Day 3...
Churches...

DAY # 3 of 7:

CHURCHES, FINDING THE TRUE CHURCH:

(?) Means Question Sheet.
CCC is the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

*************INVOKE THE HOLY SPIRIT*************

ORIGIN OF CHRIST'S CHURCH:

1. MATT 16:13-19, The son of man is man, The SON of the living GOD is GOD. JESUS said, "BLESSED ARE YOU SIMON BAR-JONA, (Simon son of Jona) I SAY YOU ARE PETER AND UPON THIS ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH(s), AND THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT."
MATT 28:20, "I WILL BE WITH YOU ALL DAYS".
This was the beginning of the Catholic Church.
2. Simon means, "reed shaking with the wind". JESUS changed the name of "Simon" to "Peter", which means "rock". "Rock" is mentioned many times in the Old Testament, and refers to GOD, therefore Jesus bestowed a great blessing upon Simon-Peter. The change in name is very significant because every time GOD changed the name of a person, that person received authority. In GEN 17:1-5, GOD changed the name of Abram to Abraham and made him the "Father of a Multitude of Nations". In GEN 17:15-16, GOD changed the name of Sarai to Sarah and made her the "Mother of Nations". In GEN 32:22-31, GOD changed the name of Jacob to Israel, thus making him the first Israeli. All of this falls under a rule of Bible interpretation called, "The Law of First Mention". Whenever something is mentioned in the Bible, the meaning holds true throughout subsequent verses.

FINDING THE TRUE CHURCH:

1. GOD said, "I AM THE TRUTH". We are all looking for the 'TRUE CHURCH'. *CCC 2467, *TS 288,292, *REV 3:7.

2. The opposite of 'truth' is 'error'. Error can be genuine, sincere, and earnest, but it is STILL ERROR and is STILL WRONG *TS 115.

3. Truth when subjective, is truth inside self. (not the outside world, but in us) Truth when objective, is truth outside self. (world outside of us) (?)

4. How do we find truth? We test for it. Whatever is true must have the ingredients of truth.

5. The ingredients, or "Four Marks" of the TRUE CHURCH found by the "WORDS OF CHRIST", and by "REASONING" are: *CCC 813-822

A. ONE:
CHRIST'S CHURCH MUST BE ONE. It must be ONE in its founder, in its head, in its final aim, in its teaching, and in its government. *TS 286

CHRIST said: "..and there shall be ONE fold and ONE shepherd" *JOHN 10:16. "I pray for them also who through their word shall believe in ME; that they all may be ONE...that they also may be ONE in US". *JOHN 17:20-21

REASON: Common sense tells us that GOD cannot be the author of various opposing systems of religion, with over 28000 Christian divisions in existance today. HE is the author of truth, and truth is ONE.

IS YOUR CHURCH ONE?

B. APOSTOLIC:
CHRIST'S CHURCH MUST BE APOSTOLIC. It must go back to the time of the Apostles. Its officials must trace back their authority through a direct and unbroken line to the Apostles. *CCC 860-862,77,1576, *TS 283,299, *ACTS 20:28-32, *MATT 28:20, *2TIM 3:14, *DEUT 32:7

CHRIST said: "Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church"... *MATT 16:18.

REASON: For 15 centuries there was only One Church. All other Churches go back in time for less than 500 years. They were founded by mere men or women 1500 years too late. Therefore, how could they be Apostolic in origin?

IS YOUR CHURCH APOSTOLIC? (?)

C. CATHOLIC:
(Latin: CATHOLICUS, English: UNIVERSAL or ALL NATION) CHRIST'S CHURCH MUST BE UNIVERSAL. It must preach CHRIST'S teachings to all men, in every nation, in every century. *CCC 830-856, MATT 28:19, ACTS 1:8

CHRIST said: "Preach the Gospel to every creature...he that believeth not shall be condemned" *MARK 16:16. "Go therefore and teach all nations" *MATT 28:19, *TS284.

REASON: CHRIST came to bring salvation to all men in every nation. HE established HIS Church to bring HIS message through every century into each nation. Therefore, HIS Church must be found in every century teaching all nations.

IS YOUR CHURCH UNIVERSAL?

D. HOLY: It must have a Holy founder, Holy doctrine and produce Holy members.
*CCC 823-829

CHRIST said: "Sanctify them in the Truth...And for them I sanctify Myself that they also may be sanctified in Truth". *JOHN 17:17-19.

REASON: HIS Church has a Holy founder, since HE is CHRIST HIMSELF. HE taught a Holy Doctrine, which has produced holy people in every age. Read the lives of the Saints!
IS YOUR CHURCH HOLY?

6. CHRIST'S Church is in the world today. It is not hard to tell HIS Church from those founded by mere men centuries later. Only CHRIST'S Church has these four marks. Examine your Church to see if it has them all. (?)

7. The difference between Churches is: GOD's Church has the authority. CHRIST is the head. We are the body. The HOLY SPIRIT is the soul.

8. Telios is the Greek word for perfect. It means something does what it is made to do. Therefore we are perfect when we do what HE asks of us.
MATT 5:48, "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect."

9. With Belief, we can be confident in our faith in Christ and in His Church when we share these teachings with others. "With belief", means "confident". "Con", is Latin for "with". "Fides" is Latin for "belief". Put them together and you have "confident".

OTHER CHRISTIAN CHURCHES:

* STUDY AID: The Triumph of the Church.

The Reformation: There was a need for a change in the Church. Personnel needed to be changed, but the protest-ants changed Church doctrine to suit themselves.

1. Martin Luther started Protestantism in 1521 when he broke away from the ONE TRUE CHURCH that had already existed for 15 centuries.

2. Thomas Munser, a Catholic priest, started Anabaptists in 1521. Note that he broke from Luther in the same year that Luther broke from the Catholic Church. The splits in Protestantism began immediately in the reformation.

3. Henry VIII started the Church of England in 1534. (Anglicans, Episcopalians)

4. John Calvin, teaching predestination, formed the Calvinists in 1536.

5. John Knox, who studied under Luther, started Presbyterians in 1560.

6. John Smith formed the Baptists in 1609. By 1600, there were over 200 Protestant splits.

7. John Wesley started the Methodists in 1739.

8. Joseph Smith founded the Mormons in 1830.

9. William Miller, a farmer, started the Adventists in 1860.

10. Ellen White started the 7th day Adventists in 1863.

11. Mary Baker Eddy started Christian Scientists in 1879.

12. Charles Russell started the Jehovah's Witnesses in 1879.

13. New Age was started in 1875 by Helena Blavatsky. *COL 2:8 (?)

14. French Abbe, Alfred Loisy and English Jesuit, George Tyrrell started Modernism in 189X. It was condemned by the Church in 1907.

By 1900 there were over 1000 splits in Protestantism. Today that figure is about 28,000.

This is only a sampling of "breakaways" who formed their own churches. Were any of these people GOD? *MATT 16:18 (?)
They left the Catholic Church. The Church did not leave them.

BIBLE READINGS FOR DAY # 3: *JOHN 1:42, *JOHN 6:, *MATT 26:26,

STUDY AID:
Chart # 5: ORIGINS AND DIVISIONS OF PROTESTANTISM,
Chart # 3: THE FOUR MARKS OF CHRIST'S CHURCH, and THE TRIUMPH OF THE CHURCH.

*************INVOKE THE HOLY SPIRIT*************

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Day 3... Churches...

Day 3...
Churches...