[Pastor Ralph]

Q5. (Ephesians 1:22-23) When we neglect to be an active part of a local congregation, what particular blessings do we miss out on according to Paul in this verse? How do we, by our absence, withhold this blessing from others?

[Ken7]

Blessing each other, blessing the lost, blessing the hurting, blessing those in the chains of addiction, and blessing God as He blesses us. The blessings of personal growth and being around others as they grow.

[charisbarak]

We would miss out on so much--corporate worship of the Lord--possibly similar to our worship in heaven together, Bible Study, support & encouragement from fellow Christians, and we could possibly set ourselves up for a fall.

We would also miss out on blessing others, ministering with & for them. Since God has given us gifts to use in the church, these gifts would deteriorate from lack of use!

We would be very lonely.

[pickledilly]

If we neglect active participation in a local congregation, we miss out on the opportunity to function in harmony with Christ Himself. I think we insult the Savior to casually tack His name on and then turn away from the very thing He is at work to build. We can't be guarded under His headship of complete power and authority if we don't yield to Him, engage our lives, and contribute to the proper health and function of His Church Body. But most importantly, Paul's statement in this verse says to me that we cannot be fully filled with the presence of Christ apart from being an active member of His body. The fullness of God is in Christ; the fullness of Christ is planted in the Church, the body of believers. It is through the Church that the fullness of God in Christ is intended to fill the world.

In the human body, if any part is severed it will lose the flow of its life-blood. It will be cut off from the energy and direction of its brain. It will die. Sounds like the perfect analogy of the importance of the members of Christ's body to remain fully assembled with His church. His life and energy (power) flowing through His Body is the only way to bring that life to the world.

I believe that every person is designed and created to meet specific need in the world for a specific time in history. Every person who does not fulfill his/her purpose leaves someone else's need unmet. Every believer who does not fulfill his/her purpose in the Church Body leaves someone's life untouched by God's love. Yes, we are primarily called to take the gospel to the lost, but also to encourage, build up, support, meet with, and worship with the brethren. Our lack of full participation in a local assembly of the Body of Christ means we are not fully yielded to our Head. We're not working in harmony with the other body "parts" to accomplish the goals of His Church. As each individual little vessel full of the Spirit unites with other such vessels, a great host of "Holy Spirit containers" is amassed. We all benefit as the presence and power of the Spirit are multiplied and magnified to accomplish more numerous and greater works than someone trying to serve solo. In a sense, every single believer that is missing means a little less of the presence of the Spirit of Christ. That would mean our absence robs others of receiving His fullness, both in the body and in the lost world.

[Jezemeg]

By not actively participating in our local Christian community (congregation) we are much the same as, say, a leg on one's body that suddenly decided that it didn't want to be a leg at all. In other words we deprive the Body of Christ of our function and gifts that were bestowed on us by God. We also miss out on the nurturing from the rest of the Body, just as a branch cannot survive for long once it is separated from the vine, neither can our spiritual being remained fully nourished when we 'go it alone' and don't actively participate in a fellowship. Being a member of a Church is not merely a case of occupying a place on a pew once a week, it is a case of enriching and being enriched by the life of the Body of Christ.

[Maryj]

Jezemeg, on Oct 2 2006, 09:38 PM, said:

By not actively participating in our local Christian community (congregation) we are much the same as, say, a leg on one's body that suddenly decided that it didn't want to be a leg at all. In other words we deprive the Body of Christ of our function and gifts that were bestowed on us by God. We also miss out on the nurturing from the rest of the Body, just as a branch cannot survive for long once it is separated from the vine, neither can our spiritual being remained fully nourished when we 'go it alone' and don't actively participate in a fellowship. Being a member of a Church is not merely a case of occupying a place on a pew once a week, it is a case of enriching and being enriched by the life of the Body of Christ.

We have been told not to forsake the fellowship...When we do..we are not encouraged and cannot encourage others...ministry is encouragement...this world thinks ministry is a concert...the blessings of the fellowship strenghtens the body...

[Eudora]

Q5. (Ephesians 1:22-23) When we neglect to be an active part of a local congregation, what particular blessings do we miss out on according to Paul in this verse?

