Pat Beckner

What is wrong with the minister or pastor being modeled as the main worker in the body of Christ? For one thing it gives them too much power. It weakens the body and makes them lazy and therefore the community is not recieving what it needs from the church. When we come together in church, it should be to worship God and then to be taught and then to be equipped to go into the world to spread the gospel. God never intended for one man to do all that...that is why we are many members. If only the brain is working but none of the members...what can be done..the brain can think to do something but if the feet can't go there, if the mouth can't speak,if the hand can't give...then what good is the brain?

Webster says that if we endeavor, we EXERT to do or effect something; STRIVE to attempt;STRENEOUS EFFORT and LABOR........................If I look at the cross and even begin to see the endeavor Christ made to make peace between us and God, then I can see more clearly where I need to grow.

Without patience and humility, we can find ourselves destroying what Christ died for. It is such a fine line between our docterine and our Christ, between what I believe and who I believe. We must all rely on Christ to be our sourse. Afterall, it is Him that we can have a relationship with...not our docterine. It is Christ who saves us, not what we believe. No matter how much I love my docterine, it will never love me back. Christ does love us. Through Christ, we will be humble and patient but in the flesh, we will be stubborn and demanding.

To live a life as Holy as the Lord has shown to us. Would I shed my blood for he who has wronged me? Yet that is what Christ did for me. Will I forever remember the wrong done to me or will I follow Christ in the path of blotting out the transgressions? Shall I turn the other cheek or be crushed under the devils blows to my spititual growth? To walk worthy is to let Christ rule in my life.

What do we learn about God in Revelation 7 1-4 and Ezekial 9? Our God will protect his chosen people. The chosen are the obedient. They are the ones who detest evil and make no excuses for evil. Judgement begins at the house of God with those responsable for teaching the flock. In the final judgement, there will be no excuses and no mercy on the disobedient and nonrepentant. As we learned in chapter 1, the Word of God will drown out all the "i think" And what we think will no longer be heard. Amen.

As we learned in the first week, Christ sees all...knows all about us better than we do ourselves. He will know when there is noone left seeking His purpose in their lives. He will know when every possable chance has been given and He will know when destruction is all that can be done to cleanse the earth of sin. He will open the seals because He is worthy but it is the hardness of men's hearts that inituates the destruction. It is the love of self rather than love toward God that will cause the destruction.

when we mix Judge not with not judging the sin.......we have to judge sin and keep it out of the church.....it has to be taught against, not accepted...if I really love my brother, i do not want him to miss eternal life and the sin i accept in his life because i love him causes him hurt and also everyone else who might follow his example. sin is not a personal issue because it affects everyone we touch.

we leave our first love when we no longer have the zeal we started with and when we allow false doctorine to be taught and accepted in the church

it is a great comfort to think of Christ walking among us, the church....God of all power and glory communicating with us and sharing power with us, I love this study

Christ among the churches, God who had been human and died who is now and forever alive...glowing with pureness and holiness...He sees and hears and knows all...His voice and His word drowning out the sound of all other voices and words being the final judge, He has authority over all. And to think He came to earth as a poor shepherd boy to walk as a human, to be with us and to show us the way......self sacrafice and love and holiness. Wow.

Every member has recieved by grace, a portion.....according to God's divine will. The gifts are the power and influence of the Holy Spirit that enable us to be prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to perfect our work of ministry. Matthew 25 14-30 teaches us that Christ has taken journey to a far country but has left with each of his servants a different measure of talents. The one with 5 talents went to work and doubled his portion and likewise the one given two. But the one who only recieved 1 talent was AFRAID and buried his talent. When Christ comes back, those who put their talent to work were given more but the one who did not prosper lost all that he had. God called that servant wicked and slothful. If we put our talents to work, we will hear "well done thou good and faithful servant"

just something intresting i found about unity.........Romans 12 vs 1 I beseech you therefore bretheren,by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies [plural] a living sacrafice [singular] Together we make a living sacrafice...1 unit....

There's that perfection number again...7. I think when I read it like that, I can see that we are one with God....He being the head and we the body ....each member growing into perfection....overcoming by the Spirit, having hope in the Lord because through the faith and baptism, we are his own body being healed and made perfect. It makes our imperfections seem almost trivial because I see that there is no way as a member of the body, I will not grow into that perfection. I also have new insight into not judging other members of the same body...They and I are one in Christ.....melded together into the same hope of perfection being worked through us by Christ.

