The Gospel Message, And God 's Revelation Through The Message Essay

Years later in this process of growth, I was blessed with a summer internship at a larger congregation in Dallas, Texas. Although I grew from my relationships and from the mentorship I received, I also observed that the bulk of the ministry meetings focused on changing and adapting our church’s corporate worship to be more and more “seeker sensitive.” The thought was that corporate worship was something malleable that could be altered into something more like the culture of the surrounding neighborhood, so people would want to come. “After all,” so the thinking went, “scripture provided only a rough guideline as to what the church is to do when coming together and there is little-to-no reason to keep intact what past generations did or passed down.” In essence, we sought to form our corporate worship for the purpose of evangelism. I believed that the important thing to focus on is love of God, love of neighbor, and piety. Something in the line of reasoning that insisted on changing the community worship ritual to reflect the world didn’t feel right to me, yet I could not articulate what it was. Several months later I visited an Eastern Orthodox Church as part of a course on Christian spiritual development and after a didactic

Located in the heart of downtown Cedar Rapids this Historical brick building with its’ decorative molding and beautiful stain glass windows is the home of a subculture of biblically based Christians. This church family meets every Sunday like many churches who revere Sunday as being the Lord’s day, set aside for rest and worship of God. Biblically based Christianity is a vast culture of faith in God carried out by many subcultures called churches, made up of people who seek to worship God and to foster a personal relationship with him. One of the most important things that make a subculture is a question of what is it that brings these people together? This foundational question is not only the question of the subculture, but is also the defining

The Christian religion finds its foundation on the Word of God and the work of Jesus Christ. Christianity finds its beginnings with Jesus Christ about 2,000 years ago. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came down to earth to teach, heal, and die for the sins of humanity. When God created man, he openly rebelled against God, causing a rift in their relationship. Since humans cannot save themselves, a perfect and completely innocent sacrifice was necessary in order to purify and restore mankind. Christianity is all about Jesus’ death and resurrection, as well as denying oneself and following Christ.

In Maria Byrd’s second letter to her son she specifies the churches recent worship schedule: “Mr. Thomas Davis preached at our church on Sunday last & is to give us a sermon again Thursday & has published giving the Sacrament this month.” (Tinling 1977, 689). Mrs. Byrd also notes the church’s attempt to book attract other pastors to preach to the congregation. It is important to note that in spite of the new responsibilities taken by parishes, worship of the assembly was maintained as the primary function of the

In the study of Christian theology, scripture plays an essential role in the revelation of the Doctrine of God. Scriptures are “God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) words, written by the Holy Spirit through divine inspiration of prophets. They are necessary for the proper understanding of the doctrine of God, the self-revelation of God, the proof of God’s existence, and for the discernment of false doctrines.

Victory Baptist Church is a case study of revitalization. It serves to show that it is possible that younger churches can become complacent very quickly when they experience growth at such an awesome rate. Victory Baptist Church seems to have a promising future in sight. One of the main goals of the associate pastor is to keep a sense of urgency and change occurring. Most of all, he know that this work cannot be done without the help of the Holy

Norris and Speers’ journey sent them out around the US in search for five different churches that undoubtedly worship differently but at the same time follow the universal Christian belief of the one true God. The goal of their expedition was to set out to explore the amount of politics that are found in many congregations. Out of these five distinguished churches, Norris and Speers’ focused on analyzing the congregation’s worship tactics, along with their leaders and mission of the church.

Worship is the primary action of the church. Those who are part of it assemble together to sing, pray, remember Christ, listen to the Scriptures, and contribute to the Lord’s causes (Acts 2:42, 47; 1 Cor. 16:1-2). It is one of the church’s primary purposes, and it is crucial for its worship to be in harmony with the Scriptures. In Lutheranism, worship is a spiritual exercise that outwardly expresses itself as an acceptance of God’s gift to humans (Jacobs 551). Lutherans

Complacency and comfort are attitudes that characterize and threaten even the most outwardly successful church, including this example. Factoring into the attitudes are facts that bear witness that few churches of such success and stability exist within the immediate geographic region. As McIntosh states, “Long term excellence is always the result of continual improvements over time.” Among the critical issues facing Hillcrest are the clarification of vision, leadership development among the new or younger members, and the intentional celebration of ministry wins within the context of minor changes.

