Shkrimi qe po paraqes me poshte eshte nje perpjekje per te rigjetur Kishen Historike. Sot pas gati 1000 vjet ndarjesh te vazhdueshme, per shume kristiane ka humbur sensi i Kishes Historike.
Kjo rigjetje eshte nje thirrje e brendshme qe vjen ne Frymen e cdokujt qe kerkon te perjetoje Thellesine dhe Lartesine e Zotit te vet. Kjo Thellesi dhe Lartesi ka nje Ambient ku mund te perjetohet, dhe ky Ambjent eshte Kisha qe Krishti themeloi ne toke dhe qe Shpirti i Shenjte e ruan dhe ben te pershatshem per rritjen shpirterore te atyre qe banojne Aty duke perbere Trupin e Krishtit, per te gjithe shekujt.
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Introduction
IN CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIANITY there is a heightened awareness of a need for a personal knowledge of Christ. This has been evidenced by such phenomena as the Jesus Movement and charismatic renewal. Most thinking Christians have come to realize something else is needed, the rediscovery of the historic Church.
Often, in heated reaction to dated and dead Protestant liberalism, we have heard evangelical preachers say, "All you need is Jesus!" Such statements often get rave reviews, but just a little thoughtful reflection quickly shows such a simplistic religion to be shallow and unfulfilling. More and more, that kind of reasoning is being tempered with a renewed emphasis on the whole impact of the Incarnation, the coming in the flesh of the Son of God. If all we needed was Jesus, why would Jesus have promised, "I will build My Church..." (Matthew 16:18) ?
The crucial question then becomes which church is the Church? The easy answer, of course, and a correct answer is, the "New Testament Church." But this isn't A.D. 65, and we aren't in old Jerusalem. We are in the twentieth century, and our challenge is to find the New Testament Church in our day, being sure it is the same as the Church of the Apostles - the one Christ established.
Starting in the twentieth century with the abundance of choices available to us is difficult, for we have hundreds of denominations and sects claiming to be the New Testament Church. The Roman Catholic Church makes that claim based on its Apostolic succession. Baptist Churches are unwaveringly confident they hold to the New Testament faith. Often the sign outside a "Church of Christ" reads, "Founded in Jerusalem, 33 A.D.," thereby staking the claim to be the original Church. And the list goes on. Granted, many groups have maintained, or even rediscovered, important aspects of the New Testament faith. But who is right? Is the pluralism crowd perhaps correct - that essentially everybody is in and ties for first place?
Back To The First Church
THERE IS A PREDICTABLY RELIABLE WAY to tackle the problem of who is right. Rather than trying to decide which of the over 2,500 Christian groups in North America keeps the original faith best by studying what they are like right now, we can start from the beginning of the Church itself and work our way through history to the present.
The birthday of the Church was Pentecost, the day the Holy Spirit descended on the twelve Apostles in the Upper Room. That day some 3,000 souls believed in Christ and were baptized. When the first Christian community began, "they continued steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread (Communion), and in prayers" (Act 2:42).
From Jerusalem, the faith in Christ spread throughout Judea, to Samaria (Acts 8), to Antioch and the Gentiles (Acts 13), where we find new converts and new churches throughout Asia Minor and other countries of the Roman Empire.
From the pages of the Epistles and the book of Acts, we learn that the Church was not simply another organization in Roman society. The Lord Jesus Christ had given the promise of the Holy Spirit "will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13). That promise was fulfilled at Pentecost, when the Church was given birth as an divine institution far above all earthly organizations. In Ephesians (Eph. 2:21) St. Paul called it "a holy temple of the Lord." The Church was a dynamic organism, the living Body of Jesus Christ. She made an indelible impact in the world, and those who became part of her were inwardly renewed.
But we also discover in the New Testament itself that the Church had her share of problems. All was not perfection. Individuals in the Church sought to lead her off the path the Apostles established, and they had to be dealt with along with the errors they invented. Even whole local communities lapsed on occasion and had to be called to repentance. The Church in Laodicea is a vivid example (Revelation ch. 3). Discipline was administered for the sake of purity in the Church. But there was growth and a maturing even as the Church was attacked from within and without. The same Spirit who gave her birth gave her power to correct and purify her members. The Church grew and became strong until she eventually covered the whole of the Roman Empire.
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