"An idolatry of the new and the novel, with [the concomitant] disrespect for anything traditional; or a nostalgia for the past which is little more than an idolatry of the old and the traditional. Both are disempowering: the first leaves the church as a free-floating anarchic entity which is doomed to reinvent Christianity anew every Sunday, and prone to being subverted and taken over by any charismatic (in the non-theological sense!) leader or group which cares to flex its muscle; the second leaves the church bound to the past as its leaders care to write that past and thus unable to engage critically with her own tradition."-Carl Trueman
It's important that local churches locate their theology and practice in the stream of Christianity from the first century on. The following links highlight truths, practices, and customs of the past that are important to us as a local church.
Dr. Nathan Busenitz of The Master's Seminary teaches the history of the church starting from the book of Acts until the church of the present day. You can find part 1 here and part 2 here.
Dr. Carl Trueman, one of America’s foremost Christian voices and an accomplished church historian, presents the history of the Reformation particuarly focusing on Martin Luther. You can find the lectures here. Dr. Trueman also covers the Medieval Church in a lecture series that can be found here.