The Christian Church (Look up all the scriptures)
” On this rock I will build my church, and death itself will not have power over it” (Learning Bible, CEV, Matthew 16.15-18). Because Jesus is the Son of God, Satan can never prevail against those who are His own. Peter’s true confession of faith about Jesus is the bedrock of the church. It seems best to take this truth Peter recognized, that Jesus is God’s Son, as the reality which serves as the foundation for His church (Bible Reader’s Companion 618). Consequently, everyone who makes that truth the foundation of their life, becomes a member of Jesus’ church (New Kings James Acts 16.31). From the Oxford Universal English Dictionary, “church” comes from the Old English word “cirice” and
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On the Feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirt, that was promised, came rushing in and poured its power upon 120 people who had been waiting and praying. Because of this power, Peter boldly proclaimed the gospel to the multitude on Pentecost. People of every nation and tribe, were able to hear the gospel in their own tongue. The book of Acts records that three thousand souls were gained to the Lord on that day and was growing daily (Acts 2.41-47). With the tremendous growth of new believers, it was becoming increasingly difficult for the disciples to attend to the needs of the people. Acts 6 states that the apostles were worried about the wellbeing of the church if they were unable to pray and minister in the Word. Culturally, it was important for this new-age church to organize, in such a way, as to meet the needs of all believers, Jew and Gentile alike. This organization had to be done judiciously for the mandate of the Great Commission to be carried forth. Even though, the organization of the local churches, whether developed or undeveloped, proved there was a ministry that existed in all these New Testament churches (Thomas Lindsay 50). Subsequently, for the New Testament church to be effective in its mandate, the church needed to teach and develop aspects of church leadership, church discipline, church counseling; and a plan in how the church would respond to the government of their era. The Lord was very clear in His Word how He wants His church organized and
When many think of the early Church, they think of a perfectly uniformed group of individuals praising and worshiping together. This, in fact, is not true; the early church was not perfectly unified and had many internal and external conflicts. The apostles preached about Jesus and tried to get followers through talking about his life, death, and resurrection. When the church was starting, many internal questions arose like: Who can hear the gospel? Who was in charge? And what does it mean to be free? Many also were not sure whom to turn to ensure that something was valid within the church. With so much confusion, people turned towards the principle apostolicity, which connected the work and intentions of the apostles and ensured reliability. They used the partnership with the spirit to make decisions.
Acts of the Apostles chronicles the rapid advancement of the Gospel by way of the gift of the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles: The Charismatic Community in Mission” takes into account the narratives succeeding Pentecost including Spirit Baptisms from Samaria to Ephesus (Acts
In the New Testament, the church can be referred to as the “local” church or the “universal” church. The local church is a place where assemblies of believers come together at a particular location and time. The universal church refers to the body of Christ. Many churches believe that they are healthy because they have a certain number of people on their
It is important for Churches to see the importance of “ the great commission” because this is the
The unique experience of the Jerusalem church at Pentecost in Acts 2 occurred in similarly public and significant ways for
The second characteristic Peter considers to be essential is baptism. Jesus himself was baptized; so believers of the church today must also be baptized. In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus gives His final command as, “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” If Jesus considered baptism worthy and necessary enough to be in His final command, it is something we should put into practice today. The command to be baptized is found multiple times throughout the book of Acts and also in the rest of New Testament, thus, making it an essential element of the church today. In Acts 22:16, Paul is told, “And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.” Baptism is the first step of obedience as a
These passages shed light on the way people perceived Jesus during his time. Some said that he was John the Baptist, Elijah, and Jeremiah or one of the prophets. However, the most important part of the passage is Peter’s identification of the Jesus as Christ. Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do you say I am?’ Peter answers by proclaiming Jesus to be the longed-for-Messiah of Israel: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The response of Peter is a great profession of faith. Peter is able to make this affirmation about Jesus’ identity because God has enabled him to recognize Jesus as “the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus praises Peter saying, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven…” (Mt: 16:17-19). Yet in the very next passage of the Gospel, Peter wavers and Jesus calls him “Satan”. Why? Because Jesus had gone on to reveal that he was to be a suffering messiah, put to death for the salvation of his people. And Peter was not prepared for this. Peter loved Jesus and firmly believed him to be the Christ, but a Christ conformed to his own ideas, expectations and attachments. How strange – and
Paul begins by addressing the divisiveness in the church (1:10-4:21). The divisiveness was a result of loyalty to a person and the influence of their own distinct
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
Until this time, God was in charge of giving us many different ways by which we can be built up. The Church, now I am refering to the congregation, is one of this im-portant ways. Paul said, So Christ himself gave the apostles, the proph-ets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and be-come mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Ephesians
There are many different churches in America that say to be “Christian” and all claim to be the church that Jesus built, or say they are a part of it. We need to go back to the bible and see what it tells us (Christians and non-believers) about the church. The church is “an assembly” or “called out ones but to me it is the people that make up the church. It isn’t as people think and say today that it is a building; also to me it means a place of tongues and worship. The church (which comes from the Greek word ecclesia) is “the bride of Christ" and is ready for her groom. Furthermore, Jesus says there is only one church
The New Testament leaders are an example of how church leaders of today should also behave and work[8]. They ought to be able to teach, guide the believers in the way of God and nurture their spiritual gifts. The New Testament leaders had to boldly defend the word of God in case of any false teaching. Basing on this New Testament leadership, it is important to make sure that any believer appointed to the leadership office has the laid down qualifications[9].
That scripture is a statement of leadership. Church leaders can get organized by improving management skills in habits which markup with God and His will. Leaders must function with saintly insight and divine authority. John 7:14 and 16, " Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. Jesus answered them, and said, my doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me." John 8:26-29, "I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true, and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him. They understood not that he was spake to them of the Father. Then said Jesus unto
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.
The Roman Catholic Church traces its history to the Apostles, mainly Peter. The Catholic Church is one of the branches of religions focused around Christianity. The Catholic Church was founded around the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the Roman Catholic Church