Acts is a chapter in the Bible that mirrors the most important values--values found in Christ--that I, as a follower of Christ, am capable of interpreting and incorporating into my daily life. Acts is not meant to be a complicated book with its all-inclusive and interweaving events surrounding the history of Jesus and his followers, but it is rather aimed towards aiding humans to critically think and understand the reasoning behind these evident stories in order to teach us lessons so that we might teach others these lessons in turn. I believe that the meaning and purpose of Acts is to teach us how to be Christians and teach others according to the lessons taught by Jesus and his followers. The question is: what valuable lessons are in Acts that we might teach others? By following good examples discovered in the book of Acts, I have stumbled upon some important events surrounding lessons about boldness, faith, salvation and freedom. Merely a few in comparison with the several lessons presented by the apostles and prophets in Acts, these lessons are some of the most recurrent. Boldness, faith, salvation and freedom are tied in with three general themes that include witnessing to Jews and Gentiles, the resurrection of Jesus, and defense of the gospel or 'good news' preached by Christ's followers. God granted us the capability to understand these very lessons and themes in order to strengthen our relationships in spirit and on earth. Therefore, these lessons are meant to be an example to us, and in turn, unto others that we teach.
Faith is a word with many meanings within the book of Acts, including Christianity itself, a substance or quantity, an effort, a trust, and a belief. The various meanings of faith highlight the extraordina...
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...t I want people to be changed by the ways that I have shared my spiritual gifts and Christ's love. I may not speak in tongues or be a teacher, but I can teach through my actions and words and exercise my gifts by showing genuine concern for people. In my short-lived career, I have recognized the truth in an important concept taught in Acts. That is, those who aren't supported by God fail. Judas was an example of his failure to God due to going against God's law. Acts serves to show that many people fall into temptations. I have learned that many people currently lose their jobs or families as a result--all because of one mistake. As a Christian, I want to stress the importance, in not falling into temptations, to other people. In my career and every other area of life, I want to continue pursuing Christ through the trials and tribulations, as well as the good times.
... reflects the original logos while also maintaining a separate identity, so too must faith be both reflective and inventive. It should strive toward perfection like Reverend Maclean devouring Norman?s papers with a red pen, with the intention of reflecting God?s already established likeness. Yet it must also be careful not to close off unexpected, new avenues, for as Paul demonstrates through his fishing, the most arbitrary human actions can accrue religious resonance. Essentially, human faith faces the ultimate balancing act: it must strive to understand and believe and love all of God and His creation, while at the same time realizing that such complete knowledge is impossible, and that humanity is called to ?love completely without complete understanding? (103).
In Paul Tillich’s 1957 work Dynamics of Faith, he mentions that there are six major components of faith. These six components of faith describe the Franciscan perspective of “faith”. According to Tillich, the first component of faith is “the state of being ultimately concerned”. The second component of faith is that it is supposed to be at the center of all of our personal lives and everything that we do throughout our own individual lives. The third component of faith is that we should have an awareness for “infinite” things such as God himself. The fourth component of faith is that we need to understand that faith can act as fear, fascination, or both of these qualities at the same time. The fifth component of faith is that doubt is a major product that will always exist with faith. The last component of faith is that we need a community in order to have a “language of faith”.
Garrett’s concise treatment of an array of relevant questions is reflected in chapter titles like “Faith and Belief”, “The Bible and Theology”, “Sacramental Faith”, “Spiritual Practice”, “The Kingdom of God”, “The End of Things”, and “Friends or Rivals: Living in a Multifaith World”. Each chapter is a vivid explanation on how our life should be based on love, nothing else but the love of Christ, it contrasts the modern day depiction of God bein...
This article “Faith according To the Apostle James” was quite interesting because of the arguments that were displayed in explaining the context of faith by James. The author John MacArthur is intensely elaborating the good of intentions of how important it was to James to share his concern with the believers of Christ to have strong faith in the gospel of Christ. It almost seem there was an argument with the author himself and others who he measured his work which were Apostle James and his colleagues. However, you also understand the importance of having faith because of the belief for Christians to have faith so they can be doers of the Word. If one has ever read the Book of James your initial thought most likely is about leadership role of ministers and mature saints. In this article it is the opposite. It expounds on the power of faith and faith in action. Showing faith is the key ingredient to believe and live according to the Word of God. There were key points immediately made by the author to help any reader see a different light on the Book of James.
