Three Types of Pastors Who Help the Church
In what ways are pastors to help in building the church? This article considers three responsibilities of pastors in working for the benefit of the church.
In what ways are pastors to help in building the church? This article considers three responsibilities of pastors in working for the benefit of the church.
Through questions and answers, this article discusses the challenging question of how the church can engage the culture without losing the gospel.
Is it necessary for a confessing Christian to belong to a church community? Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 provides three reasons why life is better together than alone.
What does it mean for the church to be spiritual? This article discusses Ephesians 2:13-22, to provide a helpful biblical teaching regarding the meaning of a spiritual church.
Do you ever ask yourself if the church of Christ is truly united? Churches across the world confess the one holy, catholic, and apostolic church, but this truth is not clearly visible. The article describes what needs to happen for this unity to be visible in the church.
We tend to look for a church that has people like us. This article considers why not fitting in at your local church may be good for you.
Leading the church through change is challenging. How can you help the church go through a change in a good way, when needed? Here are nine ideas for leading a church through change.
How do you know if your church has settled for mediocrity? Here are twelve signs.
This article shows that the church is the most precious institution on earth, because it demanded the highest price ever paid for anything—the blood of Christ. Furthermore, the church is like heaven on earth, in the sense that this is where God's will is done on earth.
This article explains how the church is being built by the Lord Jesus Christ.
The church is the household of God, which consists of different generations. How do you overcome generational gaps and build bridges through the gospel? You can do three things to create an inter-generational church ministry.
This article provides some reasons why Christians need to be members of a church.
Why should Christians go to church? This article explains.
God uses the church, both its leadership and its members, as his agent of evangelism.
The background to this article is the view sometimes still promoted that Paul was not converted, and that the Damascus Road experience was only a call to ministry. However, the way Luke portrays Paul in Acts 8-Acts 10 shows Saul to lack a right relationship with God. Luke accomplish this picture in part by contrasting the pre-conversion Saul with Stephen, the Ethiopian eunuch, and Cornelius.
What is the relationship between the New Testament church and the Old Testament people of God? Can we speak in any way of an Old Testament church? The thesis of this article is that throughout the history of the church there was a strong emphasis on the unity of the church with the Old Testament people of God. These convictions are expressed in most of the confessions produced in the time of the Reformation.
This article takes a fresh look at the apostle Paul's reference to the church as the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12 . He argues that this is just one of a number of images and analogies and that one should not press the analogy beyond the limits of Paul's intention.
What is the essence of the church? From 1 Timothy 3:15 this article shows that the essence of the church is that she upholds the truth. This article shows how the church upholds the truth in her worship, confessions, preaching, and eldership.
What is the nature of the ministry of the church in relation to the nature of the church? In this paper, the author wants to present an accurate picture of the nature of the Christian ministry as Paul conceived of it.
How is the church portrayed in the book of Acts? Giles responds to the idea that Acts represents a form of early catholicism. He argues that in such things as baptism, communal meals, and forms of leadership, the theology of Luke is simple and non-sacramental.
This article explains what it means that the Lord Jesus is present in the midst of those gathered as his church. In the explanation, the author includes describing this gathered group as an institution of God's redemptive grace. Also included are the requirements needed to constitute such a gathering and the promises that God gives to his people who are part of such a gathering.
This article examines an important document that functions in Anglican-Roman Catholic relations. The document was produced by ARCIC, i.e., the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission. Their statement on salvation and the church was generally received with little criticism.
The author discusses the evils of error, heresy, ignorance, and dissension that can be found in the church. As far as error is concerned, the author is convinced that no one hardly lives without error of some kind.
In this article, the contribution of J. Gresham Machen to understanding the relationship between the church and contemporary culture is discussed. His vision of Christian involvement in cultural life was different from the pietistic and revivalistic otherworldliness of many fundamentalists of his time.
What exactly is the mission of the church? This article suggests there are three aspects: the church exists to glorify God, build up the saints, and evangelize the world.
Christ promised to gather his church. This article explains that the gathering of the church in this earth points to the separation of believers from unbelievers.
Why did God use the metaphor of the body to describe the church? This article looks at 1 Corinthians 12:12 to show how understanding this metaphor helps in finding your gifts.
There are six reasons why the local church matters. Does the local church matter to you? Check the reasons for the importance of the church.
What is the function of the imperatives in Ephesians 6:10-18? Are they simply a call to personal piety? Reinhard argues that it is important to understand the larger message of this pericope that comes from its relationship to the rest of the letter. Individuals are empowered as members of the church to strive to become who they already are in Christ. Believers should recognize their place within the body of Christ.
The church does not exist for evangelism nor for discipleship. What then is the purpose of the church? This article explains.
