A. 1. A significant passage we have gone over in class together is Acts 2: 42-47: Communal Living. In this passage the followers became a community and a church and they were spreading the wealth to help other like Jesus would so that none were marginalized and all were taken care of. The followers devoted themselves to the teachings of the apostles and communal life. Everyone would meet up and they would break bread with each other. 2. The author of the Acts of the Apostles is Luke the Evangelist. Luke saw the church and everything that was going on it as the work of the Holy Spirit and that he was enlivening the people to do the things they are doing and working through people such as Paul, John, and others of the Early Church. 3. I see the people actually live as church and the church is changing and becoming more of a community. I see the Holy Spirit in this because it is sort of the main cause of this development of the church be cause he made all of the events leading up to this happen. 4. In this passage I see community of disciples because that is exactly what it became it became a community of followers of Jesus and they had values and lifestyles that differed from the social norm of the times. Community of disciples is defined as a group that devote themselves as followers of Jesus thereby having values and lifestyles that may often be in contrast with society. 5. Having studied this passage, I now realize that the Holy Spirit brought all the people together and because of that they became accepting of each other. One way I see this passage related to church life today is that we all break bread with one another and have no second thought about it when we receive communion together we are not thinking about who that ...
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... history and learning about the stories in the bible it has encouraged me to engage myself in my spiritual life more fully. Knowing all I do about the history of Catholicism I can understand what is being talked about in church and in CCD class. I can now contribute to discussions on religious topics in my CCD class freshman year and the years before that I would not know anything about religion and would sit there not paying attention. But, I finally understand and know about it so I am very intrigued by some of the things people have to say because I can reply to them and not just sit there and take it in but I can contribute to what they have to say. Another thing learning about history has done for me is it has inspired me to take part in religious gatherings because I find it enjoyable to become closer to God and to learn even more about my religion and faith.
continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” (Acts 6:2-3) Therefore, the disciples
Bonhoeffer begins by claiming that Christian community needs to be recognized purely as a gracious gift of God. Too often, this privilege is taken for granted by those who experience it daily or often. However, to those who are missionaries or in lonely places, the physical presence of a Christian brother or sister alone is a “source of incomparable joy and strength” (19). To them, the words of a Christian are those of God, they receive them with “reverence, humility, and joy” (20). They treat and love their brothers as they would Christ so how much greater is the blessing of those privileged the daily Christian fellowship. Bonhoeffer defines Christianity as “community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ”; it is no “more or less than this” (21). From this truth, flow a couple streams of thought: first, we “need others because of Jesus”, and second, a “Christian comes to others only through Christ” (21). Throughout the chapter, Bonhoeffer develops and further expounds each of the streams.
The Meaning of Discipleship In this piece of coursework I will be writing about the meaning of
Theearly Church faced several struggles such as maintaining the purity ofChristianity, defining the structure of the Church and surviving the constantattacks on Christians by the Roman Empire. One of the Church’s firststruggles! was to define itself vis-à-vis the Jewish tradition and theRoman World. Both Paul and the Book of Acts reveal questions and issues theearly Church wrestled with. For example: “Should Christianity be its ownreligion or a new sect of Judaism?” “Which books should be includedin the Bible and which were the works of heretics?”
Chapter four addresses the divisions within the Corinthian church, such as jealousy, quarrelling and their defective view of the church. The apostle Paul links their view of the church to church leadership stating “If they had a true view of the church, they would have a true view of the leaders of the church” (p79). The situation was that their view was lower for the church and higher for the leaders thus they were boasting about the leaders. Paul’s view was that the Corinthian church was spoon feed Christians not maturing as they should. Paul’s reference to addressing the church as worldly did not mean they were unregenerate because they did possess the Spirit but they were not being spiritual, not being controlled by the Holy Spirit. He goes on to say “They have experienced new birth by the Spirit but have remained babies in Christ; they have not yet become mature in Christ” (p80) The Apostle most likely would express the same opinion about many Church congregations today. Many churches are elated with their church growth, but it is often superficial. If the church does not offer a real growth opportunity the journey is short lived. The church fills up with Christians not participating in the sanctification process. As with many churches today the Corinthians had a self-serving attitude about themselves and their church. The Corinthians would have never behaved the way they did if they had a higher view of the church and what it stood for and a lesser view of the leaders. Paul outlines three visions of the church “each of which has important implications” (p82). The first metaphor is agricultural: God’s field (v9) 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God...
Understanding and examining what others have said about topics that have not normally been talked about has sparked an interesting conversation. I have been able to gain insight on issues from two different perspectives giving me a better understanding on how people are affected by the topics I have chosen as my focus.In this semesters Gender Studies class discussion about virginity, femininity, and body image stood out the most because it influences everyday life. Getting the opportunity to ask to close friends what they felt about these topics was fascinating.
