The Gospels and Acts provide a meaning connection to Christ ministry on earth, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the initiation of the new Christian church era. The Pentecostal experience was a great outpouring upon the believers with the ability to speak in other languages. However, this was not the overarching meaning of the Pentecost occurrence. The believers that were in the house during the experience were able to witness to other people because of the Holy Spirit. It was the witnessing that promoted Christ and the deeds of God’s power. This experience did not end after the phenomenon, but continued as Peter stood before the crowd and address them. His purpose and mission was to declare Christ and to declare the Great Commission. Dunn …show more content…
First, the Day of Pentecost empowered believers to promote the mission of Christ, which is to go and make disciples of others. According to David Watson and Paul Watson, “A disciple is one who embraces and obeys all the teachings of Christ and endeavors by word and deed to make more disciples.” It is through the Holy Spirit that believers are given the power to witness and draw others to the message, work, and salvation of Christ. The apostles could not have implemented such a great mission without the work of the Holy Spirit. Likewise, believers must repent and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit to achieve the mission given by Christ. Believers cannot preach the gospel without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is through the power of the Holy Spirit as the church comes together, salvation is given, and love is …show more content…
It was the Holy Spirit that moved upon the face of the waters, dwelled upon men in the Old Testament, rest upon Jesus during his baptism, and at Pentecost engulfed the believers. The Holy Spirit stands as an element of the Trinity incorporating significant attributes of God as it dwells in the life of the believer. It is through the Holy Spirit that the ‘whole nation of Israel’ and essentially the church received the promise in the new covenant. There are two essential and significant aspects of the Day of Pentecost, which includes the Great Commission and the inauguration of the Church
Pentecostalism is considered one of the greatest universal movement that transformed immensely the history of Christianity. It emphasized a personal interaction with God facilitated by baptism of the individual by Holy Spirit (Alexander, 43). One of the proponents of Pentecostalism is William Seymour. He is regarded as the initiator of Pentecostal movement because of his fundamental teachings on the role of Holy Spirit in a Christian’s life (Heaton 35). Therefore, this research paper aims to describe the contributions of William Seymour to evolution of Pentecostalism. The guiding thesis is that Seymour orchestrated the Pentecostal movement that swept the nation all over the world, which later contributed to the creation of new religious denominations that shared common beliefs, practices, and customs.
The International Church of Christ uses various means of the thought reform that Tobias and Lalich discuss. Beginning with the idea of deception, the recruiter tends to lead the potential member into a spiral of unknown information; they will not tell you from the start that they are a part of the International Church of Christ; instead they will say they are from a local congregational church that is interested in having new members join their congregation. Recruiters and members are also able to deceive potential members by being able to combine social events with Bible studies, not telling the person that they are actually attending a Bible study (Rauchno). Members are also being deceived by having this idea that they must fully submit themselves to the lead evangelist in order to ultimately reach salvation. People feel as if they must do everything the leaders ask for, whether it is time to do activities or financial contributions, which many ex-members complain about. Members are not given an option to contribute money; the church creates mandatory minimums placed on contributions (The letter). People do not go into the religion thinking they will have to give a particular sum of money a month; typically churches are happy with whatever amount of money one gives.
The purpose of this research was to draw a conclusion as to the validity and significance of the Eucharist by examining the purpose ascribed to it in the Early Church. Unfortunately, the conclusion that was drawn was not as conclusive as was hoped. The conclusion that is drawn, it that the Eucharist is what one makes it. If there is a deep spiritual meaning in it for one church, and there is a deep sense of importance that is communicated in a meaningful and inspirational way, then that church will place its importance higher than most. But unfortunately in the Pentecostal Church specifically, it is an afterthought connected to the traditions of liturgy that hold little more meaning than foot washings or circumcision.
