JoanG

At the Lord's Supper, we have opening prayers and songs of worship. There is a breaking of the bread and the blessing of the cup. These days it is much more likely that you will find grape juice instead of wine. The elements are passed out and eaten. We then have a song of worship and a final blessing is given. The Passover meal has a lot more elements. They share 4 cups of wine and they also enjoy bitter herbs and fruit sauce. There songs of worship are also longer and handed down in a very meaniningful way in the family.

At the Lord's Supper, we have opening prayers. We have songs of worship. There is a breaking of bread and the blessing of the cup of wine. However, due to people have addictions to alcohol, we now use grape juice instead. The elements are then passed out and eaten by those that are old enough. And then there is the final blessings on the congregation. The Passover meal used 4 glasses of wine, bitter herbs and fruit sauce that we do not use.

If I knew that I would get $10 mil dollars, I would still live very cautiously. I would still count my pennies until the money really got here. I would not want to risk losing everything on a possibility. I really do not want to lose the things that I currently have. I am so much more interested in risking all for God. I want to get to heaven. I want to be in His glory. I want to help my fellow Christians to find God in their hearts today. I want them to be able to have the joy and love that I feel right now. I want to share the excitement of God's love here on earth.

We as Christians have the ultimate promise of living with Christ at the right hand of the Father for all eternity. To know that we could for ever be in the glory of God, we should be more concerned with our spirituality. We should be more willing to give up the worldly things. We should not worship money as much as non-believers. We should not look for instant gratification with material objects. We should be more concerned with giving thanks for all that God provides for us. The non-believer only has hope of the here and now. They only look to be the best or get the best right now. Everything for them needs to be instant. We actually have a much better future to look forward to.

Christ is the supreme ruler in my life. I have pledged my allience to Him. I try to live by His rules. I find comfort in having a relationship with Him. I know that He is in control of the world. Yes, bad things are happening to good people, but I know that there is the promise of reward. We are promised that if we live our lives as Christ like, we will be rewarded with ever lasting life. This world is just the learning grounds to get there. I realize that Christ has given us choices and free will to do what we feel is right. He does not want us to blindly folllow Him. And I feel that no matter what happens on this planet by people who do not follow Him, Christ will be there for me. I might not understand it, but there is a reason for all that is happening today. The rulers on this planet are only temporary, and their day of judgement will come.

I feel that it is a sad affair that not all those people who said that they were "God's people" really were. The church needed to be cleansed of all those false people. Only the pure will be able to celebrate. However, I am encouraged to live my life as Christ would have me live it. And I to can be at the final celebration of when Jesus comes to bring His bride home to be with Him in heaven. I feel that all of the biblical promises of life ever after will be fulfilled on this day. I am overcome with hope, joy and love at that prospect.

In my opinion are people that can rally a large group of individual leaders to work together to promote the true teaching of Jesus Christ to the multitude of people in the world. They are the go to people who can best guide and build up others. They are able to teach others and spark the flame of teaching in others to go out and share the word. Prophets are those people who God gives visions of the future of the church to. These people are then able to put the visions into words and share them with others. They then help to bring about these visions into actions for the betterment of the church.

Each one of us, who has the Holy Spirit within us, has been given a specific gift to help the church to grow. We are a unique part of the whole body. And Jesus realizes that we can make the church a much stonger place if we accept the gift and use it to the fullest of our ability. Not everyone can do the same things the same way. We must be willing to allow our personal abilities to grow and to be shared for the betterment of all.

I feel that a lot of the credibility as lost the day that Jesus died. A lot of people had followed Him for His teachings. They had hope in a new type of relationship with God. They believed in the heart and soul of the lessons. There were sparks of new ways of thinking that I do not think would have been buried with Jesus. I feel that the teachings would have grown in these same people even if Jesus had not risen. But here we go, Jesus rose from the dead. God had a new covenant with the people who believed in His Son; first as the son of man, but now the Son of God. The spark has turned into a blaze. And there is a new unstoppable movement. Men know that they may die, but that does not stop them. They know they are on the side of God.

Our lives have become busy with work and children. We have forgotten what is really important to us. At times it is difficult because of the distances between family members. Jesus feels that family is very important. He puts aside His ministry to attend this wedding. He stops what He is doing to be with those that mean the most to Him. We should never be so busy as to ignore our family. We should always make time for them just as Jesus did.

Adultry and lustfulness are very similar because it is a feeling of the heart. In both situations there is an atraction to someone or something. However, adultry is when a person acts on that wanting. They will dream about it, have fantasies of the action and finally do something with the person that they desire in their hearts. Lustfulness is more of a wanting to possess that which does not belong to them. A person will feel a very strong attraction that does not go away easily. However, the person generally does not act on any of these wantings.

