Date:
April 18-20, 2022The Church: Let’s Start Here
We are surrounded by churches. Is it any wonder that so much confusion exists regarding the Church? Our idea of church needs renewal, so let's start at the beginning.
Resource Library
Browse
Church
In Israel's northern city of Caesarea Philippi, among the ruins of a worship centre dedicated to the Greek god Pan, a cave exists that was long believed by those who worshipped there to be the doorway into the netherworld. It was in the vicinity of this grotto, the alleged gateway to hell, that Jesus promised: "Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it" (Matthew 16:18).
From Pentecost in the first century to the present day, Satan has attempted to destroy Christ's Church—yet it endures. From a small group of Jewish outsiders in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, Christ built His Church to reach even the remotest parts of the world. Despite controversies, wars, and denominational splits, the Church continues to be the means through which God announces to a dark and dying world that light and life have come in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ.
For these reasons, and many more, we learn about and appreciate the body of Christ, the Church.
A Precise Explanation of Ministry
Chuck Swindoll explains how a healthy ministry focuses on the person of Jesus Christ—admonishing, teaching, preaching, and warning all people to walk in the truth and mature in their relationship with the Lord.
What Now?
Matthew 28:16–20 brings us into the intimate final moments between Jesus and His faithful disciples, His closest followers, His best friends as He passes on the baton of spiritual power...not political power.
The Supreme Significance of Love
The power of Jesus' love transformed John's life. When John came to the end of his life, the major theme of his letter to the church was loving one another.
The Spirit's Most Significant Mission
For millennia, average Christians as well as learned theologians have strained more than one brain cell to try to understand the incomprehensible mystery surrounding the conception and birth of our Saviour. We'll not lose ourselves in the unsolvable riddle that is the conception of God the Son. Rather, we'll lose ourselves in the wonder that is God the Holy Spirit's most significant mission.
Those Unidentified Inner Promptings
All of us who follow Christ have sensed God's working, even if we couldn't put our finger on exactly what He was doing. But how do we recognize it? This spiritual sense comes from the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer and who gives believers inner promptings to participate in God's activities in their lives.
What Does Being "Filled With the Spirit" Mean?
The Christian life is like a car. One needs at least two important things to drive it: a key and fuel. When an individual comes to faith in Christ, he or she is given the key—salvation. But the car of the Christian life doesn't get very far without fuel—the divine enablement of the Holy Spirit, what the Bible calls being “filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18)
Getting Reacquainted with the Spirit of Power
Of the three persons in the godhead, including God the Father and God the Son, God the Holy Spirit is the least understood and the most mystifying. Let's dispel some of the myths and mystery by getting reacquainted with the Spirit of Power.
Accurately Handling the Word
Words are powerful things. That’s why Paul was concerned about certain men in the church who had “gone astray from the truth” (2 Timothy 2:18).
The Subtle Temptation of Greed
After more than 50 years of full-time ministry, Chuck Swindoll shares a serious warning from God’s Word to help ministry leaders keep their hearts straight—directed to Jesus and His priceless benefits rather than ephemeral money and its vaporous profits.
