Nature of the Church

Nature of the Church

1. Luke 1 displays one of the momentous moments in the history of the Church as God comes to both Mary and Zechariah giving them Holy Spirit for their children.  The nature of the Church can be understood through reading “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God,” (Luke 1:35).  This passage displays a strong moment in the history of the Church.

1. John 19-20 is another strongest moment in our Christian history as we read how the Jews shout against Christ and want him sent to his death.  Through the nature of our Church we need to reflect upon believing and supporting our faith even when it is difficult (i.e. when Pilate was about to release Jesus). The resurrection supports our understanding of our mysteries, and more importantly, our belief in our Church.

1. Ephesians 4-5 provides Christians with guidelines on how to live as Christians and with God.  “We should walk with God” in ways that we have “patience, love, and humility” within the Church.

1. Within the passages of Galatians 3:23-4:31, we learn not only that we are all under one Christ as a Church no matter if we are “male or female, or Jew or Greek.”  Paul’s concern for the Galatians shows his anger toward going back to their old ways against Christ.

1. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end,” (Revelation 21-22). This passage shows that those who follow God will be with us and strengthen us, while the others not.  Those not following Christ’s ways will be “in the lake that burns in the fire…”

1. The disciples question Jesus about the why they are listening to the parables, but the parables help understand the “secrets of the kingdom of heaven.”  Just has the parables guided the disciples; we are also guided through the Bible and these parables to act as Christians under the Church. (Matthew 13)

Nature of the Church

1. Luke 10:1-24 gives us the understanding on how to spread the word of the Lord, just as the way the Church should.  Although there is a time to rejoice, God gives the authority to us to spread the news, and more importantly God knows when it is right to do so.

1. John 13-17 and 19-20 gives us what the structure of our Christian Church is as we strive to keep God’s Commandments (specially love) and understand the Holy Trinity.  God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one together.  Our Church is lived through God as Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life,” (John 14:6).

1. Within Matthew 18, we are given the “rules” upon sinning such as if we commit sins, we should go to the church (I believe this is the way of Reconciliation).  “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,” shows us that our actions on earth are part of us after death and eternal life.

1. Ephesians 2:11-20 provides us with understanding that we apart of both the Spirit and the Father.  Through the church, we are built on “the foundation of the apostles and prophets.”  We are members of the house of God and are with the saints.  This passage shows us part of the structure of our Church as Jesus is the cornerstone in which we are bound together under the Lord “into the dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

1. Timothy 3: 1-16 shows the structure of our Church through priests and deacons.  This passage provides us with the guidelines on what it means to live as a priest or deacon under the house of the Lord.  One statement shows that if the overseer cannot take care of his own self, he cannot take care of the Church.

Church as Communio 2

Within our lecture of “The Structure of the Church” we learned that Christ gives authority to the apostles in the power to forgive sins, offer sacrifice, and teach.  Christ gives the apostles the Holy Spirit and through these readings it is evident that this helps the apostles with their teachings such as “…I have dealt with all the Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen,” (Acts 1:1-2).  Jesus instructs the apostles that they will receive the Holy Spirit upon themselves if they do not leave from Jerusalem, which can be seen in Acts 2 when the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues.  This shows how the Holy Spirit took over their bodies so they could speak other languages in order to teach the word of God. As you read in each chapter, there are multiple times where the apostles were “filled with the Holy Spirit.”  This means that the Holy Spirit was active within them in all of the types of authority, but especially with the power of authority to baptize and teach others.