Thesis: Because the Kingdom of God is meant for all of His people, the church is apostolic by being sent out to create this Kingdom through reaching out to marginalized groups. Therefore, the church has the duty to focus on encountering God with these groups. Scripture calls the church to go fourth and create justice, good, and peace for all people. Simply, this is the Kingdom of God. In fact, the word of the Lord states, “For even the Son of Man did not come to serve, but to serve, and to give by the Lord,” (Mark 10:15). If our Lord and Savior came to Earth to serve and create the Kingdom of God, we as his church are more than called to do the same. Going forth and creating the Kingdom of God is what defines apostolic. However, an apostolic
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In Joy of the Gospel, it states, “When we read the Gospel, we find a clear indication: it is not so much about our friends and wealthy neighbors, but about the poor and sick, those who are usually despised or overlooked,” (Joy of the Gospel 25). Jesus went fourth to the suffering and asked us to do the same as an apostolic church. Therefore, an apostolic church must follow suit by going to the marginalized groups and complete concrete actions of creating the Kingdom of God in these people’s lives. Pope Francis claims, “I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and clinging to its own security," (Joy of the Gospel 26). Instead focusing on our strength and security, the apostolic church is called to go fourth to create the Kingdom for all people, but like Jesus, we must go and connect with the marginalized …show more content…
There, we would stay overnight at the retreat center, and during the day, we went forth to serve in our community. Because of cost and our busy schedules, we wanted to stay local for the convenience. Also, our group decided in order to fulfill our apostolic duty, we must do it in our community first. Every year, I learned more and more about what it means to be an apostolic church. In the first few years, I had the mentality of getting the most done for the community. Particularly, I wanted to plant the community garden, complete yard work for the elderly, stock shelves at the food shelf, but I didn’t really want to connect with the people we were helping. After learning more about what it means to be an apostolic church, I’ve learned how silly my philosophy was, and I’m glad I changed my way of service the last few years of the annual service trip. My junior and senior year, I decided to a take step back from the dirty and sweaty work and let the younger kids take over. However, I made a different effort to communicate and connect with the people we were helping. Specifically, one day of the trip, we helped an elderly lady, Maggie, who had just lost her husband and couldn’t walk because of hip replacement. As a group, we did a lot of yard work she couldn’t get done. However, I spent the time visiting with her and giving her company. She taught me
In Joy of the Gospel, it states, “When we read the Gospel, we find a clear indication: it is not so much about our friends and wealthy neighbors, but about the poor and sick, those who are usually despised or overlooked,” (Joy of the Gospel 25). Jesus went fourth to the suffering and asked us to do the same as an apostolic church. Therefore, an apostolic church must follow suit by going to the marginalized groups and complete concrete actions of creating the Kingdom of God in these people’s lives. Pope Francis claims, “I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and clinging to its own security," (Joy of the Gospel 26). Instead focusing on our strength and security, the apostolic church is called to go fourth to create the Kingdom for all people, but like Jesus, we must go and connect with the marginalized …show more content…
There, we would stay overnight at the retreat center, and during the day, we went forth to serve in our community. Because of cost and our busy schedules, we wanted to stay local for the convenience. Also, our group decided in order to fulfill our apostolic duty, we must do it in our community first. Every year, I learned more and more about what it means to be an apostolic church. In the first few years, I had the mentality of getting the most done for the community. Particularly, I wanted to plant the community garden, complete yard work for the elderly, stock shelves at the food shelf, but I didn’t really want to connect with the people we were helping. After learning more about what it means to be an apostolic church, I’ve learned how silly my philosophy was, and I’m glad I changed my way of service the last few years of the annual service trip. My junior and senior year, I decided to a take step back from the dirty and sweaty work and let the younger kids take over. However, I made a different effort to communicate and connect with the people we were helping. Specifically, one day of the trip, we helped an elderly lady, Maggie, who had just lost her husband and couldn’t walk because of hip replacement. As a group, we did a lot of yard work she couldn’t get done. However, I spent the time visiting with her and giving her company. She taught me