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Think of an area of conflict in your church or in the church at large today. Dr. Blomberg says that if we focus on the two doctrines of the crucifixion and the resurrection, the issues of Christian behavior will begin to fall into place. Explain how such a focus would affect a resolution of the area of conflict you have identified.
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We had conflict when a new pastor was chosen, it lead to many people leaving the church. By having that focus, people would not allow someone’s style or way of speaking or personality to impact their commitment to their church. Is the gospel being preached, and we are focused on our and others salvation, then their should be no issue.
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Our church went through a conflict with regards to how worship was led. If the church would stay focused on the true basis for worship being the cross and the resurrection, then all members can join in unity and not let the “specifics” or our personal preferences get in the way.
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In our church today, the conflict is between the new system that the pastor is trying to change without asking the church members first and not having plan activities for the whole year round. But in reality, if we think about crucifixion and resurrection none of this this should matter. Yes, it’s hard to adopt on changes but in reality if we think of the cross and how Jesus died for our sins our main focus should be obedience and following God’s will.
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If churches today would focus on the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, more unity could be achieved. In the crucifixion we are reminded that we need to focus on doing God’s will over our own. In doing that we will put the needs of others over our own just as Jesus fulfilled what the Father wanted. In the resurrection we can see that our faith is in a risen Lord and not in vain. In understanding the reality and purpose of the resurrection, we should be more focused on sharing the Gospel with those that have not heard. This in turn will also bring more unity to the Body of Christ as we have a common goal rather than splintered churches over non-essential doctrines.
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An area of conflict could be the role of women within the church and what they are / are not allowed to do. The bigger picture which unites all christian is not ‘open handed’ issues but the main themes of crucifixion and resurrection is where unity must be found as the fundamental doctrines of the faith.