Being with the body of Christ is being in the fullness of The Lord. We miss out on His fullness because it is through the church that He works with in all those who follow and believe in Him. When Jesus was upon the earth and walking with the disciples, they walked in the fullness of The Lord and in His presence and because Jesus is the visible of the invisible God, we here on earth now, do not see the invisible nor the visible, so we walk in faith. He loves to bless His body with His presence.

Pure worship is something He desires and absorbs and gives back to us in blessings. We know we have been in His presence because we have been energized with His love, the infilling and the overflow in abundance.

Since Jesus is the headship exercised throughout the church, we miss out on communing with Him, His body, the fullness of Him. The full measure of Him who makes everything complete, and the in-filling of His presence. The love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge that fills our being. The richest measure of the Divine Presence, to become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself.

When we are connected with a body of believers, we are strengthened by His Spirit, that glorious inner strength and the extravagant dimensions of His love that flows through others. We would not be able to share the pure breadth and length of His fullness and miss being able to plumb the depths and rise to the heights in a unified body, under the One Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

How do we, by our absence, withhold this blessing from others?

For me it is the excitement that I get when I have been in His Word and He shows me a revelation. I practically shout them from the roof tops and if anyone will even tip their ear to listen, they feel the energy that I expel when I share the seed of His Word. I see it in their faces as their eyes light up in joy and then later how they take the application of what I have shared and attach it to their lives and then share it with others as well. It really isn’t me and I always give God the glory, but it is me that He uses to share the seed of His Word. I know that somehow I can be useful, so I ask Him to put me to the test. I know I can’t do very much, but because it is the work of The Lord, I do my best.

I know the church I attend sometimes seems stifled by the lack of knowledge of the word, really meditated on. Our minister is just coming into the knowledge and belief that we have with in us, the same power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus did and that He is the same today and yesterday and nothing has changed. Prayer for a pastor to have the Lords truth instilled through scripture and to bind what he has been taught in seminary, really, really works.

[JustJeff]

When I am negligent in my activity in my church I miss the fullness of the Lord and all of His accompanying blessings. Without His blessings I cannot possibly grow as a Christian insofar as His blessings cause my faith to blossom. If I do not bloom, I am a pitifully plain stem, with no beauty at all. How can I be a witness if I cannot draw people by the savor of my faith, the testimony of the gospel? How many opportunities to bless others have gone by, simply because I was a pew warmer?

[johnd]

Pastor Ralph, on Jul 24 2006, 02:22 AM, said:

Q5. (Ephesians 1:22-23) When we neglect to be an active part of a local congregation, what particular blessings do we miss out on according to Paul in this verse? How do we, by our absence, withhold this blessing from others?

Christ fills the church with gifts and blessings. Christ is the head and we are the body of the church. We should not attempt to worship on our own. We need the entire body.

[BJB123]

To me, there is nothing so exciting as Corporate Worship. We are so blessed to be able to worship with our Brothers and Sisters in the Lord. To feel the love of Christ from others is such a blessing. We feel the love of Christ when we come together corporately. We are also able to hear the Word of God spoken by our Pastor which is another important blessing. We receive blessings from our Worship Leader and Prasie Team who so diligently escorts each of us into God's presence through songs, etc.

When we are absent from Corporate Worship, we perhaps cause others to miss their blessings because we are not there taking part in the corporate worship. Others miss us and miss seeing Christ in us.

[Sgt_Z_Squad]

Q5a.) (Ephesians 1:22-23) When we neglect to be an active part of a local congregation, what particular blessings do we miss out on according to Paul in this verse?

Q5a.) We miss the opportunity to grow and mature.

Q5b.) How do we, by our absence, withhold this blessing from others?

Q5b.) We are not able to share the gifts or use them to edify, to strengthen others in Christ.

[Helenmm]

We would miss being part of His body, the unity with Him and other Christians, the wonderful blessings of the other members of the body, their giftings, their love, their passion, His teaching, leadership, co-ordination, testimonies, prayer fellowship, victories in Jesus, confirmation in the Spirit,help when needed, opportunities to serve, contributing to the growth of others, to children, the welcoming of new Christians, so many things that are part of church, and not least of all, miracles which occur in His presence and are Christ's glory.

By being absent we are in disobedience which brings minimimalisation of the church effort, loss of victory (as in the story of Achan), leading others astray, feeding our carnal nature, effect a complaint which brings down the church effort, (like the complaints in the wilderness), more going around of mountains, loss of encouragement, stress to the pastors,, no participation in the winning of thelost,. Effectively some organ of the Body is missing and therefore the whole body is disfunctional.

