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That I will suffer at times but God will be there to restore me and make me strong and give me the strength to carry on knowing that God will be my Strength and Supporter snd guide leading me till it is time for Him to call me home to be with Him. Knowing too that God will give me only what I can handle at any given time. He knows my limitations. Thank you Lord for your Grace and love . I receive from you so much more than I give back in return. How selfish I am to accept so much. Amen. Thank you Pastor for inviting me to take part in this Bible Study. I have enjoyed it and learned much from it. It was very well presented and made one think of his/her relationship to the Lord. Peace. Ann From Canada

Paul tells us to have control of ourselves, to remain alert, and to fight to resist the devil as he tries to influence us. We must be true to our faith and at the same time to be ready to suffer for our belief. God is there to carry us through the difficult times. Paul gives us basically the same conditions. Fight the devil and follow the shepherd.

We must be aware of the Devil or Saran at all times. I truly believe that he is more active in our times trhan in previous eras. The verse teaches that that we must always be aware of his presence no matter where we turn, It is important that God always be in our lives. At all times we must fight Satan, but knowing that God cares and wants us to put our trust in him helps me to keep the devil a little further from me. I am not saying that I am free of Satan but that knowing right from wrong and hopefully chosing what I think is the right path along with God's guidance I am freeing myself from him.

We should put our fears in God's hands for he cares for us. Taking our fears to God in prayer will help alleviate our troubles. Working them through with Him at our side makes things so much easier to handle. God will only give us what we can handle. He is there to care for us a parent cares for a child. Thank you Lord for being our Saviour and Guide. I will do as the Lord guides me and then try and carry on with my life.

To have a leader who is able to admit to a mistake. to be able to relate well to those under his care in a caring passionate way. I think you have to know the person before you put him/her in a place of leadership. This will come aboutas you experience the person in his home and community, and church activities. One who gives willingly of his/her time and talents will usually become a church and community leader. (many times this person is active in all levels in his /her community. They are the ones who will find the time to do or make the time!!!) Choosing the most popular person does not always make the best choice, The quiet, unassuming, caring person also has great gifts to offer in leadership.

There has to be guidelines in place to help prevent this. To limit authority too much also limits the work of God. It is sometimes difficult to test a person before bestowing authority, as in our church a newly ordained minister is settled into his first charge by a commitee of the conference court making a decision based on the wishes of an Ordinand and the needs of a Charge looking for a minister. Much prayer and reflection is taken before the final decision is atained by those involved. It is important that the guidelines set down are followed as closely as possible. No overstepping various church levels. Trust in one another is also important. Prayer and guidance from the Lord should abound. Sitting down and talking about the problem before it develops into a full blown catastrophe is essential.

If a person doesn't want the job than he isn't going to do much while in office. I think this attitude damages the church. If it can't be filled willinglythen it is best to leave the position vacant for awhile --- in time the right person will come forth to fill the position. Being put in unwillingly does not produce a good leader --- more damage can be done than good.

Basically I feel these words all basically the same> The pastor or minister would have more academic training and be more versed in the meaning of the Word. Elders and oversees I would see as more lay persons. However, considering these words they all are basically leadership figures that one could look up to , yet feel as if you are of no leeser worth. Humility is one of the most important qualities along with being able to relare to people.

It is the way to work on our belief -- to follow Jesus and further his work. We are not doing the work set out for us if we are not willing to die if need be. We have to commit ourself to His way. In our own community we are now faced with the the future of our local church and pastoral charge. Financially we are struggling, but love and mercy abounds. Being chair of the church council, remarks about how we are working on facing the problem will be a form of persecution for severaql of us. However, with the love and caring of our Lord, we know the work of the Lord will continue in our community. Maybe it won't be in the same church building that we will be worshipping, Maybe it will mean having a clergy person on a part time basis, Maybe the Laity are going to play a more important role in the ministry-- But by our committment to a faithful Creator we will continue to trust and love the Lord and work to spread his word.

People would view us as being uncaring, self righteous, or looking out only for ourselves. If people persecute me for believing in Christ and working for a better kigdom on earth, then I have to be happy that because of my belief/work, I am causing people to look more closely at heir own lives. Persecution by others can also be a form of jealousy of my happiness and knowing that I am Loved by God.

I do not have to go to a lower level of belief or ideal just because of someone else, I have to live my life so I am pleased with myself and more important that God is pleased with my actions. Showing humility with my fellow man will make me a better person or servant of God than my trying to extol greatness. Just knowing that I have a Saviour who gave up His life for me is enough for me to try and live my life fully throug any persecution that I amy experience.

Then I am moving away from Christ. I am going to a level where Satan is at work. I will not fully understand what it is to suffer as Jesus has for me. I must believe in what I am doing and by following christ I can. Yes many times I am pulled towards doing things I don't want to do and by leaning on God I can pull myself back on hte correct path Yes. I have observed this in other Christ. By Facing the persuction and wrath of others can often make you a much stronger person as your Belief and faith will grow stronger.

They are proclaiming themselves as the centre of the goodness. They probably lack maturity and security. They are not proclaiming God as the centre or source of their ability. My spiritual gifts are not, to many, very significant. However, I try to use the ones I have as best I can. I feel best in the 'back seat' but often find myself in the 'front' , helping to organize or lead. I think by being able to serve my church and community and also family, I am helping to use my gifts to God's glory. By not want to brag, My thirty five years in the classroom was a gift I hope that i was able to share with the children that I came in contact with. The gifts that they passed on to me number in the hundreds. Thank you, Lord, for those wonderful years.

Non Christians don't want to be reminded of their wrong doings. We, as Christians, are the same -- We are also hurt that we have lowered ourselves of our expectations. We have not only hurt ourselves but also those around us and most of all our Lord who gave His life for MY sins. The realization that we must give an acoounting of our actions inspires us to want to bring our actions up to a level acceptable in God's sight.. To do this we must exert more self control of our mental and physical actions. As a result we should accept the attitude of being alert.

Non Christians try to get you to sin with them as they feel it will bring you down to their 'level.' We are tempted so as not to be different, to be one of the crowd, etc. The resistance to temptation can be shown by refusing to go with them, by not participating, by being able to speak out that you don't go along with them. I have no difficulty with just not participating or saying "I'm sorry, but I just don't like that 'or I won't be there'. I know many times I have been called a 'goody goody' or eventually not asked to attend their gatherings. I am just not comfortable being in these situations.

We should try to assume a higher attitude than we are working on at present. I will never be free of sin but i can always work to achieve a better attitude in my life. Free will again can be used to make the correct choice -- we should strive for a higher level of pureness, keep away from the impurities of everyday life. We must choose to live our life after the pattern God has set down for us. This challenge can be a new life experience or adventure for us to fulfill.

Belonging to a church where baptism is usually done when a child, My parents did not follow that tradition. Instead I was baptised as a teenager when they felt I would understand what was being done. Jesus Christ is my Saviour and I try to follow his example. However, the road is rough and rocky at times but He is always there to carry me through difficult times. At times when I am struggling the hardest he is so close to me , walking with me and taking me by the hand that i Know I have a Saviour who really cares for me. Thank you Lord for caring for all of us. Amen. May the God of Love be with us all this day. Amen

My strongest impression is how One so lowly and yet so Divine chose to take my sins and the sins of all humanity to the cross of Calvary, and suffer such a horrible and humiliating death so that I can be saved from my human pitfalls. Through his love and sacrifice I can now go to the Father and be forgiven for my sins. I have been reassured that in the Father I will find grace, forgiveness and eventually a Heavenly home with him. What more can I want. However, I have to do my part in achieving this and try to live a goodly and useful life here on my earthly home. What a wonderful Saviour I have! Amen.

It is easier to choose the path of following the others. We don't want to stand out from the crowd. I have to work on all four as I have much to learn and understand.Perhaps what I am trying to achieve is to stand firm to what I believe and not to lower myself to lesser ideals but rather to bring others up to my understanding of God's love. Keeping a clear conscience is probably the one most needed in my situation.

