The Gospel Of Luke: The Praxis Of The Spirit

21). I agree, it is vital that the disciple is involved in an intentional, ongoing plan that challenges themselves to greater Christ-likeness which manifests itself in the nurturing of others toward wholeness. This is what we are called to do when we become children of God. Christian Spiritual formation cannot happen in solitude; therefore, the purpose of spiritual formation is to ultimately lived out in community. This aligns with my view of personal and corporate spiritual formation. If we are not conformed to the image of Christ, we cannot incarnate in our relationships with others. Therefore, if we say we love God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit we are to love others. The image of Christ will be seen as the ultimate reality of human wholeness, the consummation for which each heart longs (Mullholland, p. 21). Therefore, God’s people has a role in healing brokenness and injustice in the world (p. 21). We are to be the salt and light of the world (Matthew

Total Church: A Radical Reshaping around Gospel and Community by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis emphasizes the two overarching principles that govern the practice of church and mission, that is: Being gospel centered and being community centered, where the content of our message is the gospel, and the context of our message the Christian community. Only when those principles are put into practice does the Word is carried away, with the mission of the church being carried out and the mission of the church of making relationships a priority is carried out.

Hillcrest Baptist Church is a body of believers located in a small mid-west city that has experienced double-digit growth for the past nine years. Over the course of the last forty-two years, God has allowed only three senior pastors to serve. The longevity of the pastorates contributes to the strong lay leadership and positive community reputation. On the surface, Hillcrest appears very healthy. A survey of the average congregants would record this overall disposition. Numerical growth and vibrant services contribute to the attitude of satisfaction. Contrariwise, the systems and structure of the organization pose a serious threat to the continuation of expansion and vitality.

The main idea of this passage is embodied in verse 11 and 12 “Christ himself gave people to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”

The author discovered four major factors that church growth in the North American Division tremendously. First factor is empowering servant leadership. In this section, the leaders work hard and they are willing to make sacrifice in the purpose to see a growing church. The second one is passionate and authentic spirituality they believe that it is spirituality that is the source of passion of passion and power behind their effectiveness. The third point is about how their members are committed to get involved in different activity. Some churches they not growing because they expect their pastors to do all the duties of the church. The fourth factor about a growing church is God exalting worship. Worship is one of key factor for church growth.

If a member sees themselves as a functioning part of a larger system they potentially may be more attune to the collective need. The congregational model allows for this unified group of believers, bound by a mutual covenant to govern their own body. In chapter two the authors provide several strong arguments for congregational governance based on the formation of God’s covenant with the church and extending to Jesus as the head of the church and the membership as the facilitators of governing functions under the leadership of a Pastor or

He said every one of us has a purpose in the church as every part of our body has a particular task to perform. He said those of us who are evangelist are the mouth of the church; he said those of us who are givers are the hands of the church, and those of us who have the money to sponsor the movement of the gospel around the world are the feet. This example made me and other audience member understand our

I began by washing the goblet that Reverend Elmer Gantry Anguine used in opulent splendor for communion as the parishioners drank the blood of Christ in small, disposable cups. The church members ate the body of Christ cut into small pieces from my home-made larger loaf. It was my honored duty to bake the bread, cut the pieces, and leave one heel that looked particularly holy on a tray beside the goblet. Reverend Elmer Gantry Anguine would consume this heel in one gulp as if he couldn’t get enough of the holiness of Christ. It cannot be said that he did not have a knack for dramatic presentation.

Our churches today are filled with members, assuming the stance of spectators and avoiding any level of commitment. In large churches, they can be easily lost in the crowd and may not cause great effect, however in smaller to medium churches, member’s lack of commitment is apparent and oftentimes hinders the progression of the church and put more burden on the few members who carry the work load. Before long, with no assistance or break, the faithful few naturally become exhausted, burned out and at times, spiritually discouraged. Let us not be mistaken, all service to the Lord is greatly rewarded.

Thesis: “The Sacred Council ...[presenting an understanding of]...its teaching on the Church, and now, moved by a desire for the restoration of unity among all the followers of Christ, it wishes to set before all Catholics the ways and means by which they too can respond to this grace and to this divine call.”

As many of us agree, God concerns the Christian workers more than the ministry works. The spiritual health condition of a church planter determines the health of the church. It is very important for the church planter to invest time and effort on his soul. We lead more out of who we are than out of what we do. Therefore, we should deal with our inner being in order to expand God’s kingdom through our outer deeds.

We teach that it is scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other for the presentation and propagation of the faith. Each local church, however, through its elders and their interpretation and application of Scripture, should be the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation. The elders should determine all other matters of membership, policy, discipline, benevolence, and government as well (Acts 15:19-31; 20:28; 1 Corinthians 5:4-7, 13; 1 Peter

For each church, I will use my interview notes and gathered information to analyze what each church believes to be a missional church, and the steps they are taking to become more missional. I will base my analysis off of Scripture, class-assigned readings, scholarly sources, and personal insights.

Making disciples is the all-encompassing purpose of the church. Many churches do a tremendous amount of work toward the goal of making disciples, but sometimes it is in an unhealthy manner. Just as a healthy person is going to have the most positive productivity in life, a healthy church will also have the most constructive output of discipleship. In this paper, I will explain how a healthy church is the goal for discipleship. In addition, I will examine my personal church context and identify the top three areas that I need to focus on to create a healthier body of Christ. Finally, I will discuss some initials steps that can be made to improve its spiritual health.

In society today, thousands of churches are gathering at different days and times, believing in different rituals and gods. These are called universal churches . In the gospels, we read about Jesus Christ establishing how a church should operate. The goal of this paper is to discuss what the church is along with what the mission of the church is. I will use definitions to help explain, Scriptural references, theological insights, and class notes.