JoanG

Those people that were either slaves or indentured servants were freed by payment of a redemtion price. I feel that Jesus, Peter and Paul used this analogy to show how common man was a slave to sin and the evils that were so common in the world back then. And I feel that this explains people's backsliding into sin now.

John's baptism was to be used as a renewing of faith. The Israelites had basically been on their own for 400 years. There had been no one to keep the people honest in their love of God. They had strayed from God to the worldly ways. He was to use the symbol of the baptism of water to start to open the hearts of man to their God again. The baptism of Jesus is to create a new chosen people. It is to not only open people's heart to God but to bring people closer to the Father in a more profound relationship. He challenges people to step out and follow God's purpose for their lives. He wants us to give up the worldly ways and follow Him to our heavenly ways. Baptism of the Holy Spirit is when we get filled with the Spirit of God. When we accept Jesus we are immersed in His graces. We are filled with an energy that changes our whole life. This is the energy that filled the apostles.

After studying all of the passages, I have personally chosen 1Peter 2:24-25. Not only does this passage sum up the concepts and lessons of Isaiah 53, but it also speaks to my soul. It tells how Jesus died. It tells why He died. But it also tells how He is glorified and watches over me. It clearly states that He watchs out for my soul. The fact, that I too am compared to a lamb, makes me feel the bond with Jesus as my brother. I know that He has my back because He is the ultimate Shepherd.

The difference of the resurrection and the ascension are these: 1) The resurrection is when Jesus rose from the grave to conquer death. 2) The resurrection was His last task to fulfill in His human form. 3) His resurrection was the 1st act, that people saw, that showed His holiness as the Son of God. 4) With His resurrection, Jesus fulfilled all of the Old Testament prophecies. 5) The ascention is Jesus returning to His heavenly place at the right hand of the Father. He is now in His full glory, no longer to have to swuffer in a human way. These two actions fit together because they both show Jesus as the Son of God. He no longer has to hide His complete glory. He is now able to radiate His inner light. He is able to come to us as He did in the Old Testament when He showed Himself to the prophets. The ascension in the completion of the Resurrection because the heavenly Jesus that came out of the grave is now returned to the Heavens under His own power. To me this seems like the ultimate completion to His life here on earth.

We should be a "dwelling place for God in the Spirit" by being faithful to His word and commandments. By worshipping with our whole being. We should be able to have love radiate from ourselves and rain down on everyone present. We should go outside of our congregation and be a light source to all. We should be a welcoming beacon for all who need help, a friendly place to feel safe. As we start to share openly and work together on common goals, we as a congregation grow in the spirit collectively. Our personal spiritual life will be transforming of ourselves and this will bring about great change.

The antichrist will only come when he is let loose on the world. He is the ultimate in civil unrest. He will cause chaos on all forms of religion. He will have a helper in the false prophet. This person will help start a state type of religion. There will be miracles performed to try to convince people that they are the real thing. They will start a world wide marshal law society. They will persecute all who speak against them.

The term adopted by God means that He has chosen to love and care for me even though I am not perfect. I might not have been one of the chosen nation, but God loves me just the same. He has a place for me in His kingdom in heaven.

Jesus had a physical body with His wounds still being completely visible. He was not an angel or a spirit. He was able to cloak His identity from others until He wanted to reveal Himself to them. He was able to transform His appearance at will. He was able to pass through solid objects with ease. He was able to appear in someone's presence instantly and disappear just as easily.

I feel that the fact that the clothes were laying there undisturbed would cause one to believe that the body passed through the clothes. When Jesus has Lazarus raise from the dead, the clothes had to be unwrapped from his body. But here they were just lying there. This would have caused me to believe that a miracle had happened. And knowing the Jesus said He was going to be raised from the dead on the 3rd day, I would have believed that is exactly what happened had I been there.

The statement Lamb of God tells us that Jesus came in peace from the Father in heaven. His ministry was to be one of peaceful fulfillment of the Father's will and a loving guide to all who would listen to Him. Jesus came to take away the sins of the world. He is to be the salvation for all people not just the Jewish nation. Jesus fulfilled Isaiah 53 in all the ways. He was nailed to the cross which meant that His flesh was pierced. His spirit was completely crushed by the events of the day. The wounds that He received were our saving grace. The blood that was poured ou of His body was in atonement for our sins.

All the verses in this question have to do with being a witness for Christ. We are not to fear persecution because it is going to happen. We need to be williing to share in all of God's teachings to the world. This will show the true glory of God our Father. By alllowing the glory of God to shing from us, we are challenging the way people live. We are showing that there is a higher and more human and more loving way to live. We are literally calling the worldly people to the carpet of judgement. And this action causes the worldly people to become angry and resentful. They will look to attack us back. But they will attack us with the untruths and influences of evil intent. However, there are those few people that we just might lead to God and a better way of life.

The apostles and prophets have helped to keep the scriptures alive for me. They have helped to share God's words with the world. They give me a challenge to follow in their footsteps and to follow the will of the Father. I feel that these people can be a very good examples to the congregations of today. They shared God's love with all people. They followed the examples of Jesus. They lived by true faith. We should trust in Jesus Christ for everything. We should allow His love to radiate from all of us. We need to follow all of His examples on how to treat each other. I feel a congregation grows when we have the Holy Spirit that radiates from all who worship together. There is an uncontrolable amount of energy that permiates into everyone's soul. There is an ultimate welcoming feelining that draws people to us. The more people that enter into worship, the more energy that is produced and it just keeps going. It is contagious.

Jesus came to earth as a human to teach us a new way of living. However, many had hard hearts and would not listen to His words. They insisted that they were better than Him and decided that He needed to be silenced before too many people followed Him and not them. Jesus refused to be silenced. So He took it upon Himself to reunite those that believed in Him to God the Father. However, we were unworthy of that great connection. So Jesus took oujr unworthyness upon Himself and bestowed grace to us and died for all our sins, then, now and in the future.

I am sure that everything done to Him on that day was pain meant for my sins. I just cannot express each and every ounce of pain that He endured silently for me. From the crown of thorns, to each crack of the whip to the final second that He died, He did this for me. How is it possible to comprehend this kind of love.

The Lord's Supper proclaims that Christ came to give up His life for our sins. His body was going to be broken and His blood was going to be spilled for the sacrifice for our sins. The proclamation is made 1st to the apostles and now is shared with all who have ears. It is so important because it shows us how Christ died for us. He loved us so much and wanted to reunite us to God as His children. I feel that the church would do a great injustice to people by changing this most important message that Christ gave us. I think that it would cause people to really wonder why they are worshipping. I also feel that it would cause people to go else where to find answers that satisfy their souls.

Christ's death was the start of the salvation for the world. He took all of our sins upon Himself and we received forgiveness and grace from God. The whole principal of forgiveness and grace would no longer mean anything. We once again would become prisoners to our sins. We would once again be tempted by worldly ideas more than we are now. Personally, I would lose a strong purpose in my life. My life could probably turn into chaos that it once when Jesus was not in my life.

Holy means that we were separated by God from the others. We were adopted by him to become His sons and daughters. We can stand blameless before God because Jesus died for our sins. We are made clean because we were washed in the blood of the Ultimate Sacrifice.

If we batle evil forces with the armor of Christ, we will win over evil. Those, that love Jesus enough to sacrifice their own lives so that His teachings will live on, will have life eternal. It is acknowledging that we are redeemed and holy because of this blood. When we feel that we are afraid to die or we do not do things because of that fear of dying, we do not have full spiritual connection with Christ. Without this love in Christ, we are still lacking in our whole spirituality.

There have always been a battle between good and evilHowever, this is being deemed as the ultimate battle. Our faith is going to be tested to the max. We are going to have to face death for our beliefs. Satan is going to deo all that he can to destroy the whole church on earth. No one is going to be safe on this planet. God is going to protect His children with eternal life. We will get our reward when it is all over. We will reign with Him in heaven.

John the Baptist was very humble in his work. He never boasted to be more than he was. He knew what God was asking hin to do and he did it to the absolute best of his ability. He put his whole heart and soul into honoring God. He knew that the Messiah was coming. He also knew that he was not even worthy enough to act as a house-slave to Him. His heart nees to be in the right place to be so humble. He knows that he is only doing God's will. He knows that God is personally directing his actions. I truly feel that a person can speak with tghe love of God and from God very powerfully and still be humble because he gives God all the credit for his words.

" Members of God's household." Wow, that is a really intense thought for me. It tells me that I am to live with God and angels and saints in heaven. It really signifies that I belong to God. I belong with Him as an adopted child. I am in harmony with all the angels that are in the heavenly realm. It all proves that God is the ultimate love. There should be a feeling of acceptance to all at the local church. There should be a loving and caring feeling for all to worship. A person should be able to enter a church and feel safe. There should not be anyone who looks down their noses at any of the new people. I think that a Christian who does not share their faith with others can be very lonely. Their faith can become stagnant.

We are citizens of the Christian family. We all share the same Father and the same brother. The same Holy Spirit dwells within each of us. I feel we are "holy" because the Holy Spirit dwells in each of us. We are actually considered a temple in which one can find God in our hearts.

We need to feel a closeness to the Father. We need to be able to talk to Him and to share our love and concerns with Him. We have a special access to Him. We are His children and therefore we are like diplomates in His kingdom. We obtain this access through accepting Jesus as our savior and our brother. The two greatest commandments are: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. Love your neighbor as yourself. If we truly accept God as our Father, we love Him totally. We go to Him and pour our whole selves into the relationship. We honor and praise Him. We go to Him for help. We hide nothing from Him. And the only way that this is possible is if we have access directly to Him. If we love Jesus and God so much, we accept and love the others who share this with us. We become a big family by our faith.

These two witnesses are not afriad to tell the people what is going to happen. They are not afraid to use the power that God has given them. They are willing to use their powers to show the people on earth the greatness of God. They show no fear when it is their time to die. Their reward for doing God's work here on earth is that they are raised from the dead and taken up into heaven. Their enemies will watch their glorious transformation.

These two witnesses are not afriad to tell the people what is going to happen. They are not afraid to use the power that God has given them. They are willing to use their powers to show the people on earth the greatness of God. They show no fear when it is their time to die. Their reward for doing God's work here on earth is that they are raised from the dead and taken up into heaven. Their enemies will watch their glorious transformation.