JoanG

Andrew brings his brother to Jesus. He told him that he knows the Messiah. He wants Peter to meet Jesus immediately. He wants his brother to share in the teachings that he had already started to receive. We are unable to get to Jesus as personally as the disciples did. The closest we have in an invitation to the establishment that Jesus started. We are opening our friends to a very "loving" community where they will be accepted and helped to understand better. They will hear how to pray, worship and share with Jesus. The differences are that we need to have to trust our congregation to be as loving and accepting as Jesus was.

The only way for someone to learn back then was to live with their teachers day and night. They had no formal school system for people to learn at. A learning opportunity can come either day or night. Being with Jesus today mean being willing to read the bible daily for possible messages. Say prayers of gratitude, love and of course asking for help. It is living our lives in a way that will honor God. We go past the letter of the law to the meaning of the law. We watdh out for our fellow man. We live in a way of love for all. We do not abuse or waste what we are given by God. For every thing we have is a gift from God.

John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him. He told the two men that the Lamb of God was coming toward them. He told the men that they would learn more from Jesus. John was very willing to encourage his followers to leave him and follow Jesus. He knew that the men would learn more and get closer to God by traveling on. I am sure that John got blessing and grace from God for his selfless acts.

I feel that we need to get to know what is in our hearts. We need to go into the "heart" of the words instead of just surface meanings. We need to learn that love is the best way to deal with everyone that we meet. Only in these ways can we really be of the right mind to stand before God and be judged as a righteous person. Only these ways, we can really say that we deserve to be called a child of God.

By telling this parable, Jesus was telling us not ot wait till the end to apologize and seek forgiveness. But we need to step forward and do it right away. We need to seek forgiveness from anyone that we owe anything to. We need to be able to work out our differences no matter what they may be. We also need to keep our matters in good order with God. We never know when our last moment is going to be. We can not afford to wait till that point to try and make our hearts clear. For as we stand before God for the final judgement, we will not be able to make amends. We will be given a sentence based on what is in our hearts at that time.

When we worship while we are guilty of something in our brother's eyes, we are actually worshipping with a false and lying heart. We need to be able to approach God with a clean heart. We need to seek forgiveness for the things that we did that were wrong. At times, I do not feel that we can ask another for forgiveness. We might have done something to a person that had hurt us first. We might pur ourselves in a very dangerous situation by asking for forgiveness. we could actually go against a legal order to stay away from a person if we try to get forgiveness. We might actually hurt that person more if we were to go to them.

By callling people names, you are actually killing their spirits and their souls. So in all reality you are a killer. This can be worse than killing them outright. Because this pain can stick with them their whole life. I feel that if we would stop and realize how our anger and our words actually hurt people, we would try and only talk with love. We would be more patient of their faults because we would be more aware of our own faults. However, unlike outright murder, a person would be able to ask for forgiveness of their hurtful words. We would be able to ask for forgiveness from them and then ask God for forgiveness and help to be better people and to control our anger more. I also feel that we would stand up more for those people that were being bullied. We would want to save them from the hurt that they receive.

I feel that the church of today does not stress the laws of the Old Testament. The Ten Commandments are not stressed or taught to our youth as they once have been. The readings of the Old Testament has not remained a priority to the church leaders. These words are not part of many sermons these days. "Christian" leagalism in a church would be something to the effect that you have to give 10% of your salary to the church. and many people feel that this is the end of their responsibility. They do not feel that they need to give of their time or energy to help the church. and then there are those people who really have no income or salary, but they feel that they have nothing to give and they just show up on Sunday to service and that is all. However, there are those individuals who not only give of their money but also of their times and talents. They give the church a lot more than is expected. A church that does not have moral values is more likely to be a dead church. They live by the worldly values. They let money rule the success of the church. They hold the people and rules hostage with money . All principles and guidelines of the bible are forgotten, There is no heart or sould within the congregation.

When we decided to believe in Jesus and to ask Him to save us from ourselves, literally, we were set free from our sins. However, we as humans have a very hard time resisting temptation. We tend to forget how we are to live properly. We give in too much. The Holy Spirit was fiven to each of us to help us by being a guide. He does not remove our free will, but He gives a clue to right from wrong actions. He is like our inner voice telling us what is correct in most situations. It is up to us to listen to Him. Christ has saved me in a tremendous way. After my head injury, I was trying to be what everyone was telling me that I was or who I was. I could not really decide from right and wrong. I was really confused. Suicide was thought of more than once. But by the grace of God, my world was turned upside down. I found out that my past does not matter. It only matters in the here and now. If I give this moment my all and live in the light of Jesus, I am a person of God. If I do good, I am a pleasure for God. Sure, I find it hard but I know that if I back slide, God will be there for me. As long as I ask for forgiveness with a repenting heart, it will come my way. I will find that my heart feels lighter. As long as I ask for help, God will put me back on the right path.

We are all slaves to sin. Jesus paid the ransom for our sins by dying on the cross for us. The ransom for our lives was paid to God the Father with the blood of the Son. In all rights, Satan is the personification of sin. It is because of this influence in the world that sin even exists. Unless some one completely understands the Holy Trinity, it is impossible to understand the concept of the Son dying to pay the Father for us. and then for the Son to give us to the Father as adopted Children. At the times that these letters were written and the books published for all to read, this whole concept would have sounded like too many of the pagan ideas of gods and goddesses having mortal children. I feel that it would have only given more credit to the pagan beliefs and not the Christian concepts of that time.

We are not here on earth to do our own work or fulfill our own purposes. We are here to show honor, glory and praise to Jesus who bought us with His own life. we should be following all the teachings in the bible and following His examples on how we should live. We should give up the ways of the world, pick up our cross and follow the one who purchased us.

I find a much closer connection to Jesus in my soul. I realize that I have a much more greater challenge to live up to as an individual. I am not only responsible for myself but I am also resposible for my fellow man. I need to let go of myself and take up a cross for others. I find myself taking on a deeper appreciation for the Lord's Supper. I feel that each time I participate, I am once again renewing my love of Christ and the Father. I am lighting a new fire in my soul to become the best that I can be to show honor to God the Father. I find myself wanting to be more Christ-like. I want to be the beacon to others to follow my light to salvation in the name of Christ.

The priests on the Old Testament could actually be compared to Jesus in teh New Testament. They took on the sacrifice for the people upon themselves. Just as Christ took on the sacrifice for all men upon Himself. When we hare in the Lord's Supper now, we are actually taking on a part of the sins of others upon ourselves. we are promising to share in the redemption of others. We are sharing the concept of giving our lives to help others to become one with Jesus and the Father.

Koinonia means to participate and share. It means to join in on an action. To share in the blood of Christ means that we share in the sacrifice that Jesus made for us by making sacrifices of ourselves. We need to give selflessly of ourselves for others. We need to go that extra mile to help our fellow man.

Corinth was a church made up of mostly Gentile Jews. They had been under Roman rules with many of the gods and goddesses being honored within the city. To "live like a Corinthian" was to live recklessly in sin and debachery. The people were trying to honor two gods at the same time. They wanted to be part of the new Jewish faith, but they did not want to give up on their pagan ways. They did not want to live a cleaner life because they enjoyed the freedom of the Pagan ways of life. This life style would lead to the loss of the graces of God and the redemption for their sins.

The 'end of the term' is going to be the final ressurection and judgement of all people. This is when God will separate the good from the evil for the last time. The Holy Spirit is to be our guide, our inner voice that keeps us in the glory of God's graces. He is a sign in us that we have been redeemed in the blood of Jesus when he died on the cross for us.

God wants us to be a praise to His glory. He wants our lives to show the greatest of Jesus every day that we live. We need to be a light, a beacon for all to see. We need to live by Jesus' love. Everything we do, we need to do to show the world that Jesus is in us. Matthew 5:13-16 tells us about this purpose. He defines how our lives are to be used for the purpose of showing the world who Jeus is. We need to show the world that "God is not dead."

Christ is to be the ultimate ruler on earth in the glorious second coming. God created everything to fulfill a purpose. This includes all animals, plants, insects, birds, fish and humans. We are all the creation of god. There is an inter-twining of all things. there is an all- encompassing togetherness of all that is. 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 gives us a clearer understanding of the steps that will need to take place for God to be the all in all in the absolute end. God will be the supreme ruler even over His own son.

I was a slave to worldly values. I felt that I had no value if I did not have the best of everything. I placed all my importance into what others thought of me, what I got paid at work, how I dressed and what presents I gave to my kids. Without redemption, my life would have been meaningless. MY future would hve no value. I would find no comfort in anything. I would have worked myself to death for no reason. I would have seen myself as a failure when I was not able to buy my kids the newest games or the best clothes or put them into the biggest and best college. I no longer have that low self esteem. I see that I have value as a person. I find that I am joyous if I put a smile on anther person's face just by doing a simple little task. I no longer care that my kids do not keep up with their friends. I am hoping that they understand the importance of love and time spent together instead of playing on the latest electronic device.

I believe that we need to show our light to the world. We need to go out to all nations and share the love of Jesus with everyone. We cannot shut ourselves off from the world, or else, we are not following the path that Jesus set before us and the apostles. I feel that everyday, we need to search our consciousness to determine if we need to let go of some worldly sin. we need to keep separate from sin but still live in this world. Be an example to others. If we go shopping, we don't need to buy the biggest or the best of something, we just need to buy what is sufficient to take care of our needs. We need to avoid temptations and set the examples.

We need to give all our praises to God. We need to rejoice in the fact that He is who He is. We need to keep holy His name. Some songs that I love to sing are: Awesome God Awesome is this Place BLessed Be Your Name Everlasting God. Glory God of this City Great is the Lord How Great is Our God You are Holy

Christians are taught about the loving forgiveness of God the Father. They understand that Jesus died to save all who believe in Him. We are taught that our sins were washed away long ago by the blood of Jesus during the crucifixion. We are taught that God is a loving and forgiving God. With all of these teachings, it is very hard to accept the fact that God would send someone into eternal punishment. But then, this thinking has spurred other thoughts in my mind. God gives us ample time and opportunities to give up our sinful lives. All we need to do is repent. However, I am sure that there are a lot of people who refuse to do this. There are those who do acts so evil to their fellow man that there is no way for them to repent. In those situations, I would say that eternal punishment is what they really do deserve. I am thinking of those that abuse children, those that deal with child ****, muderers, any one who does not believe in the sanctity of life.

The 144,000 provide us with the ultimate goals in life. They avoided all worldly temptations. They follow the path that Jesus and God supplied them with on a daily basis. They have dedicated their works to God as an offering for His Glory. They honor God with their truthful life. And they are spotless because of their bein truly washed in the blood of the ultimate sacrifice and truly living a life that honors Jesus.

I feel that liberal Christian Scholars are always looking for new ways to interpret the bible. They are more concerned with making the bible a science book nore than a living history book. They are out for the glory that would get for rediscovering the truth twisted in their own way. They need to prove things in a tangeble scientific way otherwise they cannot get a grasp on the concept personally. These are people who lack real faith. They can prove other things but they cannot prove this.

Jesus paid for our debts to God with His own life. He saved us from the torment of sin and gave us a new life of grace. We would not have been able to pay the price for our sin on our own. He gave us the name as the adopted sons and daughters of God.