Darleen Nelson

One baptism means we have the obedience to be baptized as the scripture tells us. The great commission says baptising them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost with no mention of the proper procedure. With disunity over the form of baptism used there can be no unity in the body. The examples of the form baptism took in the Bible are clear but the purpose of baptism which is to fulfill God's instructions is more important than the mode used.

One body, one hope, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father. One God as it is He who is the foundation and conclusion of all the others. One Lord as His death put the rest in motion. With these elements given proper consideration is your life the others will fall into their proper places.

The Spirit brings this unity. We are to maintain the unity by focusing on God as our source for everything and not ourselves. The bond of peace is the unified presence that Christians can present to the world as we forget our differences and walk as Jesus walked. He loved everyone, Pharisees, Sadduccees, saints, sinners. No one was ignored or left out. He tried to bond them therefore this should be of primary importance to us.

We are to walk in humbleness, gentleness, patience and forbearance. I feel if we are truly humble we will acknowledge God as our source the gentleness and patience and forbearance will come naturally. We will be patient with others who may not be as far along in their walk with the Lord as we are as we remember how far He has taken us and how far we are from our ultimate goal. We will be gentle with others as we remember how gentle Godis with us. We will be forbearing of what we consider their faults as he does the same for us. I believe humility is the hardest attitude to consistently walk in as self wants its due and we must constantly remember who our source is.

Being in unity does not just happen. It takes conscious effort and can often be hard work. It requires putting others first, recognizing differences, being committed to disagreeing without being disagreeable. We are all one in the Spirit, have one future, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one Gos so let us dwell on the things that unite us and not our differences. This is what we are called to do.

A church building is not God's house but God's household is the people who have God living in them and show him to the watching world. They can see the God of love through the actions of the church body. We are all meant to be citizens of God's kingdom and members of His household. May we each daily walk so closely with him that it is obvious to all that our "church" has a special relaitonship with him.

I am a member of a very small but growing church and our lives are closely entwined. When one hurts we all hurt, when one rejoices all of us rejoice. we hold each other up as we share in the joys and problems in each other's lives. Jesus serves as the cornerstone as he is the foundation who provided for us all that is needed for our present existance and our future home in Heaven. We as a body grow to become the temple we are to be by staying in and studying the Word, being servants always willing to do what is needed, being submissive to all authority God has placed over us and listening to his voice whether in the form of the Word or through those who are over us in God's service.

God's churches are not a building but the fellowship of believers. Paul makes it easy to udnerstand by comparing the church membership to a building built to glorify God. The parts of the building are as different as each member but together they form a cooperative edifice for the glory of God. Unless you are a part of a "church" you are missing all the advantages that keep us strong and help us meet the needs we face each day.

We become God's people and as such are given certain responsibilities. We should live in such a way that the world recognizes us as being peculiar and different from nonbelievers. We are to live as Jesus lived and show his essence in our lives so all will know we are Christians. In this way we can become holy as God has called those who follow him.

We can't receive from God or be blessed by him unless we can reach him in some way. We can approach him with complete confidence that we will be received in his presence. Unless diplomatic relations have been established you cannot reach the authorities of the country with any request. You must either have access or go through someone else who does have it which is not often as effective. Diplomatic relations must be set up before anything of any importance can be done. We have this access through Jesus Christ who through his sacrifice enables us to have a free and personal relationship with the Father. This access enables us to love others with the love of Jesus and in that way keep the commandment to love.

God is at work with power that is greater than we can even imagine. It is working within us. It is not often demonstrated fully by believers because they are unaware of the power available to them. If we excercise Christ's power on earth God's glory is shown to others, unbelievers as well as believers.

We must understand the mighty power which the Chjristians received when they are converted and which leads them to live to their Redeemer's glory. Christ fills the church with gifts and blessings therefore the Church should be the expression of Christ who Himself flills everything.

