Ekklesia

Dynamic New Teaching from Bestselling Author Ed Silvoso The word church has many connotations; we think of it as a specific building, as a group of people, even as a long service to sit through. We hardly ever think of it as world-changing--and neither does society. Yet this is exactly what the first-century ekklesia was. In these vital, eye-opening pages, bestselling author Ed Silvoso takes you back to the first days of the church. Digging into Scripture, he shows how the New Testament church--devoid of buildings, professional clergy, and religious freedom--was able to transform the hostile, pagan places into which it was born and set in motion a process that changed the world forever. Even more, Silvoso offers a roadmap back to becoming the ekklesia Jesus called his church to be. In the midst of the social, economic, political, and moral chaos in our world today, we possess the hope that people and nations so desperately need--and we can become the revolutionary, transformational, life-giving voice Jesus called us to be. A new, in-depth curriculum kit--which features a DVD with 12 brand-new teaching sessions, a group guide for both leaders and participants, and a copy of the book--is also available. Expounding on the book's dynamic teachings, each kit contains everything you need to equip your group to transform the world around them.

DIVToday there is a lot of emphasis on building within Christianity. We speak of building the kingdom and building the church, neither of which are our responsibility. The Father has given us the kingdom and Christ said He would build the church. In the New Testament, the word translated as church is Ekklesia. /div

Ekklesia: Three Inquiries in Church and State offers a New World rejoinder to the largely Europe-centered academic discourse on church and state. In contrast to what is often assumed, in the Americas the relationship between church and state has not been one of freedom or separation but one of unstable and adaptable collusion. Ekklesia sees in the settler states of North and South America alternative patterns of conjoined religious and political power, patterns resulting from the undertow of other gods, other peoples, and other claims to sovereignty. These local challenges have led to a continuously contested attempt to realize a church-minded state, a state-minded church, and the systems that develop in their concert. The shifting borders of their separation and the episodic conjoining of church and state took new forms in both theory and practice. The first of a closely linked trio of essays is by Paul Johnson, and offers a new interpretation of the Brazilian community gathered at Canudos and its massacre in 1896–97, carried out as a joint churchstate mission and spectacle. In the second essay, Pamela Klassen argues that the colonial churchstate relationship of Canada came into being through local and national practices that emerged as Indigenous nations responded to and resisted becoming “possessions” of colonial British America. Finally, Winnifred Sullivan’s essay begins with reflection on the increased effort within the United States to ban Bibles and scriptural references from death penalty courtrooms and jury rooms; she follows with a consideration of the political theological pressure thereby placed on the jury that decides between life and death. Through these three inquiries, Ekklesia takes up the familiar topos of “church and state” in order to render it strange.

Today there is a lot of emphasis on building within Christianity. We speak of building the kingdom and building the church, neither of which are our responsibility. The Father has given us the kingdom and Christ said He would build the church. In the New Testament, the word translated as church is Ekklesia. In the days of Jesus, Ekklesia was not used to define a religious gathering for expressing worship and learning about a deity. The Ekklesia was a governing body in a region that assembled for the purpose of legislating the region, initiating laws and declaring war. It was an assembly of diverse citizenry, who collaborated for the good of the region. When Jesus said, "I will build my Ekklesia," He had something different in mind than what we call the church today. Join us in this book as we seek to find the definition of God's intention and allow the real church to stand up.

How did Paul's term ekklesia formulate the Christian self-understanding? Young-Ho Park finds the answer in its strong civic connotation in the politico-cultural world of the Greek East under the Roman Empire. By addressing his local Gentile congregation as ekklesia in his letters, Paul effectively created a symbolic universe in which the Christ-worshippers saw themselves as the honorable citizens who represented the city before God. (Publisher).

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, Who do people say that the Son of Man is? And they said, Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He said to them, But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.And Jesus said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.Matthew 16:13-19The Church of God stands poised to make a shift. Many say it is to the right, and many say to the left, but the true Word of the Lord will stand forever. The Church will arise as never before, and learn the lesson of Jesus that mercy is better than sacrifice. Yet, as a pure and spotless bride, she will shine, holy. The true Church belongs not to a man or to an organization. But as Christ said it was He Himself who would build it and as the Scriptures call Him it's only head, it will take the shape of its Master or those who do not will be cut off.When God throws His wedding banquet, He provides for His guests. Yet the one who choses to arrive dressed in less than their best may find themselves somewhere other than where they intended. While those with a meek, child-like spirit, will find, over and over again, that the Kingdom of God is theirs. The true Church, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets of both yesterday and today, shall arise to be the Bride adorned for her wedding without blemish.What is the church? What is this spiritual being that stands upon the Earth but reaches to the heavens? While she may be many things, one thing is certain: What she once was, she will never be again. And, what she always has been, she will continue to be.It is not in the mind of man that church is formed or conceived, but in the mind of God. Lest we find ourselves go have fallen short of it through unbelief, let us make diligent search to make our calling and election sure, pressing on to possess the promises through His Faith. For it is only the church on the Rock, Christ, His Word and His Spirit, that will endure. Hallelujah! Praise to the Lamb!