I feel that these qualities are all very evident in our church. Our church family especially excels when anyone in our church or community (regardless of religious affliation) is having a difficult time due to sickness, loss of a loved one, etc. The support given is amazing. Being in a pastoral charge that has three separate congregations under one church council, I find that we do not as a pastoral charge do things well together. Interesting that as we study this portion of the Scripture, we are being faced with a bleak future for one of the churches and a life span of about ten years for the remaining two. Chairing a meeting several weeks ago we discussed how we can become one and do things together. By showing love and support towards each other I feel we can overcome our proudness and become humble and work towards the good of God's kingdom. We have to realize that the church in our community may not look as it is today, but that the work of God can be fulfilled in a new and more meaningful way. We have to be able to let go of the past and serve God in the way that he is preparing for us.

God knows all things. How can we pray to him knowing full well that we have in some way 'hurt' our spouse. The life we live is the one God sees and knows. If we do wrong can we expect God to support us? He will listen to our prayers, but at the same time he knows Satan is at work in us . We have to make the choice. Abuse is so abundant in out society today. Respect is not present in many marriages and God is there only in the passing of a moment when one needs him. We must struggle to be sure we are living our lives as God wishes us to. Pray to the Lord for guidance. Keep him near in your heart . With his love and your devotion to him and your spouse, he will hear your prayers. By being not true, God will still know of your injustices in spite of your prayers to him. Thank you Lord for walking with me and my husband each day. Amen.

I have difficulty answering these questions separately. A husband should express his love , concern and willingness to communicate with his wife on the same level and not feel that he is the more knowledgable or learned of the pair. He must treat her as an equal. and in return the wife must respect, love and treat her husband as an equal. I am so blessed in my relationship with my husband, as he shows me love, respect and treats me as an equal but also allows me to use my life to work which I think is valuable to me to fulfill what I think is expected of me in my life's journey. Encouragement by him to do well and to be happy is so beneficial. On the other hand I support him in his life expectations. Worshipping together and having Jesus in our lives makes our marriage even more blessed. Domination is present in a relationship when doubt, misunderstandings and lack of respect for each other is absence. We were created as equal in God's eyes and that cannot be changed. It takes time to be in a good marriage and it takes work to develop a good marriage and most important God has to be there to make it work well. A 'little' knowledge and 'less'domination, 'respect' for each other and the saving Grace of the Lord will go a long way.

A person cultivates inner beauty by putting her trust in God and letting him be the guiding force in our life. Our actions and words help to show our inner beauty. One gains character again by choosing to follow the Lord's teaching, not those around you. From following the Lord's teachings our values grow and with that comes the knowledge, peace, love and joy and other attributes that abound in and without of our lives. If we aren't true to God then who can we be true to. He who has given us so much and in return asks for so little. You have to be faithful in your love of God and in your marriage faithfulness, love and trust has to be there. I may not have great external beauty, but if I can relate to my spouse as my equal with love and trust. We will success in conquering whatever comes before us. Jealousy has no place in our relationship.

At all times we should be clean and neat. Looking your best maybe your "comfort' zone. Your appearance can also reflect back on your attitude about yourself, your family and your home. Spending too much time on your outward adornments takes away from the time you can spend with your loved ones and in your community. It also makes you self centered and eventually develop an attitude that "I can't possibly do that" or 'I am too busy.' I feel the balance , And as I grow older I feel that as long as I am neat and clean ` And not spending time on makeup (of which I rarely use) and trying to keep my home immaculate ( I do agree that it needs to be clean and well lived in) gives me more time to work in the church and in the community. The balance is to organize your life so the work of the Lord is foremost. From this the rest will 'fall in place'. Having support from my family is also important to me.

We find submission so difficult because we don't want to show our weakness, wrongness or at time s just plain old stupidness. 2. No. This is the time to speak out for our beliefs. Submission is wrong for Christians when we are disobeying the teachings of Christ. Our foremost ideal is to folow our Lord's example. If we lead follow his example, others may follow.