Common Themes Of Christianity

The Apostle Paul’s strategic mission of expanding the church and spreading the Gospel was significant considering the challenges he had to conquer. His life and example was and is applicable to modern cross-cultural leaders and organizations. Philippians 2 is a letter written by Paul to the church of Philippi. It was prepared during his imprisonment in Rome for spreading the Gospel of Christ in an area where people predominately and traditionally believed in Judaism. His writing in this passage highlights Christ as the ultimate example of humility and Paul’s encouragement to his followers to keep the unity, as they are the light of the world.

Paul is the author of the book of Titus. The book of Titus was written around the years 63-65 A.D. The letter was addressed to Titus who was a gentile and a companion of Paul. Paul called Titus his “True son”. Titus along with First and Second Timothy are called Pastoral Epistles. The reason for being categorized that way is because the letters emphasizes the reason for having leaders within the church. (Votaw, Clyde W. pg.130-38) The book 's theme is instructions to Titus on how to run the churches in Crete and to encourage Titus in faith. The first readers of this letter would be Titus, some of the leaders within the Crete churches, Zenas and Apollos who Paul gave the letter to give of Titus. Paul and Titus most likely visited Crete

Christianity was still quite young at the time Paul wrote to Philemon and was faced with much opposition. The Church existed as local bodies of believers, meeting primarily in homes because there were no church buildings for worship. Persecution of the Church was prevalent and their survival depended heavily on dependence on one another and unity. Many misconceptions and even blatant lies

A worldview is the way a person views and interprets the world around them. Life experiences and spiritual influences play a part in forming one’s worldview. A person’s worldview helps them to determine beliefs on creation, humanity, morals and what happens after death. According to Waddell, (2014) “Worldviews are also like lenses found in eyeglasses that serve as the means through which a person sees the world.” (para. 43) In this paper, the main components of the Christian worldview will be discussed, to include God, humanity, Jesus, restoration and analysis of Christian Faith as well as a reflection of my own beliefs.

In the first close reading of the text, I discovered Paul articulated his desire for all believers to be of the same attitude or frame of mind as Christ. Creating a sense of relationship with God through the example of the servanthood of Jesus. This study revealed the traits of Christ’s life and character found in verses: “he was formed of God” (2:6), “emptied himself’ (2:7), “in human form” (2:8), “name above every name” (2:9), “every knee should bend” (2:10), and “every tongue confess … glory to God” (2:11). Looking at each verse, challenged me to read between the lines and wonder what might be happening within the church of Philippi. Textual Criticism

E. Harrison (p. 275) summarizes the message of the Epistle in these words: The greatest single overall emphasis seems to be on the unity of the local church as the body of Christ, which is brought out not only in connection with the discussion of the groups (i.e.; the factions within the church), but also in relation to the Lord’s Supper and spiritual gifts. A corollary is the sanctity of the church as members of Christ, both corporately and individually, (note, especially, such passages as 1 Cor. 3:16-17 and 6:15-20.) We may add, it is in this Epistle that the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul most eloquently sets forth the supremacy of love as “the most excellent way,” which the Christian is called to follow (1 Cor. 12:31b-13:13

Paul was devoted to spreading the gospel to many different people groups. An example from Paul's life that has taught me about spreading God's word is when he preached on his first missionary journey in Acts 13, even after many Jews slandered him and argued against everything he said. Paul’s demonstration of courage in this situation is very inspiring to me. It teaches me to be bold in my belief of the gospel, even when people disagree with me. Another

Paul outlines 3 major ideas in the way that all believers should relate to one another. Paul begins with the posture that we should take with one another. That posture has 3 goals: humble and gentle (without exception), dealing with one another in love, and eager to maintain unity in the church as a whole. Sadly, we have lost sight of this posture not just interracially but also inter-denominationally and cross culturally. While all of these goals are extremely difficult to begin to achieve they are even more necessary to maintain. We are then reminded of the way and reason that we should seek to maintain this unity. That way is through the cross of Jesus Christ where we were reconciled unto God. Because of this reconciliation to God he has

