Bernard Baker

I think this may answer todays question, but mainly are thoughts gathered passing through life. CELEBRATION Every year we celebrate the birth of our Jesus the Savior and it is right that we should. Every year at Easter time we celebrate His death burial and resurrection, again the right thing to do, but when are we going to start celebrating that third important date with the same amount of enthusiasm? The day His kingdom came. Do you remember, we were in the temple praying and worshipping when something never before seen or heard happened? Acts 2:1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tonguesA as the Spirit enabled them Yes, that is when it happened and when we who later were to call ourselves Christians left that place we knew we never would be the same again. It was what Jesus had been teaching from the beginning, but none of us had really grasped it. It was the beginning of our living our lives for someone other then ourselves and when it was over a lot of us would die the same kind of death as our Savior. The truth of this is something He told us shortly before He finished the work the Father had sent Him to do. Mark 9:1And he said to them, "I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power." Also you may recall the three years He spent with us as man He related many parables to us about "The Kingdom of God" or "The Kingdom of Heaven" and in the prayer He taught us to pray, one of the pleas was, "Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" Is it possible he allowed the tragic events of 9/11/01 to happen to shake us up? Don't you believe He may be thinking, " Two thousand years already, and what are you doing to make it happen, are you with me or against me? So if there is a moral to this, all those who are waiting for that kingdom to come and rather hoping it doesn't come on our shift, beware, don't let it pass us by. Bernard Baker

We all agree that we are or were slaves to sin or the devil or the thief, but who was the ransom paid to. More and more it seems to me it was paid to us the redeemed. John 10:10 says, . 10"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." or in another version,"I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly." Another question, will the devil eventually be destroyed by the extent to which we believe? I believe so, maybe not in our lifetime. --------------------------------------------------------- Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV Copyright © 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

It seems the slaves of sin were the ones that were freed and since all of us were born sinners, that includes all. Jesus, Peter and Paul understood what a great price or gift had been paid to set us free and to become servant of God. About the Christian life and explaining it, maybe as we look at the world situation, perhaps we haven't got it yet. "At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved (douleuo) by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another." (Titus 3:3) About the question of who the ransom was paid to? Wasn't it perhaps paid by th Father to His Body the Church? In His Love, Bernard Baker

I believe there is a whole lot of Gideon in most of us, it's hard to see how we can be wrong. Although an older student this is my first attempt at anything like this. Did take sort of a free ride on the Luke series of lessons. Thanks for the material, perhaps I will be able to figure it out before lessons are over. Thanks, Bernie