Hot answers tagged church-local
10
The Church is presented as the Body of Christ (an organism, not an organization [e.g., 1 Cor. 12:12+]) and as the household of faith (a family, not a club [e.g., Gal. 6:10]--also sons of God, brothers and sisters). As the Body of Christ there is an implication of a different kind of life (this may address a spiritual nature), an implication of diversity ...
7
Do any Christian denominations have any policies to prevent nepotism?
Short answer: Yes
The modern Catholic Church does, as of June 22, 1692.
Pope Innocent XII. Innocent XII gave nepotism a death blow by his
celebrated Bull "Romanum decet Pontificem," 22 June 1692.
However, it does not appear to have actually ended the practice.
Romanum ...
6
Dr. Donald McGavran's definition of a homogeneous unit is "a section of society in which all members have some characteristic in common."
In plainer terms, a homogeneous unit is a group of people that have ethnic, linguistic, social, educational, or vocational similarities.
In terms of a church congregation, ethnic, social, and educational commonalities ...
6
Authentic faith should never demand a sacrifice of the intellect!
From Fr. Robert Barron, Catholic priest.
One of the signs that you're not dealing with authentic faith is that
you've had to sacrifice your mind.
However, it's important to acknowledge the bounds of one's own intellect, giving due respect to religious traditions that have been fed ...
6
The way the question is phrased means we must look at two historical developments:
How preaching evolved in the early church, from Jesus through the pioneer stage of Acts to the early church fathers.
How preaching evolved in the protestant church, from Luther into what we have today.
Also, one must note the context of the preaching: Small group, large ...
5
There is a fallacy in your argument. You said:
The Bible and Jesus clearly speak of giving money to the church and in turn fellow Christians should give up all they have and look out for one another.
You are conflating two bits of Scripture.
Jesus told the Rich Young Ruler (here from Mark)
21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to ...
5
A church is a comunity. Where people with the same beliefs come together. God gave the church to unite Christians. Being Christian is not something you do in a Church. You are Christian everywhere. At school, at work, at home, and you come together with other Christians in church.
A social organisation, sports club or whatever, is something where you come, ...
5
First and foremost I want to say that I think it's pretty much just an old cliche and I've heard it mostly used when people are talking while the preacher is preaching. I think the idea behind the cliche is generally saying that we aren't here to socialize we are here to worship.
However, let's see if we can take that cliche a little deeper and let's start ...
3
I believe this format was already part of the Jewish Liturgy services that took place in the synagogue, which would have included prayer, scripture reading, and a homily. Remember that Jesus, the twelve, and most of the early Christians were Jews. Much of what we do in Christianity -- particularly in Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the early Protestant ...
3
The Church of England falls into the "partial" category. There is a parish system of around 13000 parishes in England [that's not Wales or Scotland, which have their own autonomous Churches] each with at least one parish church.
Residents in the parish can be baptised in their parish church; baptised people can be married in their parish church; people who ...
2
What I write here is too long for a comment, though admittedly not a complete answer.
Many churches do help people financially. Mine has certainly done so, and I'm pretty sure it would do so for me if I needed it. Fortunately I have substantial savings, and insurance, and live in a country with a good welfare system, so I would expect that I would never ...
2
Orthodox do have a parish system, but it is not mandatory. Partly this relates to the odd Jurisdictional condition in the USA right now because of mass immigration, but even in countries that are traditionally and nationally Orthodox you find that while there is absolutely a geographical division that can be very strict and rigorous, there is not membership ...
2
I think you misunderstand something. It's not so much that a denomination forces you what to believe. It's that what you believe should determine which denomination you align with. You are free to choose a denomination that is compatible with what you believe, based on study and prayer.
As a practical matter, people tend to unfortunately choose their ...
2
You should not be forced to believe anything. All elders/pastors/priests will say something incorrect at one point or another. You are correct that you should be reading the bible as much as you can, as it is the source. Let the Holy Spirit and Word of God speak to you, and also pray and let the Holy Spirit give you eyes to see and ears to listen. Find a ...
2
Itpastorn have already well addressed preaching at the biblical times and in time of Luther. I will try to address the time in between.
In Antiquity, preaching (during liturgical ocasions, not in evangelist settings) was a monopoly of a bishop, the successor of the Twelve (who have ordained deacons to serve, so that apostles and episkopoi had time to preach ...
1
In general, I can't add anything to what Svidgen wrote in his answer, but I have some concrete, practical hints, derived from my experience.
I was in somewhat similar situation as Peter's friend in Summer 2010. It was few months after my conversion and in my home town there was no group of young Catholics, so I often spent almost as much time with my ...
1
I think he needs to separate out the theological issue (what are my beliefs) from the practical issue (which church should I attend). These aren't entirely separate, of course - if he is convinced a church is wrong theologically, he should not attend it, no matter how nice the people there are - but he doesn't has to find answers for himself to the great ...
1
I have noticed that Jesus did not usually preach sermons like nearly every church does today. Possibly the ‘sermon on the mount’ is an exception.
I challenge that premise. How is it that the sermon on the mount came to make it into scripture, if the disciple relating it (Matthew) only heard it one time? Also, how do we account for the similarity to the ...
1
I'm guessing that any "state church" would have this policy. Also, generally, any religion where local congregations have little autonomy: if the same beliefs, and the same practices, are being followed in every region, why would you choose one over another? Jehovah's Witnesses certainly recommend you stick to the congregation in whose territory (parish) you ...
1
This is largely going to vary on a per-local-church basis, but in addition to Affable Geek's answer, some churches have chosen as a body to focus their efforts in a specific area (perhaps a verbal/written commitment to a particular missionary or translation work or homeless shelter etc) - and it would be a violation of their word to renege on those ...
1
Many independent churches first sprang up after the partial collapse of Catholicism during the reformation possibly using the very same New Testament guidelines and principles you seek. The most illuminating case know of that sheds light on the underpinning of New Testament principles at this time is the arguments between Anglican ministers and the ...
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