Meaning Of Christianity In Act 1: 18

Improved Essays
In Acts 1:8 is says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” This is part of the mission statement of the Church, to go out and spread the gospel of Jesus as well as to be witnesses. But there are many definitions of what the Church is to people. Some may say that the Church exists to glorify God and others will add that the Church is to evangelize (Moore, 25). When people talk about the Church today, they talk about the building or the programs that it puts on. But this is far from true; the Church is made up of flesh and blood rather than bricks (Moore, 26). Ephesians 3:6 states that the Gentiles are together with …show more content…
The word is used throughout the New Testament for the Church. Jesus used this term in Matthew 16 when He spoke on how He will build His church. Again, Jesus used this term as a body of Christians, which is then later referred in church discipline (Hayes, 3). In the New Testament, this new gathering can be represented as getting called out together. When Jesus came, He started a new adventure that would unite believers and the Church would then become the one true congregation of the redeemed (Hayes, 4). Jesus wanted to bring His word to those who have not had a chance to hear it. This is where Acts 1:8 comes into place with the church. The word church means to call out; Jesus called us out to unite believers and fulfill the mission of …show more content…
In the Old Testament, believers in God went to the temples to be closer to God because that is where he dwelled. Once we get into the New Testament the Holy Spirit is with us wherever we go, which means we do not need a temple to go into every time we want to get closer with God. The New Testament church was the beginning of the church mind set. Paul and others were telling the believers to gather together to learn more about God and His word that He has given to us as well as to then spread it to those who do not know the gospel of God. Because the church began in the New Testament it was very mission minded to spread the word of the gospel to those who have not heard. Paul was one of several of those missionaries to spread knowledge of what the Church is to look like. They had to spread diversity and to let others know that the Church wasn’t just for the Jews, but for those who wanted to be saved. Paul preached about a “unique message” about something unthinkable for Jews to do. It was to unite and bring together the Jews and Gentiles as “Joint-heirs” (Moore, 26). The Church is meant to be unified together as one body under Christ according to verses in the New Testament. One of the earliest Greek terms that used to explain fellowship was koinonia (Hayes, 9). In Acts 2:24, it states “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship [koinonia], to the breaking of bread and to the prayer…” This is

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Some of the churches had the letters from Paul, and others didn’t. Some of the churches had female leaders, and the others didn’t. Since Christianity was no longer illegal, the Christians didn’t need to be scattered. Therefore, the Christians needed to come together and set common beliefs and rules.…

    • 1207 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Nt302 Essay

    • 1004 Words
    • 5 Pages

    NT302 Essay Evluate, "Peters visit to Cornelius was a major turning point of the Acts narrative" Intro In evaluating this statement I will detail what I believe is Luke's particular bias in desribing the expansion of the early church from a mainly Jewish population centred in Jerusalem, to a predominantly Gentile population that expanded geographically and socially outwards. In Acts 1:8 he quotes Jesus, ".... you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." You will be my witnesses in *Jerusalem.…

    • 1004 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Peter The Immigrant

    • 239 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Peter’s sermon, begins in Acts 2:14. However, prior to that something has taken place in the early verses of Acts 2. Starting in verse 1 we find that “they are all together in one place.”…

    • 239 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    According to Craig Van Gelder, writer of “The Ministry of the Missional Church, “The book of Acts is a natural starting point for gaining insight into the ministry of the Spirit. Acts 2:33 tells us “exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.” The entrance of the Holy Spirit brings about some very powerful and profound things, when the believe allows the Ministry of the Spirit to operate in their lives. The believer has to open up and receive the different ministry of the Holy Spirit.…

    • 1132 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Forced out of their synagogues for several doctrinal disagreements, early Christians, who were predominately Jewish, began gathering in the only place they could for worship, each others homes. Although the exclusion from temple worship was meant to bring the new sect of Judaism known as Christianity to an end, the first century house church became an incubator for the infant faith. Communion being such an essential aspect of early Christian worship, breaking bread together was primarily their reason for gathering. Paired with the significance of the Eucharist, the novel belief that God’s salvation was available to anyone provided an opportunity for the most scandalous and important practice pertaining to the house church of early Christians.…

    • 291 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Williams says, “the church is a community of active peacemaking and peacekeeping where no one exists in isolation or grows up in isolation or suffers in isolation” (Williams, 106). Being a part of the church is having a constant sense of peace and being part of a strong community. The church is said to be the Body of Christ. It is made up of gifts from the Holy Spirit and a variety of different relationships with God. The New Testament talks about ‘holy people’.…

    • 982 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Humans are social people. We naturally long for a sense of belonging and community. Communities are formed by a sense of love and belonging, and this feeling is ultimately what people are searching for. People want to play a part in something that has a purpose. Paul addresses this purpose when he compares the members of the Church to a body, saying that everyone has a specific function and that all the functions come together to make something beautiful.…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    "Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God. " - Acts 20:28 This past Sunday, Pastor Caleb preached about what it means when we claim that we believe in the church. The church provides us with much in our lives, such as support, strength, and mean. As members of the church, we are called not only to be a part of this community for what the church does for us, but also we are called to be a part of this community by what is does for others.…

    • 250 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    16. What type of people made up the church in this chapter? 17.…

    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Laodicea Analysis

    • 1180 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Their works are neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm; consequently Christ is about to spew them out of his mouth. The church did not provide a refreshing spirituality or a therapeutic one. The church needs both of these in order to do their good works for God. It was ineffective; moreover, distasteful to the Lord. In the bible, it talks about their water that was brought into the city.…

    • 1180 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Christianity became the greatest religion of the Roman Empire right under the Empire’s eyes. Probably the biggest “mistake” of the Romans was to disregard Christianity as one of its kind and underestimating it as another sector of Judaism (Spielvogel 170). The religion began in Judea, east of the Mediterranean, a region where Romans kept watchful control of. If it depended on Roman rule, Christianity would not have flourished past its place of origin. However, trade played a significant role in the spreading of the Christ’s word outside of Judea’s walls.…

    • 852 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Habakkuk Analysis

    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Habakkuk was written around 609 B.C., after the fall of the Northern Kingdom. The King of Judah During this time was Jehoiakim was king of Judah and the nation is one the path to exile. The genre of the book is prohpetic and like all prophetic books, the author uses poetry to convey the message of the Lord. This book, unlike many of the prophets, does not have a direct audience, it is instead a conversation between Habakkuk and God.…

    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Early Church Essay

    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Differences and Similarities of the Early Church and the Modern Church The church has changed significantly over the course of two thousand years. Such changes include where believers met and worshiped, activities and responsibilities, and leaders of the church. However, there are certain things that have not changed since the start of the church. This report will discuss these differences and similarities.…

    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In these verses we see the spiritual and physical importance of members of the church at Corinth to appreciate the diversity of the gifts of the Holy Spirit by working in unity of their faith (1st Corinthians 12: 1-6). According to the Meriam Webster English dictionary (2005) unity refers to “as an entity that is a complex or systematic whole” or “oneness”. I think Apostle Paul would hold on to this meaning because unity for him was not about similarity but diversity that brought together like different parts of the body of believers to create one functioning church in Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27). A church united in one purpose doing the will of God through the help of the Holy Spirit at work in each one believer and reconciled by Jesus…

    • 730 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Introduction The concept of “church” was started as the tabanacle where the Ark of Covenent was placed (Old Testament). Then it was transferred into the “Temple building” where people experienced God’s presence. When Jesus came to dwell among people, He was the Temple instead of the building. He confirmed it; “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days” (John 2:19 NIV).…

    • 1907 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays