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The local church refers to a group of Christians who often oversee and affirm each others membership in Christ and Gods kingdom. The definition of Christianity incorporates five parts: often gathering, the exercise of oversight and affirmation, the reason for representing Christ officially, and use of ordinances and preaching (Puffer, 2018). Those parts play a critical role in converting ordinary Christians to follow Gods scriptures. The local church can also mean a place where Christians meet to worship and pray (Puffer, 2018). The purpose of the local church is to take care and transform the local community.
Doctrinal Statement for the Ordinance of Baptism
Christians believe that the Bible is the word of God inspired verbally. Its original writings have no error, and it is the final authority and supreme in practice and doctrine. Moreover, believers hold that there is one holy trinity comprising of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is the Son of God who became man without stopping to be God. The Son of God had to be conceived of the Spirit of God and was born by Mary. He was born to redeem sinful man, fulfill prophecy and reveal God (Cross, 2017). Peoples redemption was achieved when He was sacrificed on the cross, buried, and resurrected. People believe their salvation and redemption are guaranteed through His physical resurrection, and He is the sole means of salvation. God, the Holy Spirit, prevents evil and convicts sinners, judgment, and righteousness. He dwells in those who believe in Jesus and live to His expectations. The Spirit baptizes believers from the time they believe in the Son. They are sealed for salvation and regenerates to a new life. Miraculous healing and speaking in tongues are Holy Spirits gifts given to specific individuals. The gift of speaking in tongues presents itself in the bible as a well-known language rather than a private language of prayer.
Man was created in the likeness and image of God and also innocent. The man sinned and brought spiritual and physical death to his posterity and himself. Man needs salvation and cannot do anything to merit the favor of God. The sinful nature of mankind is disobeying God. The rebellion of humankind results in confusion on the evil and good, harm to people, ending in judgment, despair and death.
Doctrinal Statement for Ordinance of the Lords Supper
At crossroads, our belief is that sacrament is the Lords Supper, where believers gather to eat bread. The eating of bread is a sign of the body of Christ that was given for our sake. Drinking the Lords cup is a sign of New Covenant in the blood of Christ. We do this to remember the Lord, therefore proclaiming His death till His second coming (Moyon, 2020). Those that drink and eat worthily engage in the blood and body of Christ. Jesus is present spiritually in each believer so having Lords Supper is an exceptional moment of communion with our Savior. A sacrament is a symbol given to people by God, and if it is faithfully received, it serves as a seal and sign of Gods promises to us (Dutko, 2017). It functions as a way of grace strengthening us and which we testify our belief in Him, including His promises.
The Lords Supper purpose is to proclaim and remember Christs death and wait for His return. God gave physical objects to remind people of His big acts. Communions elements are physical reminders that Christs death is the biggest act of love. Drinking the wine and eating the bread enables Christians to humbly worship and thank Jesus for his deeds as we prepare for His return. The focus is on Gods deeds on us rather than what we are doing. Any time we take communion, we renew the relationship of the covenant between God and us. Therefore, we get spiritual nourishment that solely comes from Christ (Graham, 2020). The Supper can also be regarded as a participation in Christ. Christs presence is realistic when Christians gather purposely in Jesus name. As we accept the elements of wine and bread in Christs presence, we partake of all his benefits.
Church Leadership
Church leadership is leading the Church of the Lord as His steward and servant through following his precepts. The leaders lead by pointing to the Savior Christ and Lord. One of the major things that visitors and church members seek is engaging and effective leadership inside the church. Church leadership is about the title and how leaders interact with the community of the church. Church leaders inspire the members to continue coming and growing the church. Right leaders are necessary for the continued prosperity of a church. Although the leadership heart is servanthood, according to the Scripture, the Bible still stipulates that legitimate leaders should have authority such that they can direct others (Moyon, 2020). This authority is God-given, and it is delegated to the leaders for the benefit of the church. Church leaders should be obeyed and respected when serving within their legal sphere of authority. However, when members disagree with the leaders direction, they have a right to demonstrate their disagreement. This disagreement should be demonstrated in a manner that protects the church unity, is not bitter, and is respectful and in love. Any effort by leaders to exclude or criticize genuine dissenters from churchs life would be doing wrong. Church leaders are supposed to be mature enough to know that some people may differ in their churchs judgment calls.
Eldership office is issued in Scripture to give spiritual protection and nurture for the church. The flock of Jesus is to be shepherded by elders through faithful ministry. The leadership role has its roots way back in the Old Testament. It is the duty of the elders as shepherds take care of the church. They also teach Christs body by faithful teaching and protecting it from error. Elders are held accountable and must be godly (Afolabi, 2019). They must be honored by the church through willingly responding to their leadership and instruction. Elders general responsibility is to protect and care for the church. Good leaders are motivating to their church members and to others who listen to them. Integrity is another qualification for church leaders or members of higher ranks. Integrity concerns practicing what they preach, being dependable and consistent, and living in ways that their followers can trust. Good leaders usually value and practice integrity of highest level. One of the qualifications required for elders refers to the ability to teach. A pastors role is to preach the doctrine, executing rites of passage such as weddings, baptisms, and funerals. The elders serve as the churchs ambassadors to the community.
Hierarchy is evident in leading the church as there are different levels of individual work and the clergy. The deacons are in their final phase of training to become priests and they maintain the role for a year. They can practice many roles that are similar to those of priests. The next in hierarchy is the priest who can perform the Eucharist ceremony, anoint the sick and take confession. Priests are also allowed to perform Holy Matrimony. Bishops are the ministers who can hold holy orders full sacrament. They have to be at least thirty five years, hold a theology doctorate and ordained five years prior. They are believed to have expertise in sacred scripture and canon law. They typically govern local regions called dioceses. Archbishops are important bishops who oversee a big range of churches called archdioceses. Cardinals are bishops who lead and are College of Cardinals members. Their major duty is to vote for the new pope. They are, however, required to be below eighty years of age.
Church leadership roles include coaching, challenging, captaining, communicating, championing, creating religious culture, modeling and cheering. Coaching is a conversion that enables church members to see things in a different perspective and better way. Leaders of leaders require to be challenged through giving them a large portion of the ministry. Being a leader who is a captain is the greatest thing as some leaders refuse to take charge. Communicating is crucial in church as it tells what happens and helps in talking through in case something is wrong. The responsibilities of church members include attending Church regularly, fostering Affirmation in Gospel Citizen, preserving the Gospel and attending members meeting.
References
Afolabi, O. O. (2019). Alternative dispute resolution: A tool for managing leadership conflict in a church. Journal of Leadership Studies, 12(4), 41-45. Web.
Cross, A. R. (2017). Baptism and the Baptists: Theology and Practice in Twentieth-Century Britain. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Dutko, J. L. (2017). Beyond ordinance: pentecostals and a sacramental understanding of the Lords Supper. Journal of Pentecostal Theology, 26(2), 252-271.
Graham, L. (2020). Richly are thy children fed: The Lords Supper in the Preaching of Dr John Ryland. Baptist Sacramentalism 3, 101. Web.
Moyon, R. D. K. N. (2020). Insights of the local church administrations. Notion Press.
Puffer, K. A. (2018). Protestant millennials, religious doubt, & the local church. Religions, 9(1), 8-19.
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