HOLY
TRINITY CELTIC ORTHODOX CHURCH
http://www.celticorthodoxy.com/bkceltic-orthodox-church
I
have been asked why we should join a church. The lady says she has a
personal
relationship
with Jesus without joining a church.
Setting aside the absence of receiving
the
Sacraments and the Mass, there are other reasons she should join a
church.
I
define church as those having the same faith, order and worship of the
Apostles
and
a valid Priesthood obtained from and through the Apostles by the laying on of
hands.
Contemporary
Christianity is fond of pushing Jesus without the Church.
Like
its secular counterpart (in which people claim to be
“spiritual,
but
not religious”), it’s an attempt to have the relationship
without
the
rules. If I’m lonely or going through a tragedy, I can pray, but
I
don’t
have to worry about fasting when I don’t want to, or being
associated
with a bunch of fellow believers that I look down upon.
JESUS
WITHOUT THE CHURCH IS A DENIAL OF JESUS
To
see this, you need to look no further than His own words. His
opening
words
in the Gospel of Mark are “The time is fulfilled, and the
kingdom
of
God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1.15).
That
is,
we’re not invited to a merely personal relationship with
Jesus.
We’re
invited to be part of His Kingdom. Trying to have the King
without
His
Kingdom is trying to put God on our own terms, and He
never
plays
ball with that.
St.
Paul says that God “has put all things under
his
[Jesus Christ’s] feet and has made him the head over all things
for
the
church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in
all”
(Ephesians
1.22-23). So the fullness of Christ is Jesus and the
Church.
That’s
literally what the Bible says. A few chapters later, Paul
explains
that Jesus is the Head and the Church is His Body, and
compares
it
to the one-flesh union of husband and wife (Eph. 5.23,
31-32).
And
why should we trust Paul on this? Apart from the obvious fact
that
it’s
in inspired Scripture, Paul knows these things are true
from
experience.
Before his conversion, on his way to continue his
persecution
of the visible Church (Acts 8.3), he is stopped by Jesus,
who
identifies Himself as the Church (Acts 9.1-7):
“But
Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples
of
the
Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to
the
synagogues
at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way,
men
or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he journeyed
he
approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from
heaven
flashed about him. And he fell to the ground and heard a
voice
saying
to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” And he said,
“Who
are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are
persecuting;
but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you
are
to do.” The men who were traveling with him stood
speechless,
hearing
the voice but seeing no one.” ACTS 9:1-7
Jesus,
already in Heaven, speaks of Himself as being actively
persecuted
by
Saul Paul in his persecution of the Church. That is to say, the
Bible
presents
the Church as a continuation of the Incarnation of Christ
on
Earth.
If you understand this, you’ll understand why a Christian
that
says
that the Church is unnecessary, or says that the earthly Church
is
apostate,
etc., is presenting a false version of Christianity.
All
of this is to say that to accept what Jesus is offering
means
accepting
His Church. He comes with a Kingdom. To accept Jesus is to
accept
His Church. So the question isn’t “should we have Jesus and
the
Church,
or just Jesus?” There’s no way to have Jesus apart from
His
Church.
He doesn’t offer us that. There is no such thing as me and
Jesus,
it
is always we and Jesus.
OUR
APOSTOLIC LINE OF SUCCESSION IS ACCEPTED BY WORLD ORTHODOXY.
REMEMBER
AS YOU READ THESE LETTERS OF AFFIRMATION THE BISHOPS BEING ACCLAIMED AS PART OF
WORLD ORTHODOXY WITH GRACE FILLED AND SPIRIT FILLED ORDERS ARE NOT SUBJECT TO
ANY OLD WORLD PATRIARCH, YET THE PATRIARCHS ACCEPT THEM AS EQUAL BISHOPS IN THE
LARGER CHURCH WITH THE SAME APOSTOLIC MISSION.
LETTER
OF RECOGNITION FROM THE O.C.A.
http://www.celticorthodoxy.com/bkceltic-orthodox-church/oca_recog.jpg
LETTER
OF RECOGNITION FROM ALEXANDRIA
http://www.celticorthodoxy.com/bkceltic-orthodox-church/alexandria.jpg
LETTER
OF RECOGNITION FROM THE GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH
http://www.celticorthodoxy.com/bkceltic-orthodox-church/greek_orthodox_affirmation.jpg
WE
ARE SUCCESSORS TO THE APOSTLES, IN UNION WITH THE ORIGINAL 12 AND ALL THOSE WHO
CAME AFTER THEM AND WITH ALL THOSE WHO WILL COME AFTER US.
APOSTOLIC
SUCCESSION
http://www.celticorthodoxy.com/bkceltic-orthodox-church/succ.html
______________________________________
HOLY
TRINITY CELTIC ORTHODOX CHURCH
CELTIC ORTHODOX BENEDICTINE
FATHERS
IS
A NOT FOR PROFIT CHURCH CORPORATION
UNDER
SECTION 501 ( c ) 3 OF THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE .
