“Well, we come to church to worship God.” Rolling on with the topic of our own bodies being the house of the Lord, why do we need a place to worship? If I wanted to worship God in the desert, do I have to first build a church? “I mean, come to worship God corporately.” This will be deconstructed later in the chapter, but for now, I have one little question I want you to think about until then: how many people does it take in order for that group to be said that they are “corporate worshipping?” The answer might surprise you. I could now see that we were putting way too much emphasis on the church building; not only my church but almost every other church in the U.S. Nowhere in Scripture does God focus in about where believers in Christ …show more content…
In fact, many different places are mentioned, but, like I said before, are not expounded on. This list won’t be time consuming and I put the references there for you to look them up for yourself. I broke them up into three categories: 1. In people’s homes, 2. In the Synagogue/ Temple, and 3. Wherever it was available to them. Short but sweet!
1. In people’s homes “It was a common practice in the first century to have a building for your business, and then to build on top of that building for the private living quarters of the family. This is apparently what we are seeing here. Homes were the primary meeting place for the church in the New Testament” (Anderson). This list is most of what I found. There may be more that you know of, but the point is still there. Some of the time in the Bible, specific people’s names are mentioned while other times say they were just together.
• Mary’s- Acts 12:12
• Initially after the day of Pentecost- Acts 2:46
• After the apostles were flogged for preaching Jesus- Acts 5:42
• Lydia’s- Acts 16:40
• Paul’s (Saul’s) understanding of where to find believers in Christ and arrest them- Acts 8:3
• Prisca’s and Aquila’s- Romans 16:5, 1 Corinthians 16:19
• Nympha’s- Colossians 4:15
• Philemon’s- Philemon 2
2. In the Synagogue/ Temple The synagogue was the first place Paul went to whenever he came to a new town or city on his missionary journeys. Since he was an educated Pharisee, taught by Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), the leaders of the synagogues
The Roman Catholic Church has built quite a reputation amongst the general public. The church is known for its infamous history of contradictory practices. I was raised amongst the teachings of the Baptist Church which holds an distinct level of animosity between the two. Being aware of this stigma the search for answers became that much more enticing. Therefore a visit would help me gain a sense of enlightenment amongst the two practices. Also challenging me to be able to identify such issues, and if discovered learning its purposes. Located in an area where the population is surrounded by numerous distinct churches I chose to attend one that held an particular status of popularity, while also being convenient.
Each chapter has three or more subsections except for his Conclusion. Finally he has included an excellent Select bibliography with 100+/- references and a very extensive Index of Biblical References.
In the past couple of decades the rise in non-denominational churches has been increasing greatly and are said to be the second largest group of Protestants (Moore, 2011). It is said that most that break off and become apart of this fast growing belief come from a protestant upbringing. The study shows that more people are determining on where to worship by how they like the nursery, if the worship music is good, is it close to home, rather than I am a Catholic I need to go to a Catholic Church. As of 2010, four percent of Americans fall into this non-denominational group (Thumma, 2010).
To be a successful church the author states that the church should function and relate to the people’s culture that the church is located within.
Back during colonial times, the church was an important social meeting place, as well as the state church. Farmers who live out on the far corners of Williamsburg only saw were their wife and children. And if they weren’t married, they did not see anyone. But for 2 hours during church, you could connect with everyone. The church was also a good way for news to spread. Unlike the Governor’s Palace, which was only for the gentry class, the capitol, which was only for royalty, and the magazine, that was only for physically fit, middle- aged non- disabled men, the church was for everyone, and everyone was required by law to come, or pay a large fine. So ultimately, the church was the center of social life, and the only place in the entire city where everyone could go.
Sacred spaces or places are found in many sectors of the early twentieth-century. Italian American Catholics regularly had altars within the home and, in a time of clean living, were often discouraged from using them in tenement housing. Mexican American Catholics, on the other hand, created a sacred-secular space within their community where tradition and religion could merge harmoniously. Alternatively, Latter-day Saints constructed their own sacred city near Salt Lake City, Utah. Whether in the home, community, or an entire city, sacred spaces existed in many facets of early twentieth-century America.
For Paul’s audience the apostles, the prophets, the evangelist, the pastors and teachers governed the structure of the church. These individuals equipped the Saints for works of service and the edification of the church. His audience would have understood the metaphor that Paul was implementing throughout the passage. They understood that the body of Christ meant the church; and that infancy was equated to their spiritual status.
To properly label a Christian an evangelical Protestant, one must ask four basic questions and receive an answer that as a whole, evangelical Protestants accept as “correct”. The questions are: “[W]hat must a person do to be saved?[, W]here does religious authority lie?[, W]hat is the church?[,] and [W]hat is the essence of Christian living?” (“Evangelicalism”, Dictionary of Christianity in America) Through answering and receiving the “correct” responses, one should be able to define an evangelical Protestant.
Paul writes in Acts 22:6 that he experienced a vision, ‘I fell to the ground and heard a voice say, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me... I am Jesus of Nazareth.”’ Paul was blinded but continued on to Damascus where he became certain that his vision of Jesus symbolised his calling to spread the Gospel. When he arrived his sight was restored by a disciple named Ananias and Paul was baptised as he became a Christian, a follower of Jesus. This conversion to Christianity enabled Paul to believe that he had been given a mission to go preach the word of God. Paul embarked on journeys to towns where he would seek employment and gradually get to know people. Paul wanted to influence these people by speaking of his experiences he had with God and what they had taught him about Christianity and the teachings of Jesus. In these towns, Paul also established local churches and invited elders to run them whilst he was out of town spreading the word of God, ‘Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust’ (Acts 14:23).
The Chinese Christian church in the United States often has ethnic characteristics, but different Chinese churches often have special concentration in the composition of the congregation, which reflects the tide of Chinese immigrants in different stages. For example, descendants of early immigrants from southern China usually have their fixed church. International students from the mainland of China have the church which they set up together. And other "informal immigrants" also formed Christian organizations. According to Aihui Lee, she divides American Chinese Christianity into four categories.
Ever since I was a little kid, I have been going to church. Over the years, I have felt like I have come closer and closer to God. Through God, the church has influenced me to become a better person. They put me on the right path, helping me find the light that lead me out of the darkness. God, and more specifically the church, has given me hope and strength. They molded me into a person who looks forward to the future, and what I can accomplish. It is hard to believe that I will be going off to college soon. It seems just like yesterday that I started High School. However, as scary as the real world will be, I know I’ll have my family and friends to help. I know when I begin my work as a Computer Scientist, I will have God at the helm guiding
God gave Paul a mission to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. They traveled from city to city spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, the message was not always being received. It is really no confirmed certainty on why John Mark eventually left Paul and Barnabas to return to Jerusalem. The Jews went on record as being in opposition to the Gospel, but Paul kept preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles. Paul saw that the Gentiles were very receptive to the Gospel.
was owed a great sum of money by one of his servants. The king let the
Christianity is the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Most followers of Christianity, called Christians, are members of one of three major groups--Roman Catholic, Protestant, or Eastern Orthodox. These groups have different beliefs about Jesus and His teachings. But all consider Jesus central to their religion. Most Christians believe God sent Jesus into the world as the Savior. Christianity teaches that humanity can achieve salvation through Jesus.
In my life I have never been a person to attend church or religious ceremonies. I have gone twice to church and I personally didn’t like because I think that one doesn’t need to go to church to worship god. I believe that as long as you have faith god would never abandon you. My experience in the Jehovah`s Witness ceremony was very interesting because they are very similar to Christianity but their believes are different.