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The Scandal Of The Church by Enigma(m): 10:53am On Aug 29, 2012 |
Extracts from an interesting sermon http://www.fairviewpc.org/sermons/100711FPC_Sermonclub.pdf Somebody once said that there are three great scandals associated with Christianity. There is the scandal of the incarnation: the idea that God would take on human flesh. There is the scandal of the cross: that God would sacrifice his Son for the redemption of people. And there is the scandal of the church: that God would entrust the spread, promotion and development of the faith to people such as you and me. C. S. Lewis was absolutely right when he said that you go to church on Sunday and you meet there the people you have been avoiding all week. Jesus told the parable of the Wheat and the Tares, the good and the bad seed, the grain and the weeds. Unlike most of Jesus' parables, he thought this parable important enough to warrant an explicit explanation of its meaning. He did not wish us to miss the point. . . . The first thing to be said about the church is that there is no such thing as a perfect church. It is a mixture of the good and the bad. The second is that the church is both the invisible and the visible. . . . There is an overlap to these two spheres, but they are not identical. There are those who are in the visible church who are not, in fact, part of the invisible church. They are the tares, the weeds, in Jesus' parable. Similarly, there are some that are in the invisible church that may not be in the visible church. These include, for example, isolated radio believers, or persons who have fallen, temporarily, out of fellowship with a local church body, or still others who have faith in Jesus Christ but are members of local churches whose teaching is outside the mainstream of Christian orthodox belief. TBC |
Re: The Scandal Of The Church by Enigma(m): 11:26am On Aug 29, 2012 |
On the one hand, the church is a mixed bag of good and evil, wheat and weeds. On the other, it is a combination of both the visible and the invisible, the seen and the hidden. Nonetheless, classic Christian theology has made four vital affirmations about the nature of Christ's church. Three of them are affirmed each time that we recite together the Apostle's Creed. The fourth is captured in the creed's name. It is the Apostle's Creed. Enigma's addendum: The Nicene Creed (as amended/updated) now expressly adds the fourth: apostolic. Four classic characteristics of the Church The Christian goal is not unity for unity's sake. Our union is in Jesus Christ. The path to follow to minimize the (apparently) natural Christian tendency to fragment and divide is to focus upon Jesus Christ and obedience to him. As we are draw to him we are drawn into greater communion with one another. Holy Many today point out, rightfully, that the church is full of hypocrites. Or that church politics is no different than government or any other politics. If you want to know the real skinny on how to be ruthless in a fight then study the example of veteran church fighters. They know. Somebody once said that the church is the only army in the world that habitually shoots its own wounded. The problem, of course, is in our understanding – or rather, misunderstanding – of the word "holy." The root of the word in Hebrew that gives us our word "holy" means "to cut." We think of holy as meaning white robes, halos, harps and never having to use the bathroom. The Bible makes clear that, in that sense, we will never be holy by our own efforts or in our own power in this lifetime. No, the church is holy in the sense that it is cut out from the rest of humanity. It is holy in that it has been set apart and given a sacred mission and task. It is the task of proclaiming Christ and of being faithful in worshipping and glorifying God the Father. TBC |
Re: The Scandal Of The Church by Enigma(m): 11:45am On Aug 29, 2012 |
catholic We are confessing that we believe in the universal church. What, exactly, is the universal church? The universal church is the company of God‟s elect. One of the Greek words used for the church is ekklesia. Ekklesia comes from the Greek meaning "to call." The church are those who have heard God's call. They are God's people who have been called out from the world. They are the ones who have heard God's voice. It is the universality of the faith that provides one of the foundational motivations for the Christian missionary mandate. We send missionaries to proclaim the gospel, make disciples and encourage converts because our faith is catholic. It is universal. TBC |
Re: The Scandal Of The Church by Enigma(m): 12:04pm On Aug 29, 2012 |
Apostolic Enigma's addendum: the preacher is referring here to The Apostle's Creed; the Nicene Creed now specifically includes apostolic. The Greek language made very important distinctions between the disciples and the apostles. In the ancient world, an apostle was someone who was sent out by a Lord, (i.e. a king or ruler) to represent him. An apostle carried great authority, for he represented the Lord. In contrast, the word disciple refers to one who was simply a learner, or a student, of a teacher. An apostle had the authority to represent his Lord, whereas the disciple had the responsibility to learn from his teacher. This is a very important point for us living in the modern world. I believe that the great threat to the modern church, particularly the church in Europe and North America, arises from the tendency to reject the apostolic faith. TBC |