The lambs of the 1st Passover were sacrificed so that God's people would be protected. They were a sign of a covenant between God and His chosen people. No matter what the sins the people had done, they were still God's people and He wanted to keep them safe. Christ was sacrified for our sins. He was the bridge between us and God. He united us to God the Father as only Jesus could do. He wanted to keep us safe from the eternal torment of hell

I feel that Peter emphasized the physical body of Jesus to alert us to the fact that Jesus was human when He died for us. That each stroke of the whip, each ounce of pain was a representation of our sins. The sins of the world were taken on to His physical body. This represented the lamb of the Old Testament whem the priest would lay his hands on the lamb to transfer the sins of the people to it. Once again, here is a fulfillment of the scriptures in the actions of Jesus.

I need to extend more move to others in my congregation to make me feel more Christian. I have been struggling with certain people who I feel are not working for the best of the faith of God. I find that I am very critical of their lax behavior and their views on money to be very angering. I really need to work on my acceptance of them as people and to go from there

When we are baptized, we are brought into the family with God as our Father and Jesus as our brother. This is the principles of "Christianity". This alone should unite us to believe that we are all one. Jesus did not give specific details on how baptisms should be administered to those new to the faith. Each person has the right to practice the faith in ways that make sense to them. The bible gives us a lot of good examples but it does not hold us to the rigid laws that are used by the Pharasees did in the Old Testament. There should be no need for a balancing act on biblical understanding. Each person needs to follow what their soul tells them. For the Spirit will help them to express the truth.

One body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one God and Father for all of us. Right now, I feel that we need to remember that we are from One Spirit and one God and Father. There are no differences between us. We need to form a unity within our congregation in order for us to survive this close to lawless society. We need to turn from bickering to love and understanding. We need to remember that we need to trust in God and that we can and will be able to turn things around for us.

We are joined together by the Holy Spirit. Part of God is in each of us. And it is up to us to keep this peace growing in our hearts and souls. A bond of peace is where people work together for one purpose and one goal in their lives. They work together to mend all differences and to compromise on one solution adn to love each other enough to keep all lines of communication open. I feel that Christian unity should be a prime goal for us.

We must have and be humble, gentle ans patient, we must be accepting of each other in a loving way. I think love is the most important because that was one of the greatest commandments that Jesus taught us. To most Christians and all men on earth, I feel the humbleness and humility are going to be the hardest to accomplish and maintain. In this society, men are tought to always keep striving to be the best that they can be. They are boastful and always trying to out do others.

We must be true to the mission that God has put us on this earth to fulfill. However, we cannot fulfill this purpose without the love and support of other Christians. We must all strive to work as one to spread the word of Jesus and the love of God to all people, We must all work as one to unify the Church. There must be a show of inclusiveness that has not been known before. Our calling is to show the world the true love of God and the true meaning of salvation.

I find that the empty tomb on Easter Morning is very compelling to me. The fact that an angel from Heaven is there and says that Jesus is not here but among the living. The fact that the death linens are not disturbed at all, is so very exciting to me. And the fact that Jesus came into people's lives after that Sunday and allowed them to touch the wounds that were still there but not bleeding was the turning point for me. I know that I can share my excitement and my inner thoughts and feelings with them.

I find that the empty tomb on Easter Morning is very compelling to me. The fact that an angel from Heaven is there and says that Jesus is not here but among the living. The fact that the death linens are not disturbed at all, is so very exciting to me. And the fact that Jesus came into people's lives after that Sunday and allowed them to touch the wounds that were still there but not bleeding was the turning point for me. I know that I can share my excitement and my inner thoughts and feelings with them.

The disciples were depressed and in a state of shock. They were actually hiding because they were afraid that they were going to be hunted down and be the next ones that were killed. There was not excitment or out ward appearance of going out to preach to others about the risen Christ at this point.

The reasons for the disciples to take the body: 1) to say that Jesus was the Messiah and rose from the dead as the OT fortold. 2) they might want to remove it and bury it somewhere else to make a shrine of the grave. The reasons for the Romans to take it: 1) to keep the disciples and Jews rom fighting over it 2) to keep the Jews from making a public spectacle of it The reasons the Jews might take it: 1) to stop the disciples from saying that He rose from the dead 2) to be able to produce the body if the disciples started to say that he was living and bring the other Jews into turning back to the teachings of the aPharasees. The reasons Joseph of Arimathea removed the body: 1) because he personally needed the tomb. 2) because he did not want to be part of a scandel. 3) he was pressured by government officials.

Jesus came down to earth as a man. He had given up His heavenly radiance. He had many powers that He credits to God the Father. He is able to heal, raise people from the dead, feed thousands of people with every little and to expel demons from people. The Son of Man finished His ministry when He was on the cross and said out loud "It is finished."

Jesus knows what is in Nathanael's heart. Jesus was able to tell him what had happened under a tree. The miracle was that Jesus had not been near the tree, but he still knew what took place. Once Nathanael believes what he had been told, he announces that Jesus was the Son of God and the King of Israel. This would mean that Jesus might have been compared to King DAvid at that moment. He was the King of God's chosen people.