Jesus Christ came into the world more than 2,000 years ago that a dying world might be saved. God, the Creator of heaven, earth, and sea, loves those who believe on Him so deeply that He offered His only Son as a sacrifice to atone the sins of mankind. To atone for man’s sins, Christ came to the earth in human flesh and was crucified in death. Not only was He crucified, but God also raised Him from the dead to be the bread of life and sit on the right hand of God interceding on behalf of the saints. Evangelism is sharing this story of the life and power of Jesus Christ. Moreover, evangelism is providing the necessary information about the cause and reasoning for Jesus Christ walking the earth so that sinners may repent of their sins and begin to trust God with their very existence and everything that concerns them. “Evangelism is the
In order for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within the hearts of Christians to be a reality, however, Christians must not be outside of Christ. This means that they must have faith before they can receive the Holy Spirit. One could consider this appropriate because Christ and the Holy Spirit, aside from the fact that they are of the same substance, share many of the same roles. Both are mediators, teachers, and intercessors. The Holy Spirit alone has many other names, including: fire, water, spirit of adoption, and others. In addition to this, the main work of the Spirit is faith, in that the Spirit serves as the Christian’s teacher and reminder of God’s
Throughout the Western culture, Christianity has played a crucial role in the spiritual life of many people. In fact, it is a one of the largest religion in the world with an estimating range from 2 to 3 billion Christians (Religions of the World: Numbers of Adherents; Growth Rates). Spreading with this worldwide religion, the idea that God is at the centre of daily life has a high importance to many people. In the early 20th Century, one of the significant developments of Christianity was the Pentecostal Movement (A Brief History of Christianity). More specifically, Pentecostalism is “the principles and practices of Pentecostal religious groups, characterized by religious excitement and talking in tongues”; its most remarkable detail is its emphasis of the Holy Spirit and the value of prayer (wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn). It has outspread around the world by the people who believed that they had experienced the marvelous moves of God.
The Charismatic debate on whether the gifts of the Spirit have ceased or continue to be used in modern times divides the Christian church. There have been some extremes on both sides of the fence. One view believes that, if a person speaks tongues, the person is under some demonic control and the other says that, if a person does not speaks tongues as evidence of receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, he or she is not saved. Both views use Scripture to defend their positions. The Scripture was not written to divide, but to bring us closer to God. The Apostle Paul states, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16, NIV). He also reminds Christians that, if “One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind” (Romans 14:5). Two views dominate the debate, on one side you have the Cessationists who believes the charismatic gift were intended to cease after the New Testament was completed and on the other side, you have the Continuationsts who believes the Charismatic gift were intended to continue throughout the church. Consider some of the central questions that will be answered in this paper. Are the gifts for today or have they ceased? What is the purpose of the sign gifts, and if they are being practiced today, are they being practiced in a biblical manner?
When mentioned to the general public, the word “Pentecostalism” generates three diverse responses: confusion, mockery, and tolerance; some people never heard of the word, some people view it as being infamous, and the rest accept it. According to the Oxford dictionary, Pentecostalism “relates to any number of Christian sects emphasizing baptism in the Holy Spirit.” Misconceptions originated from the misunderstanding of the history of Pentecostalism, along with the notion that Pentecostalism is one sect when, in fact, there are many divisions. The largest of these is the teachings of Charismatic’s, which make up the most prevalent part of the denomination and have been the driving force for the assumptions and reputation that Pentecostalism has garnered. To truly understand Pentecostalism, one needs to learn the religions history, the standard beliefs of the various sects, and the contemporary changes that some followers have made in the recent years that have fueled the current fallacy about the belief system.
