As I sit and ponder what the cost is to follow Jesus, I know that while every disciple is a believer, not every believer is a disciple. I believe many people think the term disciple refers only to the early followers of Jesus Christ. I know they were loving, praying, worshipping, giving, and evangelizing group of people who refused to keep the truth of the gospel to themselves. Yet, God still desires disciples today – ordinary people like me whom God can use to do extraordinary things. The first century church may seem radical to many in the church today, but to those early church believers, it was normal Christianity. These early church men and women, empowered by the Holy Ghost, turned their world upside-down for the sake of Christ.
Making disciples is the overarching purpose of the church. However, many churches struggle with understanding and fulfilling the true meaning of Christian discipleship in individuals’ lives. This writing assignment will attempt to expound on several significant aspects of discipleship. The importance of the centrality of Jesus Christ to Christian discipleship will be detailed. Also, obedience to the directives of Christ and submission of particular areas of one’s life will be outlined. Finally, the three stages of discipleship according to Dave Earley and Rod Dempsy will be delineated and expanded upon.
The process by which Scripture has been preserved and compiled is one whose history is worth noting. The early church had many opportunities to share the Good News of Christ via word of mouth, but from the time of Christ’s resurrection until the mid-second century, there had not been a single culmination of writings considered to be essential for the purposes of
Hull, Bill. The Disciple-Making Church: Leading a Body of Believers On the Journey of Faith. Updated ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2010.
Black churches today are becoming more diverse, and a great place to worship for all people regardless of ethnicity. However, for some people of Caucasian decent it can still be confusing understanding the traditions of the Black church. Here is a brief guide to non-African Americans understand the church.
The Protestant Reformation had a huge impact on the visual arts in Northern European art. One of the major changes was that religious imagery was no longer the major feature in art. Iconoclasm took over as protestant reformers revived the removal of religious images. Many churches were no longer authorizing religious art for display because it was believed that religious imagery was distracting and could lead to worship. The supporters of the north became more interested in earthly concepts and ideas, and they also wanted their messages about morality to be portrayed in less religious ways. The Reformation led artists to seek supporters outside of the church. Several different types of subject matter were obtained after during this time. There became a high demand for small paintings, which contained earthly subject matter. Landscapes are an example of subject matter, which was requested after, this type of artwork was
The Protestant Reformation is responsible for creating many of the Christ following belief systems in the modern U.S.A. Therefore; it should be explored so we may have a deeper understanding and tolerance of the belief system in America as well as how it relates to religious movements in the past.
One of the most traumatic periods in the entire history of Roman Catholicism is the period from the middle of the 14th century to the middle of the 16th because this was the time when Protestantism arose to take its place on the Christian map through its definitive break with Roman Catholicism. It was also the period during which the Roman Catholic Church came into being. Protestant Reformation that began in 1517 with Martin Luther's critique of doctrinal principles is a major religious change that swept across Europe during the 1500s, transforming worship, politics, society, and basic cultural patterns. Its most direct impact was upon religious and philosophical thought. As a result, the Church was fractured,
It’s the day of the Holy Apostles track meet for my 8th grade year and the air was very brisk and breezy. The only running event I had for that day was the 800m race. I started running the 800m in 4th grade. It was my best race and the race I liked the most. I had never won the 800m against these schools before, and I definitely wasn’t expecting to win that day. My rivals in this race were from three other schools St. Leonards, St. Joan of Arc, and MQS . The girl from St. Leonards, Sydney Bartz, was a girl who I have beaten and have raced against since I was in 5th grade. My other two rivals were from St. Joan of Arc and MQS ,Zoey Goodman, who was the girl who I have been up against since 5th grade and I have never beaten her because she has
evangelical churches have had the largest growth. There are a number of reasons for the growth of evangelical churches in the last two decades of the twentieth century. First, Catholics were often targets of government repression for their "subversive" involvement in base Christian communities, while evangelicals were safe from government repression. Second, the evangelical emphasis on personal conversion is considered apolitical. Finally, small evangelical churches provide their members with a strong sense of community and family. During my whole life, my family and religion are the only ones that have helped me the most. My family have always encourage me in all types of situations and also religious because only God could guide me when I
The Protestant Reformation was a time period where the Catholic Church was majorly questioned and people began to rebel and protest the church. Several things caused the Protestant Reformation such as an unequal distribution of wealth. Poor people couldn’t even afford food at times. With the addition of the poor, many people could not pay the indulgences. Indulgences were payments that people would make out to the church so that they could lessen their time spent in purgatory, the boundary between heaven and hell. Humanist ideas were also able to spread at this time so people knew what the church was doing to the people.The Catholic Church had several problems within as well. The Church needed to raise an abundant amount of money so they raised
There are many well-meaning, devout, knowledgeable Christians who well never intentionally build even one world-impacting, world visionary, reproducing disciple. This is because they will never seriously pursue a systematic curriculum designed for the purpose of discipling another to his ultimate destination (Hodges, p117). This need is not reserved for pastors, as evidenced by the writings of Luke. Luke was a layman, a busy doctor with his hectic schedule. Yet, he made
Over the past years of my life I have seen many changes, some for the good and others not as good. Change can be demanding and also crucial. The early believers would encounter this. One can see that significant change happened, when reading through the gospels and the book of acts it is obvious to the reader that the believers who followed Jesus would never be the same again.
Early Christianity had a lot to do with the transformation of Rome and posed a challenge to the Roman Empire. Christians were known as the enemy of Rome, primarily because they refused to worship the emperors as the embodiment of Rome’s Gods meaning they were denying his divinity and authority. The one whom the Christians worshiped had been declared a criminal, was tried and put to death the roman state.
I enjoyed your post and though it was thorough as well as informative. I agree that the Roman’s creations such as roads, architect and their plumbing were remarkable and even seemed before their time. However, their expertise in providing structure and order were noteworthy as well. Therefore, it’s easy to see how seamless the transition from political power to religious power was, especially with the involvement of these Church Fathers. The contributions these Church Fathers made and the dedication they had for the early church was infallible. I definitely agree with your point that their individual contributions not only made an impact, but, was an integral part of the order and structure of the early church. From Augustine’s writings and
To start off this essay i will talk about the protestant reformation. The protestant reformation was one of many violent times because of the very few wars.The Protestant Reformation was a breakdown of authority and power of the Catholic Church. This breakdown happened because of the Black Plague, Renaissance, etc. (humanism and secularism). One of the biggest impacts this breakdown had on the community was that wars erupted in Europe between the Catholics and Protestants.