)

To embrace Messiah while rejecting His people is incoherent. Paul reveals God’s intention: “That he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross.” (Ephesians 2:16, KJV)

Biblically, we should not be talking about replacement theology, rather reconciliation theology, the building of One body.

A Call to the UK Church 

Therefore hear this prophetic appeal.

To bishops, moderators, synods and senior leaders: repent of compromise. Return to Scripture. Lay aside doctrines shaped by empire, politics and institutional survival.

To believers in pews across this land: do not outsource discernment. Test everything against God’s Word. Refuse counterfeit gospels dressed in compassion.

Refuse counterfeit gospels dressed in compassion.

To the whole Church: Repent of indifference toward the Jewish people. Embrace your Messianic brothers and sisters. Recover the ancient covenant foundations fulfilled in Yeshua.

YHWH still calls: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it.” (Jeremiah 6:16)

These ‘old paths’ are the promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, all completed in Christ and extended to the nations by grace. The choice before the UK Church is stark:

• Cultural approval or covenant faithfulness.
• Institutional comfort or prophetic obedience.
• The traditions of men or the testimony of Scripture.

As Joshua declared: “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.” (Joshua 24:15)

A Prayer of Repentance and Restoration

Father YHWH, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We come before You in humility and godly sorrow. We confess that Your Church in this land has allowed itself to be compromised by culture, feared man more than God and exchanged your truth for relevance. We have neglected repentance, silenced Your Word and grieved Your Holy Spirit. Forgive us.

We repent of blessing what You call sin. We repent of abandoning holiness.

We repent of theological pride and of separating ourselves from Your covenant people Israel. Cleanse us, Lord.

Restore to us the fear of YHWH. Restore apostolic boldness. Restore the authority of Scripture. Restore love for Your Jewish people and unity with Messianic believers.

Turn the hearts of leaders back to You. Awaken congregations from spiritual slumber. Let Your Spirit fall afresh upon Your church in the United Kingdom. Make us once again a people of prayer, repentance, power and truth. Heal our land.

And may we walk once more in the way of Acts, faithful to Messiah, anchored in covenant and filled with the Holy Spirit. In the name of Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ). Amen.

(top image - Solomon's portico; c/o M Cromer - readingacts.com)