April 3, 2007
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What is Church?: EKKLESIA (Greek) and QAHAL (Hebrew)
(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) (Part 8)This is Part 9
Christ’ Passion for the Church (10.3 mb, 21 min 56 sec)
As Jesus was nailed to that cross and the sins of man were placed on Him, He willingly accepted it. Because…….of his great love.And then for a time He separated Himself from the Father, so that men would never have to be separated. But death would not hold Him. He rose again, and He returned to His father’s side.
But before He did, He gave His follower’s his message of hope, so that they could share with the world what He had done. And thus, the church was born.
The church, a group of people who had accepted the creator’s forgiveness. A group of people who would be placed upon a rock, and the gates of Hell would not prevail against them. They would be his light. And they would pursue the world with His message of hope, of forgiveness and of love.
I believe that we cannot be Christians alone. We must function with others, in community. We cannot fulfill our mission in life separated from the church or “Ekklesia”……communities of Christ followers. We must be close enough to others to exercise our gifts by loving and serving them. We must he united by a shared commitment not only to Jesus but also to one another.
Direct download: 20070401-Christ-Passion-JAN.mp3
Comments (9)
hey man, I’m liking what I’m reading here…
You should give me some pointers on my posts… I’d appreciate it.
Scripture uses body as a metaphor and describes individual believers as being like parts of a body – all the parts are needed. Church by its very definition requires multiple people joined in, for lack of a better term, community.
ryc nosecrets_help: Thank you for the encouragement
I would be happy to give you some insight. What kind of pointers are you asking about?
ryc FKIProffessor: So true
Thank you for your comments! God bless!
I think it’s sort of like the old maxim – you can’t love another until you love yourself. Church is the place where ministry begins. So, you can’t minister to others until you can minister to yourselves. It’s not the only function of church, but it is an important one.
I certainly agree that we are not meant to be alone, rather in ooving fellowship. It goes to the very root of what God is about. Even His own nature can be seen as a “fellowship” of love…I see this in particular in the Father-Son relationship, but there is also something particularly special about the intimacy, privacy and “inner relationship” held with God’s own precious Spirit. I refuse to get into trinitarian argumentation here, I think that that, after all, is something that simply helps us get a grasp on the truly ineffable; God is somehow One, yet CLEARLY more than that.
Jan, I’m really struggling with this third chapter in Joyner’s book. I just read it last night and don’t know what the main theme of it is. I don’t get the message or purpose of his writing. I was wondering if you have read it yet. I regret reading two weeks early ‘cuz now I have to wait til May 11th until we all get to discuss it. I hope you can help me pick a theme so that Steve and I can look in the word to go deeper. Like to hear your thoughts on this when you get a chance to read it. thanks. debra
“ believe that we cannot be Christians alone. We must function with others, in community. We cannot fulfill our mission in life separated from the church or “Ekklesia”……communities of Christ followers. We must be close enough to others to exercise our gifts by loving and serving them. We must he united by a shared commitment not only to Jesus but also to one another.”
1.How we view ekklesia may well determine in fact what church we belong to.
2.Lone Ranger Christianity does not work- how can we function as a part when we are not connected to anything?
3. The first three centuries the church was certainly local. Then one must ask was Constantine the best of the times or the worst of times? A blessing or a curse? Denominationalism is neither local nor unity with the entire body, but here I am a part standing on my own, severed from all the rest of the parts, or very loosely joined.
Thought provoking and challenging post.
Jan, While the church is not the kingdom of God, the church is certainly within the Kingdom of God and ordained by the Lord as His bride. The called out must work together, as well as have communion with one another as to build one another up. There is certainly a corporate aspect to it.
However, today, I think we are seeing a new rejection to postmodernism, and people are confused. Modernism was properly rejected, a false prescriptive was in postmodernism, a gospel of accomodation has come about to meet felt needs, as opposed to the gospel -then the people of God meeting needs as a result.
ryc UprisingYouth: Thank you for your thoughts
Good insight! The way we view the Ekklesia very much does determine what church we belong to. I also agree that Lone Ranger Christianity (I love that term) does not work. Some would disagree. I certainly admit that it may work for some. At the very least, some may feel like it works. However, Woven throughout the Scriptures in every nook and cranny I see God’s people in community. We were made to be in community. That is also a good question about Constantine. I belive that it was very much both…a blessing and a curse. A blessing in that followers of Jesus faced less persecution and our faith became “legal”….a curse….because it was often forced and coerced (which goes in every way the opposite of what I see that God intended regarding our will) and had so many political overtones that took away from some of the purity of our faith (if that makes any sense). As far as denominationalism, I belive that I am beginning to see a fresh move toward a stronger ecumenical mind set. Thank you for sharing your thoughts! God bless!
ryc Reformedville: You are very right…the church is not the Kingdom of God
I agree very much that “The called out must work together, as well as have communion with one another as to build one another up.” I see a great movement of change and a deeper understanding and application of God’s story as it applies to our lives. I guess it’s easy to see when one is a part of it…ecumenical, kingdom minded thinking; a greater emphasis on Jesus, mission oriented and Christ centered living. I like your description of what has happened, “a gospel of accommodation has come about to meet felt needs, as opposed to the gospel -then the people of God meeting needs as a result. “. God bless you my friend! Thank you for sharing your thoughts!