Re: The Scandal Of The Church by Enigma(m): 12:30pm On Aug 29, 2012 |
And finally . . . . Close All the same, the church is God's choice. It is his chosen vehicle for the spread and proclamation of the message of his Son, Jesus Christ. . . . . it is a wonder the kingdom survives. Yet that wonder is a testimony to God's grace and sovereignty. The church survives and prospers because God empowers and blesses it in spite of its weaknesses and faithlessness. And that leads me to share one final image that seems appropriate in closing. Someone once said that the church of Jesus Christ is a great deal like Noah's Ark. The only reason you put up with the smell inside is because of the harshness of the weather outside. Haaaa, breathe out! |
Re: The Scandal Of The Church by Nobody: 1:20pm On Aug 29, 2012 |
God bless you, Enigma, for this. You just made so much clear to me by sharing this. I so love it. God bless you, bro. |
Re: The Scandal Of The Church by Enigma(m): 2:12pm On Aug 29, 2012 |
Ihedinobi bros Thanks and I'm glad you like it. We have a very rich heritage (yes even though 'flawed') and deep shared resources from which to tap. God bless. |
Re: The Scandal Of The Church by Goshen360(m): 2:52pm On Aug 29, 2012 |
Bookmarked bro....for future reference. Great thread. |
Re: The Scandal Of The Church by MrAnony1(m): 3:24pm On Aug 29, 2012 |
Oshe! |
Re: The Scandal Of The Church by Enigma(m): 3:46pm On Aug 29, 2012 |
^^^ Bros, I like your style. One from common heritage "The Church's One Foundation" (Tune = Aurelia) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=molBcp8S_Ng https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SpI1jCczao |
Re: The Scandal Of The Church by Ishilove: 6:58pm On Aug 29, 2012 |
Wow, this is lovely. Very enlightening i must say. God bless you Enigma. Meanwhile, let us enjoy the ambience and serenity of this thread before the "you know what" squad takes a notice and start chasing shadows where there are none |
Re: The Scandal Of The Church by Enigma(m): 10:28am On Aug 30, 2012 |
Thanks Ishilove (quietly: e be like say you still dey keep many people in suspense about Wasimi or is it me not up to date?) Re the sermon: one thing I find interesting is that while there were of course allusions to scripture, the case was made without particularly quoting scripture. However, as I read the piece, even some of the jokes reminded me of scriptural passages. Perhaps it is me, but I find myself sometimes having a comedic or even comical picture of even very serious passages in the Bible. Take one example ---- when Jesus had preached some serious and hard stuff, some of his disciples couldn't take it and decided to leave saying ------- "Oga, dis one harrr o; dis thing wey you dey talk too hard!" then Jesus turned to the inner circle too (i.e. the apostles) and said "abi una too wan begin go - if de thing too hard for una?" And one of them reply ---- "Whosai we wan go? Na you when get the words of eternal life!" Compare last line of the sermon: Someone once said that the church of Jesus Christ is a great deal like Noah's Ark. The only reason you put up with the smell inside is because of the harshness of the weather outside. with John 6
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Re: The Scandal Of The Church by Ishilove: 2:54pm On Aug 30, 2012 |
@Eni, you forgot this "" I am very busy but I'll update The Chronicles asap. Between, how are Eliza and Phill? |
Re: The Scandal Of The Church by Ishilove: 2:57pm On Aug 30, 2012 |
Enigma:Err...The Wafi bible, I presume. |
Re: The Scandal Of The Church by Enigma(m): 3:37pm On Aug 30, 2012 |
Ishilove: @Eni, you forgot this "" Ah, you see now! Na because many people (well we) dey salivate as we dey wait --- so e dey hard to remember ya excuse. Eliza and Phil dey oooo; they were happy say I try for cheer Phil up after e spend time for hospital recently. Ishilove: You wan contest me? You nefa see nothing --- in fact, some pipo don already By the way make I tell you two tori. 1. Some eons ago, I used to go around playing draughts at various venues. There were always various characters from different parts of the country. On one occasion, one guyman was reading Iwuayanwu's old newspaper called "The Daily Champion"; in comes this Ibadan guy who arrived at the games late and on seeing the paper said "Daily [b]S[/b]ampion"; na im one other guyman (whether from 'south-south' or that Benue side, I no remember now) begin laugh am and talk say "Look dis yeye man; e dey call [b]Y[/b]ampion, Sampion!" 2. Another time, I bin dey for that area of Lagos wey dem call Ike[b]y[/b]a when one guy bin get flat tyre and dey try jack hin car; as e dey do am now na im one Calabar guy hustler approached to help; but e be like the flat tire guy no too dey better mood and snatched the jack away almost hitting hustler Akpan for face. Na im Akpan shout one time: "look this man, e wan take [b]y[/b]ack [b]y[/b]ack my face!" 1 Like |
Re: The Scandal Of The Church by Ishilove: 4:14pm On Aug 30, 2012 |
Enigma:Scroll through the the topics on my timeline and you will see Psalm 23 in pidgin. Unbeatable Enigma:Hahahahahahah!!! Beneath all your bluster and big English lies a clownish character. Me likey |
Re: The Scandal Of The Church by Ishilove: 4:17pm On Aug 30, 2012 |
Enigma:Na true, sincerely,I dey busy. Make una no vex for me abeg o |
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