There exists an invisible Church and visible Church. The invisible Church consists of the fellowship of all true believers and does not make any distinction based on age, culture, time, geography or any other classification (I Cor. 12:13; Eph. 5:25). Only God knows the true condition of one’s heart (I Sam. 16:7; 2 Tim. 2:19), and some people will be involved in the visible Church who are not true believers (or members) of the invisible Church (Matt. 7:15-16; Acts 20:29-30; I Jn. 2:19). The visible Church is the community of people who claim to be believers.
The Catholic (Universal) Church
There is one (Rom. 12:5; I Cor. 12:12,20), holy (I Pt. 2:9), catholic (Gal. 3:28; Eph. 4:4-6), and apostolic (I Cor. 3:10; Eph. 2:19-20) Church, consisting
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16:5; 1 Cor. 1:2) and should rightly reflect the purpose of the catholic Church. Jesus ordained the Church to perform the sacraments of baptism (Matt. 28:19) and the Lord’s Supper (Lk. 22:17-20). The sacraments are able to mediate grace to believers and thus provide spiritual benefits, however they are not salvific. Baptism is a ceremonial rite to entering the covenant community of the Church, which is extended to one upon joining the community. Therefore, it would be right and proper for a child, who is born to parents within the covenant community, to be baptized as an infant (Acts 16:15, 33; I Cor. 1:16). Baptism fundamentally signifies one’s union with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection (Rom. 6:3-7; Col. 2:11-12) and thus the cleansing of the believer’s sin (Ac. 22:16; I Pt. 3:21), and the inclusion of one into the Church (Jn. 3:5; Rom. 6:4). Baptism should be performed by immersion when feasible and appropriate as was the practice of the Church in the NT (Matt. 3:16; Acts 8:36-39). The Lord’s Supper is a sacred rite for all baptized Christians (Matt. 26:26-30), which signifies Christ’s death and celebrates the received benefits of Christians (I Cor. 11:23-26). The Lord’s Supper unites believers (I Cor. 10:17) pointing them forward to Christ’s second coming (I Cor. 11:26), and likewise provides them spiritual nourishment (I Cor. 11:27-29). The local church has at least two key offices: elders or bishops (πρεσβύτεροι, ἐπίσκοπος; Eph. 4:11; I Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9), and deacons (διάκονος; Acts 6:1-7; Phil. 1:1; I Tim. 3:8-13). These offices are to be appointed on the basis of his or her spiritual qualifications (I Tim. 3:1-13). Elders are men whose primary responsibility is spiritual care of the body by means of shepherding (Acts 20:28; I Pet. 5:2), leading and teaching by example (I Thess. 5:12; I Tim. 3:2; 5:17; I Pet. 5:3) and equipping (Eph. 4:11).
I must say that I learned a lot from this class both through the readings and through class discussion. I really, honestly do not have anything that I starkly disagreed with in either. I found it all to be very valuable information for me and this class was extremely helpful in assisting me to better understand the current paradigm shift the church is going through. There are three take-a-ways in particular that helped me to better understand the post modern shift in the church and my role as a minister in this changing paradigm. The first take-a-way is the understanding that there is a shift occurring towards focusing more on the congregational life of the church with more attention on the laity and its formation. Second, is how to plan, as a church and as pastors, to adjust to this shift towards congregational life and how to be better prepared as a postmodern church to be relevant in this changing time. Lastly, I received a better way of explaining the meaning of what truth is in this post modern time.
In the eyes of the people the church is one place you are spared from judgment and critique. It is the one place you should feel safe, to express your thoughts and opinions, pray to the higher power in which you believe and your faith resides and be free of society qualms, demands, and realism. In a part
The church or Ecclesia, as it is called in the original Greek language, regardless of size, are the called out ones who assemble to represent the Body and life of Jesus Christ. They engage in meetings of praise, worship, and listening to the Word of God, which is taken from their manual called the Holy Bible, or the Scriptures; those bringing the message are considered to be the mouthpieces for God, and are typically called preachers (KJV, Eph 5.23-32). According to the Bible, the church, which includes the preachers, is to strive to exemplify the type of life that Jesu...
Max Weber, German sociologist, social theorist, and economist, explicated the theory of bureaucracy in which he details the monocratic bureaucracy “as an ideal form that maximized rationality” (Bolman & Deal, 2008, p. 48). He provided his most complete exposition of theory in his 1922 tome Economy and Society (Casey, 2004). This classic form of bureaucracy is characterized by the following (a) well-defined official functions; (b) specialization of function; (c) clearly defined hierarchy of offices; (d) rules governing performance, which require training to administer; (e) impersonal treatment of clients, in that all are treated equally; (f) merit as the basis of promotion or appointment; (g) compensation based on rank; (h) separation of personal and company assets and interests; (i) discipline and control of daily work; (j) files and record keeping for decisions, acts, and rules (Bolman & Deal, 2008; O’Connor, 2011). There are numerous shorthand versions of Weber’s theory including Harmon and Mayer (1986) in Organization Theory for Public Administration and Heady (2001) in Public Administration: A Comparative Perspective (O’Connor, 2011).