I am "called" as a child of God, a joint heir with Jesus Christ. The church is His body so my attitudes should be that of peace and unity in the church...reflecting God's love and patience to all. Unity is worthy because the body cannot accomplish anything without it. Seperation from fellow Christians causes the body to not grow properly. We must be humble, gentle, patient,loving and peaceful to accomplish the bond of peace....unity. I suppose that some of these attributes are more difficult to accomplish in one member than in another but If we have the love right, we will be willing to go to the limits in the other areas. Sometimes it is difficult to be patient with someone we percieve as "in the wrong"

God by means of the Holy Spirit should be dwelling in the Spiritual temple, the hearts of the congregation. This temple, composed of living stones mortered together with truth and love, has a Holy priesthood and makes Spiritual sacrifices. We are to be the habitation on earth for God.....doing what He wants done on earth. To bring this about, we must all yield to the leadership, striving for truth and unity. We must support the weak members til they become stronger and build up the truth in every aspect of our lives. We should be seeking out those who have quit assembling so that the body does not lose out on the special gifts they have for the body to develop correctly.

That's a lot of questions....a lot of thinking required. The apostles[ new testament] and prophets[ old testament] contribute to our lives today by their ministry and example. Their teachings are founded upon the chief cornerstone, Jesus Christ. The church is not a physical building but a ever growing organism made of lively stones[1Peter2:5] As we give our lives to the authority of Christ, we meld into one body having one goal and purpose....the glory of Jesus Christ. Our will is lost in this process and we take on a new character...no longer of the flesh but of the Spirit.

The good Father above is the provider of all things needed by his family. He knows us each individualy and knows our weaknesses and strengths. He knows which ones can be depended on and which ones need extra help. He is constantly overseeing his family providing comfort, instruction and sometimes chastisement. Fellowship and Unity in the family is important so that the family does not become disfunctional. Each member provides a different role in the body.When a member doesn't accept their place or doesn't assemble, that member has cut himself off from growth and it seems even causes the rest of the building not to grow as it should. [in whom the whole building being fitted together].

Access to the Father is important because without it, we are not members of his family, without hope....seperated from the community of God's people, strangers. Because we now have access, we are citizens of His kingdom His children. We have this access because Christ made our peace, moved the partition between us with his blood. Now as citizens and children we love our Lord who has adopted us into his kingdom, giving us hope. We also love our fellow citizens because our king loves them likewise. Together we are working to help build our great kingdom. "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exault you in due time. 1Peter 5:6

I believe it means that Christ [the Word] has total power over the church and that the church recieves all power according to it's submission to Christ.

If we can believe, if we can overcome doubt, all power is in us to do all that is God's will. Help our unbelief.

Christ seated at the right hand of God in heavenly realms is significant because it proves that He had dominion over all powers. Through obedience, He obtained victory over all. The last enemy is death.....His resurection proved victory over all demonic forces. Every force is under his feet. When all things are subject to Him, then God is all in all.

#1. if our eyes were fully opened to the power that we have in Christ, the devil would no longer be able to decieve us. We would take the authority that we already have and satan would not be able to even plant a thought in our mind....we would not give him any room. #2. Since our eyes are not completely open, we lack faith to take our rightful place in Christ. #3. the exceeding greatness of His power is in us. #4. The resurection of Christ from the dead is the example of God's power used here. .......we do not have to be a victum to sin because Christ in us has already defeated all sin. There is no need to fear.....Jesus has already won the battle for us.

If we were under the jewish law and sinned, we would have to confess which is hard on the pride. Then we would have to buy an expensive lamb. Then we would have to lay our hands on that lamb and kill the innocent creature for our sin.That was hard on the conscience. Our sin hurts others just as the sin in that time killed that innocent lamb. Then the priest would gather the blood and pour it out at the base of the alter. The priest had to do this gross deed for our sin. The decision to sin does not just affect me, it affects everyone around me. Sin is degrading, expensive, cruel, and troubling to everyone around it. God's mercy allowed the people of that time to make sacrafice for sin but part of the mercy was in all the lessons that sacrafice taught. What a loving, kind, patient Father we have.

It appears to me that the elements of the sin offering were to #1 to confess, #2 a lamb without blemish, and #3 a priest to sprinkle the blood, pour out the blood and to burn the fat. Today I must confess my sins to Christ who as the lamb is the sacrafice and also as the priest, has made atonement for my sins.

As a mother, I know the dissappointment of a rebellious child. I also know how hard it is to punish that child but know it must be done for the child's own good. It is not done out of anger but rather love when instruction has failed. God chastens those He loves to help us overcome the things we do wrong. I am thankful for that chastening. As believers though, I believe that anger does not have a part in the Christian walk. [Galatians 5: 16-22.] We are called to peace, not to judge and be angry. Eph. 4:26&31, Col. 3: 8, 1Tim.2:8, James 1: 19-20 I must live in patience and sorrow for sin and have that humble spirit so that I am not overcome with anger.