The Creation Of The Church

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

Looking past church’s names and denominations, that usually separate churchgoers on any given Sunday, everyone was on one accord, as all hearts and minds were focused on the one thing each had in common---their love for God and his children.

Learning Theology with the Church Fathers by Dr. Christopher A. Hall is a great place for a pastor, laity, student, or a believer to start growing in knowledge of the Lord and learning theology. Learning Theology is the second book in Dr. Hall’s three-volume patristic series examining early Church history – Reading Scripture, Learning Theology, and Worshiping with the Church Fathers. Dr. Hall is the director of academic spiritual formation and a distinguished professor of theology at Eastern University in Pennsylvania. He earned his Ph.D. at Drew University, has worked in some capacity at Eastern University since 1992, and has ministered all over the world. Hall offers a simple overview, not focusing on one particular church father, which provides a strong foundational introduction for understanding how theology developed in the early church through the patristic fathers.

Paul, also in romans 12 sets before the church not only their relation to Christ who is Head but also the relations between brothers and sisters in Christ. It was vital for Paul to begin by entreating them to present their bodies a living

Dulles states, “It picks up the biblical theme that God has fashioned for himself a people feely communicating his spirit and his gifts” (50). The Body of Christ as stated in Dulles is, “the main point of mutual union, concern and dependence of the members of the local community upon one another,” (43). The body of Christ will only function is the whole community is willing to work together to reach a personal growth in their relationship with God. Now that we have an idea of what Church as mystical communion consists of I will discuss the strengths and weakness of this model. The strength of this model is that emphasizes a shared life with the community instead of shutting them off. This is a strength because when people come together as a whole everything holds so much more meaning and people can form a stronger bond with God, now that it is much more personal and voluntary. Another strength is that this model improves people spirituality and prayer life now that they feel that personal connection that they formed. A weakness of this model is that it creates unsure relationship between the visible and invisible, since Grace allows people to get closer to God through the invisible such as communion while the visible structure like institutionalism tries to emphasize their power over the whole people. I have discussed what the models mean, their strength and weakness of each so now I will note the difference and

Author Dan Yarnell suggested seven characteristics of a Christ-honoring church in the 21st century: worship, fellowship, interaction with Scripture, discipleship, community, living sacrificially, and living missionally. However, Yarnell contradicted himself when he stated that the church originated at Pentecost (Acts 2) and proceeded to provide examples of the effects of cultural development and new missional opportunities on the church prior to Pentecost. While the term “church” or “” is unique to Acts and the following New Testament writings, its concept and precepts existed from the time of Genesis. In fact, Yarnell did not reference any Old Testament passages or practices. Therefore, Yarnell contradicted himself and ignored Old

Within the context of American society, we have strayed from the true purpose and identity of what the church was originally created to be. When we hear the word, “church,” we think of a building, a mere location where believers gather together every Sunday. The church of America might believe the essential elements of the church are an air-conditioned sanctuary, ten different ministry opportunities, and a full band to lead worship. While none of these things are necessarily bad, they do not comprise the biblical model of what the church was created to be. The church can be divided into two components: the Universal Church and the local church. Once a person becomes a believer, they are part of the Universal Church, the body of believers

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.

Early Christianity was primarily an urban faith, establishing itself in the city centers of the Roman Empire. Most of the people lived close together in crowed rooms. There were few secrets in such a setting. The faith spread as neighbors saw the believers' coming together as one on a daily basis. And what kind of lives did they lead?

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.

My personal philosophy of small groups is scriptural based. Acts 2:46 says, “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.” As the original church began, it is obvious from Acts chapter two and particularly from verse 46 that the church met in unity in large groups. They actually used a two-fold approach of meeting in large-group meetings and then in the homes for more intimate small-group gatherings. Acts 2:46 clearly shows the church gathering in homes, eating together, and continuing the work of the ministry.

The letters 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus have been classified as the “Pastoral Epistles”. Each letter helps to outline the qualification, development, and promotion of leaders; organizational structures for the care, compensation, and discipline of members; and the setting and implementation of individual and organizational goals. However, they are manly concerned with the good governance, effectiveness, and growth of the church.

There are going to be times in our lives when we disagree with what someone says or another person’s opinions on a particular matter. It’s unlikely that we will agree and be content with everything that happens in our lives as we do not live in a utopian world. It is also inevitable at one time or another that we will disagree with what the Church is teaching us especially when it comes to moral issues such as divorce, birth control, and abortion. This is called non-reception. When non-reception ensues in the Church, the teaching in question is ineffectively expressed or judged to be unbelievable by a large population of good, faithful Catholics (Kennedy).

Their is much debate surrounding the use of the charismatic gifts in Acts. Many questions arise about how to use such gifts, and whether or not they can be used today in the first place. The debate regarding the continuation and the cessation of the spiritual gifts, the meaning of which we will clarify in a moment, is a relatively modern one. Although we read about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost in Acts, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the early church of the New Testament, history is more or less silent on this issue. It was not until the early