The Book of Acts was written to provide a history of the early church. Acts emphasis the importance of the day of Pentecost and being empowered to be effective witnesses for Jesus Christ. Acts sheds light on the ministry gift of the Holy Spirit, which empowers, guides, teaches, and serves as our Counselor. When reading the Book of Acts many of the readers will be enlightened and encouraged by the many miracles that were being performed during this time by the disciples Peter, John, and Paul. The Book of Acts emphasizes the importance of obedience to God’s Word and the transformation that occurs as a result of knowing Christ. There are also many references to those that rejected the truth that the disciples preached about in Jesus Christ. Power, greed, and many other vices of the devil or evidenced in the book of Acts. Acts 1:8 serves as a good summary of the Book of Acts. Acts records the apostles being Christ's witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the rest of the surrounding world.
With this in mind, the following will focus on the spiritual formation process within the Christian community. The concept of Christian community stems from the Bible with the perspective of the body of Christ. The body of Christ is compared to the humane body, a whole comprised of numerous parts; each individual part is required and created by God to form a cohesive whole, no matter believer or non-believer or social status (1 Corinthians 12). Similarly, the spiritual community is also comprised of bountiful parts and can be customized to the individual as the formation. Ashbrook appraises the significance of individuals and community, “Our spiritual formation is designed by God to happen in the context of Christian community, the chu...
This enables Christians to have a direct living connection with Christ, who gives all good things to those who ask in His name. As Christ was justified in His offering for all of humanities sin, in His death on the cross. He bore the full punishment, for the first time Christ was removed from having communion with God during His crucifixion, after which time He brought the Kingdom of God to the world. Christians are accepted into the spiritual Kingdom of God through the Holy Spirit, and it is at that time they a given the gifts of the spirit to use in the service of the body of the church. To equip God’s people to do His work and to build up the church. Being in this world but not of this world is the emphasis of scripture, and it is through the experience of sanctification that Christians are set apart from this world (Gause, 2009). It is through the Holy Spirit Christians are set apart from this world and that God’s good works are seen through the body of the church. As Torrance explains the gift of the Holy Spirit is form Jesus Christ, and through communion with Christ, He gives us, His Spirit to share in His death and resurrection (Torrance, & Walker,
The Church is the body of Christ where God brings his people together. St. Paul the apostle himself calls the Church the Body of Christ where all those who believe in God join in as its members (New American Bible, 1 Cor. 12; 27). Jesus also refers to the Church as the House of the Father where God should be worshiped and served, although not in the physical sense of the word (NAB, Matt. 21.13). As the House of God, the Church serves as an instrument of salvation for the people of God. God continues to call all His children to come under one roof and dine at His table. There has always been this concern about sharing the Good News and baptizing all the nations in order to bring people under one roof and one belief in order to unify their faith and thus, form one family and one ecumanical Church. The Church still strives to fulfill Jesus’ desire so that all may be one (Ut unum sint 7).
A response to the interpretation of Acts 4:32–36 as an endorsement of a type of communal living as being normative for the Christian church.
The foundation of the New Testament was created upon the preaching and teaching of the kingdom of God. Further, it was erected on the promise by Christ to build a church that could endure. Jesus states, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18). Although Peter and the disciples were regenerated by faith, their early Judaism perspective did not hinder the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2.
First major theme of the book of Acts is the work of the Holy Spirit in the apostles and the early church. Jesus appeared to his disciples and commanded them not to leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift, the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:3b-5) As they gathered together and prayed in one place, the Holy Spirit came to rest on each of them (2:1-3). The disciples who were filled with the Holy Spirit boldly proclaimed God’s word and performed miracles (2:14-42, 3:1-10). Throughout the book, the author focuses on how the Holy Spirt ministers the apostles and the believers in their lives and the community.
In the letter from Luke to the Apostles, he addresses the apostles on how they are to live and govern themselves as individuals and in community. These specifications are echoes of the passage in John 20:21 where Jesus says to his disciples, “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” The meaning of the phrase can be understood as, the apostles are to act as Jesus acted, for his actions were those set out by God the Father. In the Acts of the Apostles there are several examples where the apostles are directly in accordance with the prior actions/experiences of Jesus Christ; baptism by the Holy Spirit, curing the crippled man, and facing persecution.
The social history of the early Christian church is closely related to the kinds of documents and the secular, cultural context that was around at the time. Paul was highly influential on early Christian theology as was other people that wrote under his name. Three canonized works have classically been attributed to Paul, but are now known to be forgeries: 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus. These books are known as “The Pastorals” and they are different from Paul’s authentic works in many fundamental ways. In order to see the historical context in which these letters were written, we must first understand the social history of Christian theology at the time. We will present the social history and changes to early Christian theology that occurred in the time that spans the writing of 1 and 2 Corinthians to the writings of the Pastorals.