What is the church? The author wants to reflect on what he calls the "essence of the church," by which he means something more than just the functions of the church. He wants to look at the church in terms of carrying on the mission of Jesus. He develops his approach following the paradigm of the offices Jesus fulfilled while he was on earth: prophet, priest, and king. His purpose is to give a Christological understanding of the church.
Chapter 1 is a commentary on 1 Thessalonians 1:1. Themes touched upon are Christian encouragement, the significance of the church as being in God and in Christ, and the peace that the gospel brings.
The church is the temple of the Holy Spirit. As such it is to be a preview of what the world is going to become. The church is a beginning of the new temple. In Chapter 12 Hamilton considers this aspect of the church’s identity.
Chapter 11 considers the identity of the church, the bride of Christ, in the bigger story of God’s dealings with man and creation. Hamilton takes a look at a few metaphors that Jesus and the apostles used to indicate the church’s identity.
Chapter 10 considers the place of the church, the bride of Christ, in the bigger story of God’s dealings with man and creation.
Whose task is it to do theology? How and where must it take place? Friedrich Schleiermacher's views on revelation as feeling and dialectical conversation are critically discussed. His view on the church as a "dialectical community" is considered, and appreciation is expressed for his view that theology is ultimately the task of the church.
In this article Beale argues that some Old Testament and early Jewish references to a heavenly temple in the latter-days have contributed to the depiction of the Holy Spirit appearing as fire and other associated features in Acts 2.
This article continues the argument that certain Old Testament and early Jewish references to a temple form the background for the Holy Spirit appearing as of fire and associated features in Acts 2. It examines a number of Old Testament citations in Acts 2 in order to determine whether or not they relate to a temple theme.
The author states that sound doctrine is a God-given roadmap for living the Christian life. He reflects also on the nature and function of doctrine. It is for life in the church.
Chapter 1 is an exposition of Heidelberg Catechism Lord’s Day 21, Q&A 54. The authors seek to understand from the Catechism what the relationship between the church and the world is in worship. Should the aim of the church be to make worship accessible to the world? Should worship be one occasion where the church displays her otherworldliness?
What is a church? Allison presents a working definition of what the church is.
This book discusses the identity, authority, mission and ecumenicity of the church. This chapter focuses on the identity of the church. The author maintains that one cannot think about the church without thinking about Christ, and one cannot confess faith in Christ without being a member of the church.
One threat facing the church today is that of egalitarianism or democracy, which has an effect on the church office. We need to promote the right view of office and authority.
What should the relationship between the church and politics look like? This question is rooted in a bigger struggle; namely, the struggle of the church to relate to society in general. Sometimes politics is used by church members to try influence society. The author looks at church history to better understand how the church should relate to society. He focusses his discussion on freedom of religion and the difficulty in establishing a moral consensus.
Is the Holy Spirit working in this church? This article gives fourteen signs of the Holy Spirit from Acts 2 which should characterize the church of God.
God refers to the church as a mystery. What is this mystery? The mystery is that from the beginning God intended to gather His church from all nations and tribes. He wanted His church to be international (a universal church), and not limited to the tribe of Israel. This mystery was made clear in Christ and forms the heart of mission work.
When a church identifies herself as the only church which holds to the truth of scripture it is refered to as denominational isolationism. This article shows the dangers of denominational isolationism; namely, that it leads to separatism and doctrinal pride. Confessing one holy catholic church sets the church free from such isolationism.
"I believe in one holy, catholic and apostolic church." This confession was wholeheartedly embraced by the reformers. The reformers confessed that true unity can only be found in the truth of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Scriptures. This article calls today’s church to follow in the reformers' footsteps.
This article is an exposition of Lord's Day 21 of the Heidelberg Catechism, looking at the catholic church, the communion of saints, and the biblical teaching of forgiveness.
What is the relationship between believers and the seminary? The author makes it clear that believers serve the seminary and the seminary serves believers. The one cannot exist without the other. The seminary is the work of the church preparing ministers of the Gospel, and true faith depends on the preaching of the Gospel, which is what makes the believer. In this sense seminary and saints are sine qua non.
What is the relationship between believers and the seminary? The author makes it clear that believers serve the seminary and the seminary serves believers. The one cannot exist without the other. The seminary is the work of the church preparing ministers of the Gospel, and true faith depends on the preaching of the Gospel, which is what makes the believer. In this sense seminary and saints are sine qua non.
John Wycliffe was called the forerunner of the Reformation. What caused him to have that title? This article focuses on the struggle Wycliffe faced within the Roman Catholic Church. His view of the church and God’s predestination caused him to stand up against the heresy and corruption within the Roman Catholic Church.
This article is about evangelism and welcoming new converts into the church.