Here one can see the significance of baptism extending far beyond the momentary act that is the baptismal rite. Baptism is an act of birth; it gives an immediate and direct connection with Christ’s resurrection, and it lays the foundation for fellowship, which
The church has more than one definition. The local church, which is a body of believers that have a specific place that they gather to worship and study the Word of God. The other definition is the Body of Christ, which includes every person that has accepted Christ as personal Lord and Savior. Both of these “organisms” preach and nurture Christians, which is missions.” God birthed the church, and when the church puts God at the center of the church, the focus of the church will change from being a church centered mission to a mission centered church and God will begin to use the church as His instrument for missions. Jesus after He was raised from the dead told all of His followers to proclaim that salvation was complete through His death burial and resurrection and it was/is free to those who will receive it. (Luke 24:44-48) The church has been divinely appointed by God to get the Gospel out into the world. The work of the church and God’s message of salvation will be for nothing if the church is not obedient and follow through with the instructions that God has tasked it with. (Acts 10:36) When the church is in line with God’s intention and is Spirit led, God the Father will be preparing hearts, Christ the Son will invite “whosoever will” and the Holy Spirit will convict and draw sinners to respond. (Rev.
But to explore the thoughts regarding the boundaries of the church any further, we must clarify exactly what the church is. When Paul gives his closing salutations to the Romans, he says “…greet the church that is in their house.” (Romans 16:5) He was referring to the people, the believers, within the house. Additionally, Paul says in his exposition on Christ “And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills a...
On one hand, baptism is a sacrament that any human must have because it is a lifelong process of salvation and it is necessary for eternal salvation. Since Adam’s sin, all human is born spiritually death; therefore a newborn in spirit is necessary, in order for humans to have “spiritual eyes open” It will keep the person closest to God, because “open eyes” helps to discriminate good from bad during the person journey in life. Baptism present two parts, an outward and sensible sign, and an inward and spiritual grace implied, but baptism is not sanctification by itself. Furthermore, baptism is the Church’s external affirmation and proclamation of prevenient grace; it is an initiation and incorporation into Christ Holy church. During baptism church as a whole play an active role; first, by welcoming the new member, then after baptism, the church provides the nurture that makes possible a comprehensive and lifelong process of growing in grace. On the other hand Communion celebration by using bread and wine is a remembrance of Jesus death, and resurrection and the waiting until He comes again. The way in which bread and wine is converting into Jesus’s body and blood is a mystery. When during celebration Jesus says “for you” it connotes expiating and sacrifice meaning to liberates “us” sinners. Participate in communion
The Eucharist is an important sacrament found among many denominations of Christianity. A sacrament is a religious rite; sacramental practices vary throughout Christianity. Catholicism recognizes the seven sacraments of baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, penance, anointing of the sick, ordination, and matrimony. The Eucharist is a source of endless debate for the Christian faith; its history is complex and has evolved over the centuries. The Roman Catholic Church’s perspective on this religious ritual differs significantly from other offshoots of Christianity.
distinguish themselves from those who are not baptized; but is also a signal which points to the act of regeneration encompassing being born anew. In addition, the baptism of children is
Like discussed earlier Catholics and Christians believe that the Conformation, and Baptism matures the soul and helps people reach adulthood. Baptism usually occurs at a very young age but is not bound by a person’s age. In Baptism, water is used to purify and symbolizes the washing away of sins. It is also described a person being born again because the cleansing of a person with water symbolizes the death and rebirth of that person. Also, when a person becomes baptized they accept God and have faith in God and all his teachings. Confirmation is like a continuation of Baptism because the faith in God of that person is confirmed. Along with confirming one’s faith confirmation gives a person more responsibilities. A large part of bei...
Typically, a church is to be a very safe and sacred place where no-one would
The doctrine of the church is ecclesiology, which comes from the greek word church - human beings who are like Christ. This doctrine is a doctrine for the universal church. We sometimes enter a singular way of talking about our culture when the bible speaks in plurality. Ecclesiology gives us the basis of our belief and marks of the church which gives us clarity of what it means to be “one holy catholic and apostolic.” The church bears four marks: Unity, Holiness, Catholicity, and Apostolicity. These four marks are the truth about the church. We must act in Unity because the church is one, 1 Corinthians 12:12 say “Just as the body is one and as many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” The Holiness is a inheritance given to us by Christ. However we can not achieve that alone. As we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit, He actualizes that for us. Catholicity is the universality and wholeness the church, making room for people to enter the body of Christ. Lastly is apostolicity which is about the authority and truth, and the authority of the apostles is in their eyewitness testimony of Jesus (2 Peter 1:16). The church teaches about the apostles truth that is true to the gospel of Jesus
During Baptism, we are received into the church. Baptism is important as it represents a death to the old sinful life. and a rise to a new life as a Christian. Water is used to cleanse and during Baptism, an infant is cleansed of original sin or a believer is. cleansed of personal sin.
It is followed by years of catechesis before being completed late by Confirmation and the Eucharist, the summit of Christian initiation. Baptism is the Church 's way of celebrating and enacting the embrace of God and the promise of salvation. 'Peter replied, "Repent and be baptised..." ' (Acts 2: 38-39) Baptism happens not only to the individual, but also the wider Church. At the time of Christ it signified that the person being baptised became a follower of Christ and acquired a relationship with him. '... I (Paul) also baptised the household of Stephanas... ' (1 Corinthians 1:16) The rite is celebrated with the community present and actively participating. It is the community, who will journey with them throughout their