Worship leaders must characterized the New Testament by proper expressive of prayer. We must become the examples in the Biblical Scriptures and become very mindful of reflecting our own pastoral, spiritual, and religious implications of each chapter in the New Testament book.[2] DeSilva’s perspective requires more engaged reading and as DeSilva builds his ideology on his interpretation, there are additional biblical themes that surroundings the New Testament such as "The Wisdom Christianity[3] in (Colossians 1:15-20). The relationship between the historical Jesus and the biblical revelation that preceded and followed is the formation in the (NT) which entails the apocalyptic, the prophecy, the essences and roots of a future endeavor or event that will take place, for the good of Christians or the worst. Portending evil or harm may be inflicted upon us, and dark clouds will appear if we do not repent and redeem ourselves. Jesus is asking for redemption. The process of redemption are encouraged and enlighten by God's divine blueprint, designed for the mete purpose of te process of redemption.[5] What is depicted in the (OT) Old Testament is the lessons from the twelve apostles and in Christian theology and ecclesiology, these twelve (12) were sent as the primary disciples of Christ, the Redeemer, which is Christ is the historical, central figure, and biblical version in Christianity. During the ministry of Christ in the 1st century AD, the apostles were his dearest followers and became the main leaders, by teaching the Gospel of Jesus. In the 21st century Jesus modern is prominent and His missionaries reflect the actions of apostles, which means missionary.[6] The commissioning of the twelve (12) Apostles during the ministry and life of Christ incorporates the Great Commission, which consist of spreading Jesus teachings to all the kingdom and nations. The Old
...ctions. Peter answered with the Spirit. The power by which the crippled man was healed was that of Jesus of Nazareth. Not only that, but Peter accused the Sanhedrin of responsibility for rejecting and killing Christ. He also noted God’s power in raising Jesus from the dead. Peter’s speech to the Sanhedrin summarizes his other two sermons. Although they were unable to deny the apostolic miracle, the Sanhedrin felt compelled to stop the apostolic preaching. Before the power of God that transformed unschooled, ordinary men into powerful proclaim of the gospel, the Sanhedrin was unable to punish the apostles. This chapter ends with a report of the church’s prayer in gratitude for God’s deliverance of the apostles from the Jewish authorities.
Dempsey and Earley assert that teaching involves connecting people to God through the spiritual disciplines of prayer and Bible reading and connecting them to others through the service of their spiritual gifts. This type of proximity can only take place if believers rid themselves of the notion that discipleship is an event and replace it with the right belief that discipleship is a lifestyle commitment. Discipleship is intentional. Jesus chose twelve disciples. He actively initiated the discipleship relationship. This sets the groundwork for the active phrasing in The Great Commission.
Part of the Spirit’s ministry includes His convicting of sin in the world, guiding people to truth, and leading them into righteousness. One of the first interactions the Holy Spirit has with humans is to draw the sinner
The ‘Gift of Tongues’ (Glossolalia) as described by many Christians in present day is said to be evident proof of the manifestation of the Holy Ghost in an individual. Although many outsiders see it as a new belief or ideology, Christians believe that it is not a new practice but rather a forgotten gift of the spirit given to the early church right after Jesus’ departure. Many believers provide proof of that by recalling the biblical event with the Apostles at the Pentecost, found in Acts 2 and also the twelfth chapter of the first Pauline letter to the Corinthians. Some of these manifestations and gifts of the Spirit emerged to the public, after a long period of time, in the late 19th century and early 20th century giving birth to Pentecostalism. But as any other novelties it brought strife with itself. Today many Pentecostal and nondenominational charismatic churches are firm doers of this practice. They not only think of glossolalia as an idea or a charismatic practice but hold it to be “a heavenly language that [is] unknown to the speaker but known in the heavenly spiritual realm,” a unique spiritual language through which one can communicate with God.
Throughout the book, the author focuses on how the Holy Spirit ministers to the apostles and the believers in their lives and the community. The Holy Spirit enabled Stephen to speak the truth boldly (6:10) until he was killed by the crowd (7:54-60). It is the calling for us to proclaim the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus with boldness and without hindrance. 4. What is the difference between a..
However, it is to my understanding that this is a lesson regarding the leadership of the House of worship of Jesus Christ, mutually ancient and modern. In Acts, nevertheless, the command was to preach to scattered Israel in addition to reveal the gospel all over the Roman Empire and as far as they could. This commandment was not deprived of its troubles. Long, treacherous travels, oppressions, concerns of Church guidelines, assimilation of foreigners,