When I read in Acts 7 I noticed in verse 38 that Stephen actually uses the word "church" in reference to the time of Moses. The main question is that most people I talk to say the Church began in the New Testament times, (usually at the time of Pentecost). Are not the Hebrews themselves the 'called out people' of the Old Testament?
What is the significance in believing in the Son? Is it not sufficient to believe in a loving and merciful Creator only?
What is faith?
My question is, why do people call the Bible the Word of God when it is clearly a name given to Jesus? If you read the Bible believing that the Bible is the Word of God it gives you a very different message from reading it with the understanding that Jesus being the Word of God.
What does it mean when it says that God is a spirit and we must worship him in spirit?
Please distinguish the terms "vow", "oath", "swear" and "pledge." Some of these are interchangeable and some are referred to in the bible as totally different from each other. I'm specifically interested in what Jesus meant in Matthew 5:33-37 and how that applies to nowadays "pledging" for a building fund or other church projects.
