Early Church Research Paper

The beginning of church is said to have risen from the resurrection of Jesus. In fact after the Pentecost, the disciples were celebrating the blessing given to Moses at Mount Sinai in which he experienced the presence of God. After this experience, the disciples were believed to be bold, understanding and Courageous. These characteristics till this day are still celebrated on Pentecost Sunday and are used for the sacrament of Confirmation, which is receiving the responsibility of a Christian and accepting the Holy Spirit. Church has been the backbone of people's faith. It has given them a comforting home to pray and be one with God. Today, however, more people are practicing faith outside the church. The majority of followers believe in God and life after death, however, many have lack of interest in the church. Church must be looked as a community of disciples. The book uses a suggestion from a Roman Catholic theologian Avery Dulles. He suggests, "that most appropriate image of the church for our times is the church as a community of disciples"(pp. 157). I totally agree with his suggestion. In order for Christians to find fulfillment in ones faith, one must help others understand their faith. We need to be grounded in grace; by being a Christian community your focus on believing is responding freely to a personal call and

The process by which Scripture has been preserved and compiled is one whose history is worth noting. The early church had many opportunities to share the Good News of Christ via word of mouth, but from the time of Christ’s resurrection until the mid-second century, there had not been a single culmination of writings considered to be essential for the purposes of

Environment. I made observations of a church service. I enter through the strong, dark red, oak doors with golden handles. The room where the service was held was about 100 by 130 feet and seemed to be rectangular in shape. They were a variety of colors. The walls scale ten feet high until they slant to create the point that forms the ceiling of the chapel. The ceiling was a creamy, white color with natural-colored beams. The walls are comprised of brick ranging in colors of murky brown, black, crimson red. There were no windows in the church. There were twenty lights and each light had five light bulbs each. The floor in the church was covered with a light brown tightly woven carpet. The temperature was a perfect 67 degrees. The only decorations in the church were four or five sets of flowers consisting of only yellow roses in the front of the church. The audience sat in red, cushioned chairs that were right next to each other. There were two groups, one on

Church of the Holy Sepulchre is also known as the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre and the Church of the Resurrection (Orthodox Christians). Originally identified as being outside the settlement of Calvary, it is located in the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel and is considered one of the holiest sites in the world, as well as being a central destination for Christian pilgrims. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was originally built by the Roman Emperor Constantine (272-337) in 330 CE upon the site of a Roman temple. It has since been controlled by Arab rulers, reclaimed by Christian crusaders, repeatedly ruined by fires and conquests, and long been subject to regional religious and political tensions. The Holy Sepulchre is a central Church in

The mission of the early church included a number of things. Some of these were to communicate and spread the news that Jesus was the Messiah and the son of God, to propose a new way of life to those who believe in God and to inspire more people to become a part of the Christian community.

The Protestant Reformation is responsible for creating many of the Christ following belief systems in the modern U.S.A. Therefore; it should be explored so we may have a deeper understanding and tolerance of the belief system in America as well as how it relates to religious movements in the past.

• What do you see in today's local church that is similar or different from the early church?

People have constantly utilized the bits and pieces of early American history to construct the scenario that best fit their ideology. It’s difficult to argue that America is not a country that was founded on Christianity based on the documents of our forefathers. Although America did go through a period of religious freedom after becoming its own nation, religion returned to the forefront of American life during our World Wars. This was evident when Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill both talked about the defense of Christian civilization against the Nazis. The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s also brought back a sharply focused religious element in American life and the rise of the new Christian Right thrust religious elements of modern society into the mainstream media. Current President Barrack Obama said that the United States is no longer a Christian Nation. Sadly, I would have to agree. What we see today is that prayer has been

One of the most traumatic periods in the entire history of Roman Catholicism is the period from the middle of the 14th century to the middle of the 16th because this was the time when Protestantism arose to take its place on the Christian map through its definitive break with Roman Catholicism. It was also the period during which the Roman Catholic Church came into being. Protestant Reformation that began in 1517 with Martin Luther's critique of doctrinal principles is a major religious change that swept across Europe during the 1500s, transforming worship, politics, society, and basic cultural patterns. Its most direct impact was upon religious and philosophical thought. As a result, the Church was fractured,

In the first section, we deal with the biblical foundation of church growth, health, and evangelism. In details, he gives three main reasons why we have church in the world. Our first responsibility as a church is to glorify God’s name.

Over the past years of my life I have seen many changes, some for the good and others not as good. Change can be demanding and also crucial. The early believers would encounter this. One can see that significant change happened, when reading through the gospels and the book of acts it is obvious to the reader that the believers who followed Jesus would never be the same again.

Paul is developing and spreading the doctrine of the Church in his letters. The body of Christ (the Church) is being revealed in his letters to the seven churches. Paul’s revelations about the Church concerned its heavenly calling, promise and destiny. The administration and organization of the Church was revealed to us through the apostle Paul.

I attended a service at the Atherton Ward Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on November 15, 2015. I observed that most in attendance were caucasian middle-class families. There was a wide age range from infants to elderly, but no age group was significantly larger than another. The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ suggests, “God has established families to bring happiness to His children, to allow us to learn correct principles in a loving atmosphere, and to prepare us to return to Him after we die (2).” Mormons believe families are an essential part of Gods plan and much of how they live focuses on family. Most attended the service with their families. The church was nearly full, but all in attendance knew each other. Church

The similarities from the First Century Church and the Churches of today are that we suppose to give up the world and follow Jesus. When we focus on Jesus we can love people and take the message of the Gospel to the people by making friends and making disciples. The differences of the First Century Churches and the Churches of today are the availabilities. In the First Century Church the message was only able to be delivered to the people that were in ear shad of Jesus and the Disciples. In today’s Church we have social media, computers, and radios to assist with delivering the message of Jesus. We do not have to walk everywhere we go we have the availability to go in Cars, Motorcycles, and planes. Which allows us a greater opportunity to spread the

The church is the bride of Christ. Scripture tells us “These are those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their personal savior and have received eternal life. In the New Testament, Christ, the Bridegroom, has sacrificially and lovingly chosen the church to be His bride” This is something to not be taken lightly; in fact this is a very serious matter. Scripture tells us that the church is the institution that God desired to use to reach the world to himself. In Matthew chapter 28 Jesus tells his disciples to “go and make disciples.” It is interesting that Jesus left it up to mere man to continue the message of the gospel. Jesus could have advanced the church in anyway that He wanted to, and yet he chose man to spread the news. The book of acts is full of these incredible stories of how Jesus followers carried out their mission. I am writing this paper on this topic today because of the success of Jesus followers in the early church. Through much persecution, tribulation, and trials, they were successful. The reality is, this is not something to be taken lightly, but something that is incredibly critical and applicable in the culture in which we live. We live in a very unique culture and Leonard Sweet, in the book “The Church in Emerging Culture” states, “of course the problem of how Christians relate with culture is as old as Christianity itself. The New Testament makes it clear that there were sharp difference of opinion in the first century over how to