It was the first time that I felt God’s presence at an annual conference. As odd as it may sound, it is true. Bishop Chow tipped off the conference with an open dialogue about the state of the church. Of course I debated with the young man next to me that it was our inability to attract and keep youth. I argued that our traditional structure has built a fence too high for millennials and screenagers (Generation Z) to climb; making them feel boxed in and unwelcomed. But Bishop Chow quickly proved us wrong. His diagnosis was that the Holy Spirit had left the church. Because we’ve become so entangled with who we are, the Holy Spirit cannot move within the church. He asserted that new programs and initiatives cannot fix a dead church; that we must loosen the chains that we’ve given ourselves so that we can fully praise God. Only then, will his people draw near. I could feel God move amidst the hearts of the conference.

Seeker churches show how Christianity has been influenced by popular culture for a number of reasons. One of those reasons being the contemporary atmosphere in these churches. Often, the area from which the preacher delivers his message appears more like a rock stage than a traditional church. Additionally, these churches tend to play more contemporary music with Christian messages. This contemporary setting and the contemporary music cater to people who do not want the traditional church atmosphere, but still want to receive service and sermons. Additionally, many of these churches do not identify with a denomination of Christianity, and some do not even identify with Christianity at all. An example of this type of “seeker church” is the Crossroads church in Cincinnati, Ohio.

I believe my biggest critique with this style of worship is that I question if music is enough. Does music make true transformation in the way worship shapes our affections, values, perceptions and beliefs? Sure, good music add to the experience of worship and it may enhance someone’s spiritual walk. But, does it build a true sustaining relationship with God or with the people of God? Thus, it is my belief that music only functions as background, mostly on the surface and not real

It is said in the Bible that no man can see God’s face since the person who sees Him will die, as well as God has said it himself no idol should be made in any form, thus there has not been a clear images, or any status of God; yet many Catholic and Christian churches nowadays put up the status of Jesus’s crucifixion and pray to it. However, there are some churches that follow what is said in the Bible, one form of those churches is “Recovery Church.” Since God is invisible, Recovery Church worships God by singing, calling on Jesus Christ’s name, and reading Bible and materials that are written to crysitalize the underlying meanings of the Bible. Songs that are made for religions are called Hymn; some of the tunes are shared among different kind of churches, some are unique for recovery churches since those are composed by the members within the church. Lyrics are usually originated from the lyrics writers in the church; if not, some lines are edited, deleted, or re-written if the words used in the hymns do not follow the Recovery Version Bible. Couple hymns will be quoted to explain how God is portrayed in Recovery Church’s hymns, and how are those hymns keeping the

The physical expression of worship is often shown through lifting of hands, kneeling in prayer, crying out to God, and a musical dance. Worship is also shown during seasonal programs or events such as: Christmas’ Eve, New Year’s Eve, and Easter. Worship, then, is enhanced, because people are of the same belief about God and His Son, Jesus Christ. The authors, Paul Engle and Steve Cowan writes, “Worship is inherently theological. It is primarily about God. Specifically, it is about how Christ-followers offer to God their love, gratitude, and praise.” Therefore, people may get distracted or misunderstand worship based on their belief in God. The day of Pentecost is example of people being on one accorded in their belief and worship to God, as

Church bells ring, it is time for Sunday School. Children and teenagers sit in classrooms scattered throughout a church, Grace Church of the Nazarene. Bibles are either on the tables or in the children and teenagers’ laps as they begin class. The Sunday School teacher, Bible in hand, begins the class and starts out asking, “How do you define worship?” The children and teens begin to stare at each other or look down at their hands in silence as the teacher waits for them to ponder the question more. After a few minutes a brave soul raises his hand, slowly but surely. The teacher, relieved the silence is about to be broken, calls upon him. The child responds with, “Is it when we sing in big church?” The teacher, smiling largely, informs the child that singing in “big church” is part of worship, but is not the only form of worship.