Xavier Jefferson
4-13-13
Mr. Love
What is the Church?
What is the church’s purpose?
What is the Church? 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
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4:10: Acts 2:42.) The Bible gives us aspects of the purpose of the church that are: to guard the proper teachings of the church like in 2Tim. 2:1-2, to train up God’s children (brethren or disciples) like in Matt. 18:15-17to, to become more like Christ like in Eph. 4:15-16 and to be unified in Christ like in Gal. 3:28. What has changed is that the Christians today Christians has a greater motivation, a greater power, and a greater confidence “to live a life of love,” as commanded in Ephesians 5:1-2, than those in previous ages. Now people has taken God’s purpose for the church and turned it around. Jesus ' first commandment in Matthew 22:37 what was already commanded to His people back in Deuteronomy 6:5 - “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind/strength.” All that you are and all that you have is to be poured into loving God. These ties into the purpose of the church like all of the commandments do and its purpose is to remember communion and the supper before Christ’s resurrection. “The church is God’s hands, mouth, and feet in the world”, to teach his words to other people that doesn’t know him or need him and his love and care. In the same way, James1; 27, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows
People are not committed followers of Christ just because they study the Bible. That is only part of the process. The Great Commission tells us to make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to obey (Matthew 28:16). The Great Commandment tells us to love God and others. (Matthew 22). The New Commandment in John tells us to love one another (John 13:34-35). The church needs to be able to forge relationship so that they in turn can reproduce more Christians.
The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement during the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in which humanity valued reason over tradition. The Enlightenment had reformed society by implementing reason and scientific thought. During the eighteenth century, European rulers had taken the beliefs of philosophes and had used their knowledge to influence their decisions. Overall, the Enlightenment philosophy influenced Rulers and their power significantly.
The Enlightenment Philosophers:What was Their Main Idea ? Background Essay Questions The late 17th and 18th century.
In Europe in the late seventeenth to eighteenth century, The Enlightenment took place. The Enlightenment was a time when people began to question the status quo. Many creative philosophers -who were well educated people- would gather and talk about how things are and how they could be. Topics of discussion included views about the economy or government. Three of the most well known and influential philosophers during this time were John Locke, Voltaire, and Mary Wollstonecraft. John Locke was an English philosopher who thought that the government had too much control. He thought that if the government wasn’t so persistent in people's’ everyday lives, then society would become much better for everyone. Voltaire was a French philosopher
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.
During the Enlightenment, revolutionary thinkers called philosophes brought about new ideas as to how to better understand and improve their society. They were all modern thinkers and had the best interests of society in mind. Although each philosoph had his or her own ideas, they all centered around one main theme: equality and human freedom.
Throughout the Enlightenment, philosophes have made discoveries as well as have ideas that have revolutionized society as we know it today. The Enlightenment took place during the 17th and 18th century in Europe. During this period, philospohes, or philosophers, would discuss different questions and brought new, intellecutal ideas that brought out the Age of Reason. There is many different points of view of what the philosophes main idea was during the enlightenment. The main idea of the philosophes was greater individual freedom. This idea was a key part of their thinking in three areas: government, religion and women's rights.
The purpose of all great thinkers is to push the boundaries of the past’s beliefs and encourage a new generation to be receptive to the anticipated ways of the future. The Philosophes were a group of great thinkers during the Enlightenment period. Their ideas permeated society in a way that was revolutionary; they created a reaction and transformed the world, in the best way possible. The term ‘philosophe’ comes from the French word for philosopher. Though, ascribing this sole vocation to The Philosophes deeply undermines their work and communal impact. These intellectuals inspired an era of progression in all aspects of society. Coming down from the height of The Scientific Revolution, The Enlightenment Thinkers advocated rational thought
One of two central ideas of the Enlightenment was that religion was to be more introspective. This changed how the church ruled everyday life, it became less about what they said was right and more about what each person believed was right as people began interpreting God’s words for themselves. This also fostered the idea of improvement, because in becoming introspective, religion became about how each individual person could improve and be a better version of themselves. Another important idea that came along with this was the use of reason to explain things instead of accepting things because someone else said so. This secularized such fields as science, medicine, and politics, as well as everyday life, and led to the decrease in the use
I believe without an idea of what the church wants to accomplish they must have a statement of purpose. Ephesians tells us “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:11, NIV). This tells me that the church needs to prayerfully commune with God to discover what purpose He has for us and then make that purpose into a statement of
The church was also described as the temple of God, which signifies the believers who wished to be in the house of God to pray making the congregation within a building that is set aside for the sole purpose of worship. This reflects back on the act of Jesus where He chased business
Isaiah 43:21 reveals God’s purpose in creating us; to give Him praise through worship. As a leader/minister, preaching the gospel, teaching, providing an environment conducive to growth and flourishing, reproducing the character of Christ, and leading others to worship and delight of God is my real responsibility. Matthew 28:19-20 says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the ages.”
From the Oxford Universal English Dictionary, “church” comes from the Old English word “cirice” and
The role and purpose of the Church is to create a community of people who believe in the same faith of God. The Church is a foundation of the faith in God. The Church allowed people to unite on common grounds and follow the words of God. The place of worship made people feel accountable because they were in it together. The Church raised the importance of prayer and spirituality because that is how one communicates to God. The Church emphasizes fellowship, dedication to the faith, selflessness. The Church gives power to the Christian people because they are a group and not individuals anymore.
The church should continue to teach as the word of God says, and show love to all. With the emphases