The Persecuted Church Session 1 | A Holistic Biblical Worldview of the Church Big Ideas: · Great Awakening to Our Identity · Historical Narrative of Persecution and Suffering · What Can I Do? Hebrews 13:3 Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also. Holistic- The idea that the whole is more than merely the sum of its parts, in theory or practice. Medicine/Medical-of or relating to a form of medicine concerned with the care of the entire person in all aspects of well-being, including the physical, psychological, and social, rather than with diseases and symptoms in isolation. Great Awakening to Our Identity Revival and Awakening: (Tenderizing our hearts) · Proclamation/Discovery of the word of God · Conviction of and obeying that word · Confession of personal sin · Repentance of sin (turning away from that sin to God and His way of doing things) I Corinthians 12:12-14 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many. 1 Corinthians 12:26-27 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. Ecclēsia: “Called out ones; an assembly or a congregation.” Some historical definitions of this word go as far as to say this word means “a select civil body called out for a specific purpose.” 1 Peter 2:9, 10 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. Historical Narrative of Persecution and Suffering “The great Christian revolutions came not by the discovery of something that was not known before. They happen when someone takes radically something that was always there.” —H. Richard Niebuhr MLK-Letter from Birmingham jail “There was a time when the church was very powerful. It was during that period that the early Christians rejoiced when they were deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was the thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Wherever the early Christians entered a town the power structure got disturbed and immediately sought to convict them for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators." But they went on with the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven" and had to obey God rather than man. They were small in number but big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." They brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contest. Things are different now. The contemporary church is so often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch supporter of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's often vocal sanction of things as they are. But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If the church of today does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. I meet young people every day whose disappointment with the church has risen to outright disgust.” MLK-Letter from Birmingham jail In fact, these Christians had none of the things we would ordinarily employ to solve the problems of the church, yet they grew from as few as twenty-five thousand to upward of twenty million in just two hundred years! Modern Day Example of the Underground Church in China Take Away: 1. Do I have a holistic Biblical worldview of the church? 2. What adjustments do I need to make to allow the Holy Spirit to tenderize my heart for the larger work of God? Resources: https://frontlinesinternational.org/ (Frontlines, International: 10% of what is given goes to overhead. All the rest to the Persecuted Church. Bible distribution, being present with them, connecting with the American church their story, things like safe houses, planting the church and discipleship.) The Calling, A Challenge to Walk the Narrow Road-Brother Andrew Their Blood Cries Out- Paul Marshall The insanity of God - https://www.nikripken.com/ Foxes book of Martyrs Night of a Million Miracles-Brother Andrew Voice of the martyrs - https://www.persecution.com/