The Pentecost Church

Wilhoit, while teaching and having dialogue with his students pertaining to their spirituality formative influences which lead to conducting interviews with a number of church leaders, he realized, through these stories and interviews there has been a “sea of change in our formational structures and their effects will take a generation to fully manifest themselves.(13)” This establishes the basis for writing this book, to make a “call to intentionality about our formation and to repentance about how we have tried to engineer formation more than we have prayerfully opened our lives and our churches to God’s grace(14)”.

fellowship of believers, breaking of bread, prayer and they devoted themselves to Jesus. In Acts

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

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

In his new book Becoming the Gospel Michael Gorman provides an interesting look at the life and letters of the apostle Paul. Gorman wants his readers to consider that more than knowing the gospel and its power to save, Paul want his recipients of his letters to live out the gospel in their lives. Thus Gorman’s central argument in this book is that “Paul wanted the communities he addressed…to become the gospel, and in so doing to participate in the very life and mission of God” (Gorman 2). Gorman explores this idea by taking the reader through a look at the letters of Paul using a “missio Dei” lens, to provide a new view of what Paul is teaching to these early Christian communities.

The reality of full churches and choir stalls, lively Sunday schools, and overflowing basements is dead in today's Church. The unexpected has happened. Christ's followers, gripped by fear, are now scattered, or remain silent. Parishes, at worst, carry on blindly, or at best, look for comfortable compromises and expediency. They ignore cultural diversity in general. The rhetoric of denial continues to pour out of parish bulletins, newsletters, and diocesan and national journals. It is status quo.

The primitive illiterate life of believers required an interdependence that few experience in North America today. Sharing homes, foods, water, and relying on one another for work was the structure of life at the time. The benefit of this life was the “forced” community it created. While today many believers are independently secure and provided for, the sense of community is less apparent. Reclaiming communal aspect of discipleship will be beneficial because it is the biblical design of discipleship as the Acts narrative and epistles

Since the Old Testament, the Spirit of God was promised to come to the people of God. The prophet Joel wrote: "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions." (Joel 2:28 NIV) Nine hundred years later, the Spirit of the living God was poured upon His church in an event named Pentecost. The purpose of the following research is to show the Pentecost as a major point in the life of the apostles, as well as the beginning of the church of Christ.

This site is a still a historical site today for those in the Pentecostal faith. This is the location William J. Seymour leads an interracial congregation. Consequently, the media gave negative feedback which caused the crowd of people to increase steadily from one hundred to two hundred and eventually getting to eight-hundred people. This church represented the hope that blacks, whites, and people from all religions were looking for. Everyone was welcome there even those who came as negative critics. Hope for a united people in America had finally arrive in Los Angeles. These people gathered together in the Holy Spirit in joy and some left their prior religions to join the Pentecostal beliefs. Many traveled from overseas to see the William

Over the years, many models have been developed and implemented to endeavor to make disciples. Some of the models have been effective and others have not. Among some of the most biblical and efficient models are the ones that involve small groups. Within the small groups models, they can be broken down into further detail, such as pastoral involvement, the church’s goal, missions mindedness, etc. In this paper, I will explain my philosophy of small groups in a church and the importance of the relational group in authentic disciple making. I will also explain how missional groups can help the body of Christ move out into the community. Finally, I will summarize my status in regards to living in community with other believers and being missional with that community.

The subject of the baptism of the Holy Spirit has driven a wedge between Pentecostals and Evangelicals. However, both parties fail to understand the original meaning of spirit baptism. Therefore, this paper analyzes Lee’s argument that Spirit Baptism is about the restoration of God’s covenant community. First, I will examine the articles main point along with the information he used to support his argument. Next, this paper addresses the author’s assumptions that are in his article. This paper concludes by briefly assessing the article.

The church as presented in Acts 2 (42-47), was an enormous church that had all come together at once. The church became devoted to what God had said, and through the apostles they did great things. The people sold their possessions and belongings to help the people and form their church. Showing just how much this church meant to them and how devoted they were. Everyday they went to the temple and heard God's word and came together as one to pray and honor God.

Perceptibly, in Acts 13-20, “The Uttermost Part”…. is the turning point of the Book of Acts, where from this point forward Paul replaces Peter as the influential figure of his depiction of the spread of Christianity. The Book of Acts involves the history of the early church after Jesus’ martyrdom, furthermore the importance of the day of Pentecost and remaining a vested effectual witness for Jesus Christ. Acts annals the Apostles as Christ’s witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the entire enveloping world. In its entirety, the Book casts light on the reward of the Holy Spirit, who empowers, guides, teaches, and serves as our Mentor.

Reading Lohfink was an experience in climbing an inviting ladder of which some of the rungs were missing when you got there. His description of how the community of believers lived their faith and the impact they had is truly inspiring. It leaves me to reflect on the life of our own community: Have we indeed left everything to follow Jesus? Are we living toward each other with the kind of love that is uncommon in the world? Are we a people of peace, light to the world, flavorful salt in how we live? Reading the accounts of how the early church lived among the pagans and loved sacrificially, there is a call for me as a leader to teach, practice and exemplify that kind of love among our people, along with making opportunities for us to practice it together. On the other hand, Lohfink’s polarizing reaction to “individualism” failed to recognize that a contrast-community consists of individuals who have been transformed by the cross of Jesus and the power of His Spirit. Lohfink argues that no missionary effort is needed because the church as contrast-society will gather people to itself by attraction. He quotes Bronx, saying: “…if it is possible at all to speak of the ancient church's missionary theory the most that can be said is this. The twelve apostles preached the