Church
Part A: What Do We Mean By ‘Church’?
The English word ‘church’ came via German and Latin from the Greek kyriakon (‘that which belongs to the Lord’). Originally it was an adjective, doma or oikia, ‘the Lord’s house’, hence its use of a building in which worship is conducted. Thus ‘church’ in our language derives from a post-biblical usage. The New Testament word […]
Your Cleverness Isn’t Enough, However
If a church is evangelistic, has its doctrine right, is prepared to innovate and communicate effectively – surely that’s a fairly complete list of qualities? Wrong. Luke hastens to add that it’s not the preacher’s cleverness or the church’s orthodoxy or its evangelistic strategies alone which lead people to new life in Christ, but the […]
4. Renewal Of The Church
4-1 Wisdom (3: 1-13) Paul returns to the mystery he has already discussed )1:9f. and 2:11-22; cf Colossians 1:26f.) – the Gentiles hearing in God’s cosmic plan. Although unworthy, Paul has been especially commissioned to preach to the Gentiles, and to invite them into the church with equality and mutuality with Jewish believers: indeed, it […]
2. The Renewal Of The Christian
(1) The Grace of Christ (2:1-10) 1-1 Our sin and God’s wrath (2:1-3) – a condensation into three verses of the first three chapters of Romans, in which Paul argues his case for the sin and guilt first of pagans, then of Jews, and so of all mankind. (16) Paul suggests three truths about unredeemed […]
5. Prayers For The Church
Our prayers are often conditioned by our materialistic values: we pray for things like prosperity, security and good health. Paul’s prayers for his friends are different. In his eagerness, the words tumble over one another. Indeed, Marcus Barth suggests the whole of Ephesians is one long prayer. The two prayers in 1:15-23 and 3:14-21 are […]
3. Renewal Of The Community
Authentic Christian living cannot be understood apart from the Christian community. Solitary Christians are an anomaly not foreseen in the New Testament. We have been brought together and united ‘for better, for worse, for richer, or poorer, in sickness and in health until death parts us’. In many cultures, racial minorities (or even majorities, in […]
Bibliography
Aldrich, Joseph C., Life-Style Evangelism, Portland: Multnomah, 1978. Allen, Roland, The Face of My Parish, London: SCM, 1954. Anderson, Ray S., A Casebook for Theological Reflection, Fuller Theological Seminary Continuing Education Dept, n.d. Arndt, William F and Gingrich, F Wilbur (eds), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, University of Chicago Press, 1957. Barclay, William, […]
(2) The Characteristics Of A Renewed Prayer (3:14-21)
1. The Reason for his Prayer (3:14). ‘With this in mind I make my prayer …’ Leonard Griffith says ‘You really ought to having something in mind before you make a prayer. You can’t pray out of a mental vacuum or you won’t know what to pray for and you won’t know whom you are […]
Endnotes
PART A: WHAT DO WE MEAN BY ‘CHURCH’? (1) Ph.-H Menoud, ‘Church’, Vocabulary of the Bible, ed. J.J. von Allmen, E.T., 1958, 52, quoted by W. Ward Gasque, ‘The Church in the New Testament’, in D.J. Ellis & W. Ward Gasque (eds), In God’s Community: The Church and Its Ministry. London: Pickering & Inglis, 1978, […]
Mature Churches Take Risks
A li’l old lady protested to the vicar after a new prayer-book was launched: ‘If God were alive today he’d be shocked at the changes in our church!’ In Antioch these evangelists ‘jumped the culture barrier’ and for the first time reached out to Gentiles. This had been done ‘accidentally’ a couple of times before […]
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