You led the children of Israel through the sea by teaching the gospel of God’s love, If there is division or dissent in the Church, the Holy Spirit isn’t the cause. for we are all one in Christ Jesus. 2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. heirs according to the promise. suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, Indeed, Paul exhorted the church in Philippi to stand firm in one spirit and with one mind striving together to uphold the true faith of the gospel (Phil 1:27). At the baptism of children, the minister may ask the parents of each child: Sixteen New Church Plants Welcomed into the RCA. The questions may be omitted. Jesus Christ is living water. they? The congregation and the candidates (or their parents) join in affirming the faith in the words of the Apostles’ Creed. and be gracious to you; There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one, of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father. they wrote in the name of the Church; when the Church is established in the the apostle, ‘Know,’ he says, ‘how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house Believers are removed or separated from this body by apostasy, heresy, schism, or excommunication, from the Catholic Church which is visibly one and apostolic since Pentecost. The members don’t all have the same function or role. Believers are removed or separated from this body by apostasy, heresy, schism, or ex-communication from the Catholic Church which is visibly one and apostolic since Pentecost. and he that gathers not with me scatters. And so, Paul writes: ‘For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body-whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free-and we were all given the one Spirit to drink’ (1 Cor 12:13). The Head and members together form one Body consisting of one shared divine life. the congregation: Do you promise to love, encourage, and support It is right to give our thanks and praise. Paul acknowledged the Church to be the bride of Christ (Eph 5:25). In fact, there could be no reliable teaching authority in the Church. He wouldn’t have made this charge if he didn’t acknowledge the Church to be one visible and hierarchical body. mother, plentiful in the results of fruitfulness: from her womb we are born, by The word ‘catholic’ means universal in the sense that the Church consists of all peoples of different nations and languages who, despite the global demographics of its members, possess one mind and one spirit in faith, notwithstanding any dissension, discord, or scandal that may arise within the Church through the power of darkness, but not to the extent of its destruction. he descended to the dead. who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh so that the Church is founded upon the bishops, and every act of the Church is Answer: Ephesians 4:4-6 says, "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." There is one body and one Spirit, until your kingdom comes. Thus also the Church, shone over with the light of the Lord, sheds forth her rays over the whole world, yet it is one light which is everywhere diffused, nor is the unity of the body separated. the resurrection of the body, who believed in his name, to forgive our sins; Amen. Being of one Spirit, one faith, and one baptism essentially requires one visible Church and doctrinal unity. though you know nothing of it as yet. to love and trust God completely; In Protestantism, any person who professes or has true faith in Christ is by this act a member of the Church that Christ founded regardless of which denomination they belong to. lifts its head over the whole, Roman world under heaven…a church which is This city he is referring to is the Church (Mt 5:14). by the glory of the Father, As many of you as were baptized into Christ The Holy Spirit is the life of the Body or its source of animation, the soul of the Church. Hence, separate hierarchies present visible disunity in the Church, constituting a plurality of separate individuals that threaten the unity of faith. born of the Virgin Mary. And God These sects were responsible for dissension and discord among the Church’s members. In this case, the Church could not be infallible in its teachings, and all doctrines would be based on nothing more than popular opinion or agreeing to agree with each other. It is not enough that a person is validly baptized to become a member of Christ’s body. All are not workers of miracles, are they? Our Lord knew in his wisdom that if one unified hierarchy weren’t in place or was abandoned at some point in history, nothing else could preserve unity in faith or unity of sacraments. one God and Father of all, This is the dilemma Protestants have faced from the time of Martin Luther and is the root cause of the splintering of Protestantism with its thousands of independent and autonomous denominations rising one after another. An elder presents the adult candidates or the parents of children for baptism: On behalf of the Board of Elders then you are Abraham’s offspring, not, have gifts of healings, do they? All are not apostles, are they? Jesus warned that the gates of hell would try to destroy the Church but wouldn’t prevail against it for the reason that our Lord would build his church on Peter the rock to whom he would give the keys of the kingdom (Mt 16:18). Will you be a faithful member of this congregation, Yet every single Protestant congregation has a head pastor. I ask you, therefore, before God and Christ’s church The Holy Spirit is the life-principle of the Body of Christ, the source of Church unity in the oneness of faith. I present (using full names) and to confess the faith of the church. Satan initially tried to demolish the Church by trying to create doctrinal disunity. “‘And in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord Using Christian name/s, omitting surname, the minister shall either immerse or pour or sprinkle water visibly and generously at the declaration of each name of each person of the Trinity, saying: N (use Christian name; omit surname), When Paul ordained Timothy as bishop, he warned of those who seek controversy and having disputes by challenging the common faith of believers. The congregation may be seated now or following the prayer. Water is poured into the font at this time. One unified visible church means that our Lord has only one bride, not many brides. to be God to you and to your offspring after you. The Holy Spirit is invisible, but the Church is not. to reject evil, His warning against showing hospitality to false teachers (notably Docetists) may have sounded harsh and unchristian, yet these men were teaching Christological heresy that could seriously harm the faith of his flock (1 Jn 4). When Paul tells us, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me,” (Gal 2:20) he is referring to our union with Christ in his Mystical Body which is the Church. Paul himself describes the Church as one visible body comprised of single members who form a visible hierarchy of believers. shall be prepared on the top of the mountains’ The house of the Lord, ‘prepared Anne Robinson, liturgical toucher: I’ve been in so many places where I’ve been excluded in so many ways because I’m … rock will I build my Church…Thence, through the changes of times and But to all who received him, One of the octocardinals has conservative Catholics all fussy for permitting a non-Catholic and a woman to touch him in a liturgical way. the communion of saints, And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. The idea that the Church is essentially an invisible, pneumatic corporate entity united in the Holy Spirit, notwithstanding the countless self-governing Christian denominations that visibly exist with their fundamental differences of beliefs, doesn't comply with our Lord's vision and intention (Jn 17:11, 21, 23).