Theology

Concepts of the “Church”

-       Roman Catholic Church

-       Protestant Churches

-       Orthodox Churches

1.     The people of God

a.     The church is constituted of God people they belong to Him (1 Peter 2:9-10)

1.     The body of Christ

a.     The church as the locus of Gods activity just as hid physical body was during his earthly ministry (Eph 1:22)

1.     The temple of the holy spirit

a.     The empowerment of the church comes from the holy spirit (Eph2:21-22/)

Doxological:

-       A church should be oriented to the glory of God

-       A church should be aware that it can be susceptible to idolatry

Logocentric

-       A church should be focused on Gods word

-       Jesus and scripture as the word of God

Pneumadynamic

-       The church is created, gathered, gifted and empowered by the holy spirit

Covenantal

-       The way one enters the new covenant is through conversion to Jesu Christ attested in baptism by immersion

Confessional

-       A Christian must give a personal confession of faith in the saving Lordship of Jesus Christ

Missional

-       The missional church is expansive

-       Desires to be universal

Spatio-temporal/eschatological

-       The church consists in a certain space

-       Community

-       1 Corinthians 5:1-12

-       Reasons for church discipline

o   Heretical teaching

o   Divisiveness

o   Idleness

o   Leadership failure

1.     The office of Apostle

a.     “sent one”

b.     First generation christians

1.     The office of pastor/elder/overseer

a.     Interchangable terms

b.     Acts 20:17-28

c.     Elders are responsible for church finances, settling disputes within the chirch and protecting from false teaching

1.     The office of deacon

a.     “Minister of mercy”

b.     1 timothy 3:8-13- Qualifications for a deacon

Episcopalian

Archbishop, Bishop, Rector, Congregation

Presbyterian Government

General assembly, presbytery, elders, congregation

Pastor Led-

Senior pastor, board of deacons, Youth, music, education, congregation

The Ministry Of Teaching

Who are we teaching? (believers or non-believers)

How central a role should the Bible play? (expository messages or contemporary issues)

How what style is the teaching formal or informal? (sermon focused/small group focused/person focused)

How well is the American church doing in communicating Christian teaching to the churchgoers?

The Ministry Of Fellowship

How important is fellowship to the life of the church?

How can a church encourage fellowship?

How far should a sense of “communal living” be apart of church life?

The Ministry Of Worship

Is worship an event or way of life?

Who is the aim of corporate worship?

What are necessary features in corporate worship?

Are you the worship wars over?

The Ministry Of Worship

The nature of prayer in the church

The need for corporate prayer?

The Ministry Of Worship

The regulative principle – worship should only include those elements that Scripture explicitly or implicitly endorses

The normative principle – whatever is not prohibited is permissible in worship

The Ministry Of Service

Caring for one another

Caring for the poor, the widow, the alien, orphan

The church and social action? (How much is enough/too much?)

The Ministry Of Evangelism

The need for understanding the basic Gospel message

The need to communicate the basic Gospel message to the lost

Romans 1:1-7

I Corinthians 15

Acts 16:25-34

The struggle of evangelism may lie in the weakness of other ministries of the church (no compelling community of believers to join in living life)

Spiritual Gifts

Romans 12

Prophecy

Service

Teaching

Encouragement

Giving

Leading

Mercy

Ephesian 4

8. Apostleship Prophecy

9. Evangelism

10. Shepherding Teaching

Spiritual Gifts

1 Corinthians 12:4-6

Wisdom

Knowledge Prophecy

Faith

Miracles

Discernment

Healing

Tongues

Interpretations of Tongues

1 Corinthians 12:29

19. Helps

20. Administration

Didache

baptism was the initial rite of the Christian religion (baptism was connected to forgiveness of sin and other spiritual blessings)

Brief history of baptism

Martin Luther and John Calvin supported the centuries old practice of infant baptism

The Anabaptist abandoned the Catholic Church practice of infant baptism

The Anabaptist believed that only those who could consciously repent of their sins and believe in salvation could be baptized

Baptism As A Means Of Saving Grace

Baptism is a means by which God imparts saving grace; it results in the remission of sin

In Roman Catholic theology, unbaptized infants who die cannot enter into heaven

In Lutheran theology, they reconcile their belief in justification and infant baptism by stating that infants possess unconscious faith

Baptism As A Sign And Seal Of The Covenant

A view held by Reformed and Presbyterian church

Baptism is an act of faith by which a person is brought into the covenant and hence experiences it benefit

Circumcision is the sign of the covenant in the Old Testament; Baptism is the sign of the covenant in the New Testament

Baptism As A Token Of Salvation

A view held by Baptist

Baptism is an outward symbol of the inward change that has been effected in the believer

The meaning of baptism

A key text is Romans 6:1-11

Baptism is a testimony that one has been united with Christ in his death and resurrection

Roman Catholic View

Transubstantiation is the doctrine that as the administering priest consecrates the elements an actual metaphysical change takes place

The substance of the bread and the wine are changed into Christ’s flesh and blood

The Lord’s Supper involves a sacrificial act; in the Catholic Mass a real sacrifice is again offered by Christ on behalf of the worshippers

The priest must be present to consecrate the host

The cup was withheld from the laity

Lutheran View

Lutherans only slightly modified the concept that Christ’s body and blood are physically present in the element

The bread and wine to not actually turn into the body and blood of Christ but are “in, with and under” (consubstantiation)

Lutherans rejected the idea that the Catholic mass was sacrificial

Lutherans rejected the idea that the priest actions turned the bread and wine into another substance (it was God’s power that did this)

Reformed View

John Calvin believed that Christ is spiritually present in the elements

Reformed thinkers believe that Christ is present but not physically or bodily

The notion that ones actually eats Christ’s body and drink is blood was misguided; one is merely spiritually nourished

Zwinglian View

Huldrych Zwingli believed that the Lord’s Supper is merely a commemoration or memorial of Christ’s death

Zwingli pointed out that Jesus is spiritually present everywhere so Jesus’ presence in the elements is no more intense than his presence elsewhere