Theology of the Church, Mentor's Guide, MG03

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T H E O L O G Y O F T H E C H U R C H

“Israel Is No Longer the People of God.”

Recently in a well-attended adult Sunday school class, several members engaged in a heated discussion about the status of Israel in God’s work. Some argued that since the Jews were involved in Jesus’ death, they are no longer accepted by God as his people. Others said that God has not abandoned Israel as his people, but that they no longer have the place of favor they once had, because they failed to believe in Christ. Another small group suggested that Israel remains the people of God and will be recognized to be so when Jesus returns at the Second Coming. One group believes that the question is not even important, stating that we shouldn’t worry much about Israel, the issue is Christ and being saved by faith in him. What would you advise the teacher if s/he came to you for help?

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“Who Needs Church?”

A friend of yours claims to be a committed Christian who loves God, reads the Bible, and seeks to live a life of good deeds. However, this person never attends church or involves herself in the life of the body of Christ. Whenever you invite her to come to church she says, “I don’t believe you need to be a part of a church to be a Christian, besides I worship God better out in nature than I do in a church building.” What would you say to this person about her view of Christianity?

Preaching the Whole Bible

The title of the lesson “The Church Foreshadowed” suggests that there is a relationship between the Old Testament people of God and the Church, an idea that the Apostle Paul explores in 1 Corinthians 10.1-11 - “I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.’ We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble,