Christians do not share the same view about the seventh day Sabbath and Sunday. A minority of Christians considers the Sabbath as still binding while a large majority dismisses it. For the latter, the cessation of Sabbath observance is traced back to the apostles. They believe that Sunday has replaced the Sabbath on account of Christ’s resurrection. However, the New Testament and historical documents reveal that the eclipse of Sunday over the Sabbath did not begin with the apostles. This means that the change must have occurred sometime after the apostles. A group of significant church leaders and theologians called church fathers arose in the second century onward whose theological understanding had profound impact on the Christians. What were their understanding of the Sabbath and Sunday? Should their understanding be accepted as normative for Christians today? This study is based on literary research methodology. The findings clearly indicate that in the understanding of most church fathers, Sunday had eclipsed and replaced Sabbath in importance and practice for Christians.

The sift in the world culture has urged the church to revisit its understanding of its role in society. One of the important issues in the current debate in ecclesiology is about the exclusivity of the church. In his book Multicultural Kingdom,[1] Harvey Kwiyani provides the historical overview of the development of the idea of a church over the last couple of hundreds of years that leads to the concept of a multicultural church. Some scholars are trying to come up with a good balance between the relevance and the identity of the church when its authority is being challenged. Theologian such as Barry Harvey believes that the church needs to be exclusive to some degree to preserve its identity to engage inclusively with the world.[2] Scholar such as Gerard Mannion, on the other hand, believes that the idea of an exclusive church is not relevant anymore.[3] Beside looking at the socio-anthropology perspective, this study seeks to understand the concept of the church from Peter’s perspective, as is highlighted in his literary feature. It will discuss the contemporary views about the church and compare them to Peter’s ecclesiology from literary analysis. 
 

Biblical worship is the response of created beings to the self-revelation of the Creator, and a proper response in worship engages both mind and body—the whole person. A closer study of the worship theme in the Psalter elucidates its physical dimension and the relevance of engaging the body in worshiping the Lord. This paper explores the importance of embodied worship as it is purported in the Psalter. First, the connection between biblical anthropology and worship is established. Arguments are presented from the book of Psalms to show how and why the physical aspect of human nature receives attention. Second, the study elucidates practical implications that can foster a deeper biblical worship experience. In particular, the processional movements studied in the book of Psalms teach us the proper attitude worshipers should nurture when they approach God in worship. The act of prostration expresses gratitude and ascribes honor to the Lord. Also, standing posture can instill a sense of commitment to consecrate ourselves to God.

This study has examined the Hebrew expression לְרוּחַ הַיּוֹם, "in the cool of the day" (NASB), to determine the correct translation, motif, and theology on the ground of the context. By the exegetical framework, the literary context and structure portray the discourse of the imminent judgment of God and the repercussion. The proposed translation because of the Spirit of the day adduces the motif of divine judgment with God appearing in theophany, the glory-Spirit presence. The particle לְ supports the causative motif (because) instead of the preposition in. The theophany, the voice of God, judicially provokes the first humans to appear sinful before God and receive divine remedy for their sin. In conclusion, the text foreshadows the eschatological hope of the coming Lord as Judge in the great day of judgment and hope for salvation.

Religious movements developed during the Dutch colonial period in Indonesia. One of the religious movements, Ugamo Malim, emerged in Batak land, North Sumatra, Indonesia.One of the reasons behind the religious movement in Indonesia during colonialism was to revive the holy king among the people to fight colonialism. However, the movement of Ugamo Malim was not ended after independence but continually recently. Therefore, this research tries to clarify the purpose of the establishment of the Ugamo Malim movement in Batak lands and the important things that we can learn from this movement as Christians. In order to get the clarification of this movement the author uses qualitative research by using documentary research analysis of Batak’s literature regarding the movement of Ugamo Malim and compare it to the Biblical principles. As the result the study found that before the colonialism Ugama Malim was existed as the way to have a pure life, however when colonialist came the purpose of this movement became formed as a movement in against the colonization and their religion which was brought to Batak Land. For today, the purpose of Ugamo Malim is to conserve the Batak’s culture, ceremonies, and practices in Batak’s Land. Although Ugamo Malim and Biblical principles is different, however there are several similarities in beliefs and practices such as worship God as they called “Mula Jadi Nabolon” (the creator), the day of worship is Saturday, forbidden eating blood and several unclean food as written in the Leviticus 11. Therefore, the main purpose of the movement of Ugamo Malim was to reach the pure life but it developed due to the coming of colonialism and modernity.