Sanctified souls sit in heavenly places raised above the world by God's grace. This is a free gift of God and the effect of being quickened by His power. Thus we are destined to glorify God through the changes He has done for us. Because of Christ's Ressurrection we know that our body will also be raised form the dead and that we have been given the power to live as Christians now. Our eternal life with Christ is certian becuase we are united in his powerful victory.

God has won the final victory and is in control ov everything. We need not fear any dictator or nation or even death or Satan himself. The contract has been signed andsealed and is just waiting for delivery.

What God has done is so wonderful and powerful it must be seen with spiritual eyes. They had nothing in the natural to compare it to so they can't comprehend what has happened and what it means. The power operates in the spiritual realm and must be looked at differently than natural happenings. The example of the power God has performed was the Resurrection. The power God used in the resurrection makes any power found on earth seem like no power at all. This even includes atomic power. Praise the Lord, the power used in the resurreciton is available to me. Nothing is too difficult through the power of God.

He is considered equal to God or He would not be seated next to HIm. John 1:1 says "In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God and He was God." (New Living Translation)

Christ proved He was worthy to take the scroll and open its seals by prefectly completeing God's plan for salvation. With His conquest of sin, death, and hell He is equipped to be trusted with the future of God's people. His blood is the ransom for us and with it He pain the complete price.

We are rulers along with Christ bot just as He has no rule on earth at the present time neither do we. The verse says we shall reign on earth and as all Scriptures it is to be believed.

The lamb represents Jesus Christ the one chosen by God to be the sacrifice to remove our sins. Standing after being slain shows us His resucrrection from the dead. He is no longer dead but lives and reigns with God His Father. The horns represent the strengthj and power. Even though Christ was the sacrifical lamb He was not weak. His death, which may show weakness, was necessary to the completeness of God's plan. The eyes represent the seven lamps and the one Spirit. The represents also the completeness of Christ. The number seven is used to represent the perfect number and completeness. The lamb has the qualities of being the completeness of God's plan of salvation and the perfeciton of His works.

I am sorry I failed to reply to the other part of the question. As the root of David Jesus completes his position as a member of the family of David which was set up as the source of the redeemer who would come to save the world.

Jesus is pirctured both as the Lion symbolizing power and authority and the lamb symbolizing HIs submission to God's will. As a lamb Christ was the perfect sacrifice and He is the only one who can save us from the consequences of our sins. As the lion, Christ is victorious because of what the lamb has done already and we are therefore able to participate in Jesus' victory.

Jesus has promised each believer a place at the wedding supper in which every believer will be a partaker. The disciples faced the temporary loss of their leader but the promise of being together again in God's kingdom would help them through this time. Also the mission given them, and also handed on to us, to bring others into the kingdom, gave them the incentive to work in the Lord's business. We are reminded of Jesus' sacrifice each time we take part in the Lord's Supper but also of what His death purchased for us.

The sorrow comes from the fact that our sins made it necessary for Jesus to suffer and die for us. If man had remained in his created state this would not have been necessary. But the joy comes from the fact that we receive foregiveness, salvation and the promise of eternal life because of what Jesus did.

The whole purpose of Jesus' death was to bring us God's forgivenss and according to Jesus' Words unless we are willng to forgive others we don't receive forgiveness.. Mark 11:25 warns that if we are praying and remember someone who has aught against we must go to them and receive forgiveness before you will be able to continue your prayers and have them answered. This does away with these people who claim they have not been able to forgive people for things they have done to them for years and years. Be quick to forgive that you may be forgiven quickly.

The Passover and the blood placed on the doorframes foreshadowed Jesus' work on the cross. The Lord's Supper commerates Jesus' death on the cross for our salvation. The broken bread is a remberance of His body that was broken for us and the wine to remind us of His shed blood. Each time we participate in the Lord's Supper we must prepare ourselves so that it serves as a reminder of what Jesus did for us. The Jews were not allowed to even eat meat with the blood in it so this was a real challenge for them to accept Jesus' statements concerning drinking His blood. We must be able to recognize the symbolism that is brought out in the body and blood to be able to take part in this blessed sacrament.