[Patricia A. Conti]

We are to be the fullness of Christ, His body as His church. Not being part of the local congregation weakens our feelings of oneness in the church. If we are all members of one body, when we are gone, the body is incomplete and weakend as we are weakend. To gather as one body is to strengthen God's presence, ministry and love as it resides in this world through our fullness.

[PCHRIS]

By neglecting our involvement we would start to wane in our faith/relationship with Christ and other fellow beleivers. As in Hebrews 10 states we are not to give up meeting together but to encourage and build each other up. We are to be one together with Christ as the head, coming together to share, worship, pray, love, encourage each other. A good illustration I have heard is the coals in the fire; take one out and eventually it will die out put it back into the fire (fellowship) and again it will glow and produce heat. We need each other, corporately, thats the body Paul talks about in 1Corinthians 12, we all have our different gifts and we come together for the glory of God.

Not doing this is robbing others and Christ of what our potentials are in our ministries

[Lisa Rupert]

Q5. (Ephesians 1:22-23) When we neglect to be an active part of a local congregation, what particular blessings do we miss out on according to Paul in this verse? How do we, by our absence, withhold this blessing from others?
WHEN WE NEGLECT TO BEING ACTIVE IN OUR CONGREGATIONS WE MISS OUT ON BLESSINGS, FELLOWSHIPPING, PRAYING WITH OTHERS THAT ARE IN NEED, AND BEING PRAYED FOR BY OTHERS, WE MISS OUT ON THE UNITY WITH CHRIST. WE MISS OUT ON STUDYING AND UNDERSTANDING THE WORD TOGETHER. WE CAN'T BLESS PEOPLE ARE PRAY FOR THEM IF WE DON'T COME TOGETHER TO KNOW THEM, FELLOWSHIP WITH THEM BECOMES A PART OF THEIR CHRISTIANS LIVES AS THEY WILL BECOME A PART OF OURS AND THIS WILL UNITE US TOGETHER WITH CHRIST. IT ALSO DEMONSTRATES OUR LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER AS CHRIST DEMONSTRATED HIS LOVE FOR HIS DISCIPLES.

[Linda Stanley]

When we neglect to be an active part of a local congregation we miss out being a part of the body,of the church.The church congregation has a big part in serving the rural area in which the church is located.As a church we all work together being the full expression of Christ,who himself fills everything.
Each member is involved with all the others as they go about doing Christ work on earth.We are all one body in Christ Jesus,our hands,our feet,our voices,our mind, all work together for the glory of God.
By our absence,how can the image of the body be in unity.We should not attempt to work,serve,or worship,merely on our own.We need the entire body.Then blessings will flow through the church as a whole,under Christ's headship.Amen

[sahala p.s.]

Pastor Ralph, on Jul 24 2006, 01:22 AM, said:

Q5. (Ephesians 1:22-23) When we neglect to be an active part of a local congregation, what particular blessings do we miss out on according to Paul in this verse? How do we, by our absence, withhold this blessing from others?

We miss out the blessings of three things. First, we miss out the blessings concerning the benefit from His work. The second, we miss out a great calling as Christ's body. The third, we miss out the blessings of the fullness of Christ.

God give this blessing for the church, which is Christ's body, not for each individual separated with one another, but for whole members in that body in unity. Christ's body means each member connects with one another, each member is part of the other members, all members work together. This blessing is channeled first through Jesus, and then from Him to other members according to the role of each member in the body. Therefore, if we separate ourselves from this body, this blessing cannot reach us, because we are not connected with the body.

[masika]

The image of the body show the church's unity. Each memeber is involved with the other as they go about doing Christ's work on earth. We should not attempt to work , serve , or worship on our own . We need the entire body.

[steve.c]

Q5. (Ephesians 1:22-23) When we neglect to be an active part of a local congregation, what particular blessings do we miss out on according to Paul in this verse? How do we, by our absence, withhold this blessing from others?

The particular blessings we miss when we are not active members of a a congregation are the experience of the fullness of Jesus when it is expressed through His body, through each of its members working together in unison, love and joy. This is on a community basis how we are "in Jesus". As members of His body we are very directly Jesus' representatives and agents here. If we fail to become actively involved we also withhold our contribution and gifts from everyone else so that not only are we poorer but so are they.