Romans 6:14 mentioned of the moral law and grace of God and is one of misunderstood texts. This research uses the methodology of theological study and analysis to elucidate the correct meaning of Romans 6:14. Paul understood that humans are no longer under the condemnation of the law, but under gracious dispensation and still under the jurisdiction of the law. Under grace means that men are justified by faith and redeemed from the curse of law through Christ. Christians living under the dispensation of grace are enabled to have victory over the dominion of sin as the Holy Spirit guided the life because law has now been written in the hearts of believers. The Ten Commandments does not provide salvation or remove sin, but it can lead the sinners to seek a remedy for guilt, to point out sins and at the same time point to Jesus.

Being the disciples of God creates a need for agreeing to hold each other accountable in a manner pleasing to the Lord. Although accountability would be a recommended experience in order to grow spiritually, the practices might be unknown to the pastor or the church’s members if there is no clear intention to do it. Referring to the participants taken from the members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, this study helps indicate the aspect of spiritual growth collectively. The research study has been conducted to Indonesian Seventh-day Adventist fellowship in Manila. It focuses on how the members practice their role of discipleship through spiritual accountability. The members of this church are comprised of mostly young employees or young families who work in the metropolis of Manila within the age of 20-35 approximately. Other churches are obviously not included because it may not lead this research to reach its conclusion in such time allotted for it. The native origin of the researchers also counts heavily on the reasons why this church is selected.

While the mission motif of Isa 61:1-11 seems to be passed over in silence, this study investigates the passage using linguistic analysis and discovers the theological significance of the motif of mission. The study indicated how YHWH relates to His mission, through the Speaker—identified as the Messiah, and His redemptive purpose for all humanity. Mission is centered on YHWH’s empowerment of the Speaker to deliver comforting messages and give hope to the discouraged, accelerate the freedom of prisoners, and console the grieving since their anguish and sadness is about to be converted into cheer. The focus is on Israel, though the nations will witness and glory in Israel’s salvation and righteousness. In effect, there will be a sprouting forth of YHWH’s righteousness and praises from the peoples of all the nations—an expression that has the worldwide salvific mission of the speaker in view.

This article exegetes the eschatology of Malachi 4:1-6. Most studies mention the subject in passing leaving the eschatology of the text opaque. The issue compounds when studies apply incomprehensive methodologies. The impact of this exegetical hole shows up in divergent views of fulfilment. A major area of interest among studies of prophetic texts. The article utilizes a multifaceted prophetic exegesis. The method incorporates various aspects of text analysis to define the eschatology within the text. It touches historical and literary aspects. It analyses issues related to typology. It’s focus leads the exegete to give due attention to fulfilment of prophetic texts. It uncovers the eschatological substructure imbedded in the text. The approach demonstrates that Malachi 4:1-6 contains eschatological features in the immediate context. These features transcend the immediate context when the person of John the Baptist and Jesus enter the biblical narrative. Beyond these two biblical figures. The study considers eschatology in light of the NT. At the end, the article summarizes and key findings

The Corona Virus Disease 2019 has caused tremendous effects to the various facets of human life. To mention some areas, it has disrupted the economy, education, transportation, food, employment, leisure, and worship services. However, though how destructive the pandemic has been, the church still spreads Gospel. Through its evangelization program, the church resorts to find effective ways how to reach both its current members and the unreached. Using qualitative method which focusing on the documentary research, this paper is purposed to discuss how the early church faced trials and found methods to do the commission. The result shows that amidst the trials the early church, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, always found a method to make the mission continue moving forward. The implication of the study shows that the digital science and technology is an effective method in attaining church’s mission despite the present situation of the world.