Timothy was a faithful man of God and we can learn a lot from him. He first met Paul when he was a teenager. Timothy's father did not know anything about his faith and Timothy's mother was a Jew. She was a very faithful woman and taught Timothy a lot. His mother taught him the Old Testament and read to Him so that he would grow to love scripture. Timothy fell in love with Christ because he saw his mother fall in love with Jesus while she and Timothy listened to Paul's teaching. Timothy watched Paul and saw him heal people and perform miracles. Paul then eventually asked Timothy to travel with him. While they were traveling Timothy was able to help Paul start churches in three

Titus was a Gentile who converted to Christianity. He completed his missionary work along side Paul, as one of Paul 's assistants. The book of Titus is one of the shortest Pastoral Epistles. It is believed that Paul was the author of Titus; in this book Paul addressees how church leaders should act, it advises how Titus should teach the various groups, and finally the author gives Titus advice regarding Christian conduct. This paper will identify two biblical scholars ' primary viewpoints on Titus 2: 11-15, beginning with Lewis Donelson 's viewpoint and then Dean Thompson; it will then compare the two biblical scholars ' reflections on the passage. The final paragraph will indicate whether or not I agree with either scholar 's

Paul wrote letters to churches and went on long, dangerous journeys in order to share the Word. Humbly serving the Lord, no matter what the cost, he became a disciple who made disciples. His personal, deep relationship with Timothy reveals the kind of atmosphere and level of commitment required in discipleship. The discipleship model Paul follows allows for a personally invested relationship between any amount of gathered people whether it be an entire church congregation, a small group, or

As with any interpretation of a passage of Scripture, the proper interpretation of Philippians 2:2-11is relied on accurate examination of its context. Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians to thank them for the gift, in which was sent to him by Epaphroditus while in prison. Although most scholars have argued that the current Epistle to the Philippians was basically several separate letters, based on different tones throughout the chapters, in 2:2 it clearly associates the first chapter of the Philippians with the second. The direct context of Philippians 2:2-11 is the sermon to unity found in Philippians 1:27-30. With this, we see Paul urging the Philippians to essentially live as citizens who are worthy of the gospel. He then continued this theme into chapter two where he continued to advise the Philippians to humility.

The apostle Paul foresaw at the end of his life a great tsunami of attacks coming against the church of God. He responded with three letters. We call them the Pastoral Epistles: 1, 2 Timothy and Titus. After Paul’s first imprisonment, he visited different places including the Island of Crete, an Island only 160 miles long south of Greece and Turkey in the Mediterranean Sea. He wrote this letter to Titus around 62 A.D. from somewhere in Macedonia. Paul’s main objective is to encourage Titus and give instructions about Godly living as a young pastor. The churches in the Island of Crete needed leadership, correction and order thus Paul could not be everywhere. Paul at some time had visited the island of Crete for he says in Titus 1:5 “I left you

Paul begins the letter of Romans by introducing himself and stating his mission. Concisely stating the gospel message, Paul encourages the Roman Christians to “bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name” (1:5), or for the glory of Jesus Christ. He goes on to write of his desires and intentions to visit Rome in order to preach the gospel of Christ to the Jews as well as the Gentiles. Paul continues by explaining his excitement for the gospel as well as the need to live the gospel out in our lives. Finishing the first chapter, Paul presents the inexcusable idolatry, sinfulness, and evilness of the ungodly.

In this letter Apostle Paul showed how great his love was for the church of Philippi, showing his gratitude for their financial support to further the work of the ministry and to express his concern about their spiritual walk. His only thought was about advancing the cause of Christ and building the Philippians’ faith to continue their mission in spite of the persecution they were facing. Within their church many of the people were at odds and some were trying to hinder the spread of the Gospel. Because of this, Paul encourages the church of Philippi to "stand fast, be of the same mind, rejoice in the Lord always but by prayer let your request be made known and the peace of God shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (4:1-7).