Migliore, Daniel L. Faith Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Theology. 2 ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Pub Co, 2004.
Romans. Faith in Action Study Bible: Living God's Word in a Changing World: New International Version. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2005. Print.
Suppose something happens that it was within your power to prevent? If you didn’t have malicious intent, was it still you fault? Does letting someone die when you know you had the capability of saving them in turn make you a murderer? All of these are questions that philosophical thinkers have tried to answer for centuries. The Doctrine of Acts and Omissions holds that it is morally worse to commit an act that brings about a bad event than it would be merely to allow the event to take place by not doing anything to prevent its occurrence. In essence, there is an intrinsic moral difference between acting and the failure to act. In some ways, we bear more responsibility for what comes about as a result of our doing something than for what comes about as a result of our allowing it to happen. A proponent of the Doctrine of Acts and Omissions would say than in certain circumstances, killing is morally worse than letting die. Failing to give aid to someone bleeding out from an accidental amputation is no doubt bad, but surely not as bad as cutting their arm off in the first place.
This parable is supposed to be a narrative for the reader to help interpret and understand the significance of faith, but as for all the parables it might be extremely heard for people today to understand the connection between the words and the actual meaning. Even with Jesus interpretation the parable might be misleading if you don’t know during what kind of circ...
Throughout the first 400 years that Christianity was present in the world it changed dramatically. It started small in an area near the eastern Mediterranean area but within these 400 years, it grew to encompass the whole of the Mediterranean and its surrounding. Throughout this time of growth, there was also much change within the beliefs of Christianity with the main belief centering around Jesus Christ. While Christianity grew and made it to new areas it was introduced to new people that interpreted the different scriptures and preaching of what it meant to be a Christian. Some of the most influential writings in these years came from Irenaeus of Lyons, a second-century writer, Christian, theologian, and bishop. He expressed his beliefs of what made a Christian a Christian within his writing. One of his most famous writings, The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching, highlights the idea of the Holy Trinity and the Rule of Faith in the interpretation of the bible. Irenaeus believed that the Rule of Faith was ultimately necessary and required when reading and interpreting the word of Christianity saying, in the words of Isaiah, “If ye believe not, neither shall ye understand” (paragraph 3). In the eyes of Irenaeus, the Rule of Faith is one of the main things that makes a Christian a Christian.
Having a relationship with people is more important to me than just doing the work. Doing something for someone or helping with something and also doing missionary work I will ask people to join to accomplish the goal together and to have the best possible outcomes as a group instead of an individual.
The Book of Acts was written to provide a history of the early church. Acts emphasis the importance of the day of Pentecost and being empowered to be effective witnesses for Jesus Christ. Acts sheds light on the ministry gift of the Holy Spirit, which empowers, guides, teaches, and serves as our Counselor. When reading the Book of Acts many of the readers will be enlightened and encouraged by the many miracles that were being performed during this time by the disciples Peter, John, and Paul. The Book of Acts emphasizes the importance of obedience to God’s Word and the transformation that occurs as a result of knowing Christ. There are also many references to those that rejected the truth that the disciples preached about in Jesus Christ. Power, greed, and many other vices of the devil or evidenced in the book of Acts. Acts 1:8 serves as a good summary of the Book of Acts. Acts records the apostles being Christ's witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the rest of the surrounding world.
Harrison, Everett F. Interpreting Acts the Expanding Church. Grand Rapids: Academic Books, 1997. 151-52. Print.
Next, strong Christians analyze about what they hear (A). In Acts 17:11, the Bible tells the story of Paul preaching in a region called Berea, and after hearing Pau...
Faith, Reason and Theology. Armand Maurer,translator. Mediæval Sources in Translation, vol. 32. Pontifical Institute of Mediæval Studies, Toronto : 1987.
A response to the interpretation of Acts 4:32–36 as an endorsement of a type of communal living as being normative for the Christian church.