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The Church - Series
- This message shows what a remarkable organisation the
Christian church is. The church is the world’s most ancient
institution, yet still displays surprising vigour today. At
once stable and dynamic, the church provides a basis for local
community, yet continually spawns specialist mission and
social agencies to serve humankind.
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- The Christian church often gives God a bad press, by
its shameful compromise, judgemental attitudes, and moral
failures. Yet Jesus promises that this flawed, fallible and
all-too-human community will be the instrument of his
redeeming purpose in the world. The triumph of the church is
one of the great paradoxes of human history, bearing witness,
even in its weakness, to the grace and faithfulness of
God.
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- Comparing the life of the church with a living
organism - individuals and institutions often go to extremes.
On the one hand we find a driven-ness and activism that can
lead to burnout; on the other a self-absorption or
indifference that can lead to social irrelevance. Jesus, when
he established the movement we now call the Christian church,
skilfully avoided both extremes.
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- The Christian church often seems encrusted in
centuries of tradition. A significant recent development,
however, has been the rediscovery by many churches around the
world of forms and dynamics of church life drawn from the
early church, as described in the book of Acts. This message
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- As a human institution, the church is influenced by
forms of social organisation popular at different times in
history. But the Bible’s descriptions of the church point to
dynamics of community life which go beyond secular models of
social organisation. The church is not just an assortment of
isolated individuals. It is a divine society, in which
individuals find their unique fulfilment as members of a
larger whole, and their selfishness is overcome in God’s
workshop of personal transformation.
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- Today, as in the ancient world, people are busy
advancing themselves and climbing the ladder of success. Jesus
revolutionised our understanding of leadership by standing
such ideals of self-advancement on their head. Instead, he
advocates an approach to leadership based on attitudes of
servanthood, a willingness to take on menial tasks, and the
surprise value of deeds of kindness. T his message talks about
the transforming impact of servant leadership.
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- The multitude of different Christian denominations and
sects, 33,800 at last count (David B. Barrett, International
Bulletin of Missionary Research, January 2000, p. 24) is often
invoked by critics as invalidating the church’s message of
God’s reconciling love in Jesus Christ for all peoples of
the earth. But disunity is not limited to the church. It is a
widespread human phenomenon, reflected in marriage breakdown,
family discord, social disintegration, class struggles, civil
wars, and international conflict. Unity is as rare as it is
needful in human relationships. Rob shares some
practical experience and biblical insights about unity,
including the relevance of what he calls ‘Jesus’ Disputes
Procedure.’
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- The longest recorded prayer of Jesus is his prayer to
God for the unity of his followers, so that ‘the people of
this world will believe that you sent me.’ In this address,
Rob Yule, expresses his dismay that more Christians
aren’t concerned about the negative impact of their
disunity, and shares the different levels, from local to
global, where unity needs to be worked out.
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- The Christian church does not exist for its own sake,
but to serve its founder in making the message of God’s
saving love in Jesus Christ known to the peoples of the earth.
In this message, Rob Yule addresses some of the fears and
misunderstandings of evangelism that hinder believers from
being more effective witnesses for Jesus.
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- Enormous economic, social and cultural changes are
sweeping the world. Christian churches are not immune from
these changes, which pose great challenges for their identity,
mission, and survival. Rob Yule gives his perspective on how
the church can meet these challenges and his view of the
prospects of Christianity in the third millennium.
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