Early Apostles: A Christian Community Analysis

In the book, “Announcing the Reign of God,” Bishop Mortimer Arias’, provides illustrations for Christian evangelism based on the teachings of Jesus. Which is grounded in the ministry of Christ and affirmed by evidence and experiences contributed from a diverse group of witnesses. Arias’, main point of view, analyzes the Kingdom of God as the governing authority for the proclamation of the gospel in word and deed. He explores biblical sources, particularly the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke with the intent to examine Jesus ' evangelization. The titles for the readings appraises the Kingdom of God’s: Good News, Presence, Imminence, In-Breaking, Eclipse, Announcing as Gift, Announcing as Hope, and Announcing as Challenge End of the Eclipse? Most importantly, Aries probes how we should answer the questions of: “What it means to be evangelical?” Also, “What would ‘kingdom evangelization’ look like?”

Lohfink, Gerhard. Jesus and Community: The Social Dimension of Christian Faith. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984. Kindle.

The Apostle Paul preached the Gospel of Christ to Palestine, Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome. At first the church wasn’t welcome in Rome. The monotheism of the Christian church conflicted with the polytheism of Rome. The Romans believed that everything was inhabited by divinity. But, as they conquered more people, they began to adapt their beliefs. The Roman emperors persecuted Christians. In 313, Emperor Constantine proclaimed the edict of Milan. This made Christianity a legal religion of Rome. This also gave the Christian clergy legal privileges. Constantine had tried to make the best use of Christianity that had spread throughout the entire region of Rome. Because he thought that Christianity could solidify his empire. By approving Christianity

This Christian religion, known as the “church of Christ”, is experiencing rapid growth despite the large amount of opposition it is facing. It seems that this is largely due because of the concerted effort that the Christians are making to teach their religion to everyone in the entire world. But while everything may seem

Paul’s preaching, caused by the provocation we just discussed, afforded him incredible opportunities. He discussed Christ with the Jews, the Gentile worshipers, the frequenters of the marketplace, and even some philosophers (Acts 17:17-18). Though many of the individuals in the last group labeled

The book The Rise of Christianity by Don Nardo was used thoroughly, and was quite helpful, during the research step of this project. The Rise of Christianity was written in 1999 and originated in San Diego, California by the publishing company Greenhaven Press. The purpose of this book is to inform readers about early Christianity’s creation, spread, and the struggle the first Christians experienced while trying to tell others about their faith. The book also tells the story of Jesus’ life, a few of his disciples, and talks about key figures who made a big impact on Christianity itself and the people who, sceptic at

From January to April we meticulously analyzed the thirteen letters Paul the Apostle wrote to teach the gospel of the Christ to the first century world. He used these letters to instruct and advise the churches he founded across the Mediterranean. After thoroughly examining these letters through lecture in class and in the readings, I have come to find myself to be much more educated on the scripture than when I first came into the class. Before I took Life and Letters of Paul, I had little to none religious experience or knowledge on the topic of Christianity. This class helped me develop a solid foundation on how Christianity was spread and came about.

Hi Catherine! I agree with you that it would be really helpful to explain to them the different types of transportation we have because that could help them in so many ways to spread the gospel to a lot of places. Also, these transportations are effective because they could reduce the time spend on those long and exhausting travels they did back then.

The general church is the branch of government in the Church of the Nazarene that effectively and efficiently connects the members and resources of our denomination to preserve our core values and beliefs and advance our mission to preach holiness, make Christ-like disciples in all the nations, and bring relief to the needy. Recognizing the strength and equality of all partners, the general church combines and apportions time and resources for global mobilization. Simply stated, we can accomplish more united as a global denomination than we ever could at the local church or district level.

Chapter Three: "Theology of Community and Ministry" Prostitutes are often cast out, missed judged, socially undesired, secretly lived but yet "Favored" by God. Are you a prostitute, are you having an affair with a married woman or man, is the money on your nightstand after a sexual encounter paying your bills? Then guess what, you may think you are counted out, but God just dealt you in! The purpose of this paper will show how following the examples of Jesus in the community will change lives as well as bringing into focus the end game of a prostitute's life, such as Hosea's marriage to Gomer (Hosea 1:6).

Before the glorified Savior ascended into heaven, He told His Apostles to “feed my sheep” (John 21:16) and teach His gospel to the world. And that is precisely what they did, empowered by priesthood authority from Christ Himself and with personal testimonies of Christ’s Atonement and Resurrection. They fanned out from the Holy Land, teaching and converting people to Christ’s Church, meeting with great success but also suffering tremendous persecution in the process. The Apostles’ first converts were other Jews, and indeed many practices of Christ’s church mirrored some of the Jewish tradition: public worship, a religious calendar, an exclusively male priesthood, sacred music, viewing the Old Testament as scripture, and practices such as fasting

The principles of discipleship can be found throughout the Bible. One of the ultimate goals of discipleship is to become more Christ like which makes Jesus's life and grace an excellent basis for discipleship. Jesus invested in twelve men, the first Disciples, and entrusted them to continue the process. Peter, James, and John were a part of Christ's inner circle and he fostered and encouraged an exalted spiritual life and growth in these three. Paul was a Pharisee who was murdering Christians and then his life was transformed and he became an apostle. He gave his life over to God's purpose not only in a broad perspective, bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles, but also personal. Timothy was a disciple of Paul; Paul was personally involved in Timothy's life. The Great Commission commands the Disciples, in Matthew 28:19, to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit". The Disciples followed the Great Commission and Christianity spread. Believers are meant to follow the

Stephen was considered the first Christian martyr. He was selected by the apostles to help handle day to day interactions with the people, so the apostles could concentration on spreading the Word of God. Acts 6:8 describes Stephen as “full of grace and power” who “did great wonders and signs among the people.” Acts 6:10-12 recounts that some that belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen did not like the teachings of Stephen. They spread rumors that stirred up the people and the people arrested him and brought him to the council.

Each of the four Gospels contains points in ecclesiology. In the Great Commission, Jesus’ last instruction to the Apostles is to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching people (Matthew 28:19-20). For Jesus’ mission to continue and for his Church to grow, discipleship is necessary. Discipleship is a prominent theme in all four Gospels, for purposes of this essay, only the Gospels of John and Luke-Acts will be analyzed. The similarities regarding discipleship in these Gospels include images of the net and fishing, and the sheep/shepherd/sheepfold. The differences include the preparing of the Twelve to carry on Jesus' ministry in Luke, and service to the community and passing of authority in John's Gospel.

Evangelism in the early church involved the church to be ready to serve the community at all times and be engaged in the culture of it. The early church immersed themselves in the community to spread the Gospel and as a result God added to the church daily which can be seen in (Acts 2:46-47). They relied on the Holy Spirit for their evangelization of the people and in all circumstances we can see another example of this in (Acts 4:31). The early church also never compromised the integrity of the Gospel; instead they approached it with boldness and courageous behavior, regardless of what was presented to them, or what they found themselves enduring at that moment. Even faced with death or prison they still stood strong in their conviction and belief (Earley and Wheeler, 2010, p. 350-354).