Cornerstone Curriculum, Official Certification Edition - Mentor's Guide

M E N T O R N O T E S / 1 3 7

Theology of the Church The Church at Worship

L E S S O N 1

Welcome to the Mentor’s Guide for Lesson 1, Theology of the Church: The Church at Worship . The goal of this lesson is to help students understand the Church as a community of people who have experienced the grace of God and who respond to this grace by engaging in worship as their duty and their delight. The lesson will focus on the fact that salvation is all by grace since this is the starting point for a response of worship. It will also talk about the Lord’s Supper and baptism as two of the most significant ways that the Church acknowledges, experiences, and responds to the grace of God. Since there are legitimate differences about the nature of the Lord’s Supper and baptism among evangelical believers, please be prepared for disagreements among your students about what the Bible teaches and be ready to lead a discussion that is fair-minded and which helps students to develop their own convictions in light of Scripture and their denominations’ theology. Since the focus of this lesson is on worship, be sure that you cultivate “warm hearts” as well as “clear minds” on these issues. Students should be led to active thanksgiving and praise during these lessons as well as reflection on the theological issues involved. Please read the following objectives carefully. The more you can highlight the objectives throughout the class period, the better the chances are that they will understand and grasp the essential truths that underlie this lesson. This devotion focuses on the motive of all God-honoring praise and worship: the incomparable glory of the person of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Often we may think that worship involves a certain kind of ritual action, ceremonial process, or liturgical order. The worship of God is not rooted in geography or religious orthodoxy, but, as Jesus says, in “spirit and in truth” (John 4.24). The Father cannot be approached except in the person of Jesus Christ (John 14.6), whose atoning sacrifice has brought us near to God in faith (Heb. 10.22-24). Because God has granted us entrance into his presence, even the Holy of holies through the blood of Jesus, and because God’s glory is unmatched and unchanging, there

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C h r i s t i a n M i n i s t r y

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