Jubilee

The old model of the minister or pastor being the main worker in the church is not the will of God. This old model intercep the plan of God. It hinders the growth and maturity of people in the congregation. God's plan is for the Church community to be equipped and "to prepare God's people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up." The community hurts badly when only the leaders are working to build the Churchis weak, it is sick. The purpose of pastors and teachers is to equip, prepare, and train the believers so they can learn to function in their own ministries. Pastors and teachers are to motivate, and deploy the people in a variety of ministries according the gifts of each member, all of whom bring strength and depth to the ministry of the Body as a whole, and which bring about the maturity of the Body.

A person may have the spiritual gift of pastor or teacher without having an official position in a church because it is God that the person serves in this gift. In a church where the "senior pastor" does not have the spiritual gift of pastor so much as of faith, leadership, teaching, or administration. The Holy Spirit is the giver of these gifts.

We can stir up the gift of evangelism among members of our congregation by encouraging those who show interest in this ministry/commission entrusted to the church by Jesus. The earmarks of a person with this gift is our modern day evangelist who travels from place to place teaching and preaching the good news to both saved and the unsaved. We can encourage and stimulate the Spirit-gifteds evangelists in our midst by supporting them financially and by praying for them and their families that the Lord would open the door for them to teach and preach his Word.

If there were apostles today their function would be similar to that of the original twelve apostles chosen by Jesus. They would be leaders and their main role is to teach the Word of God and maintain administrative roles as overseers of churches. The needs that our congregations and regional groupings of churches have that an apostle might meet is an admonition by Paul to Timothy, "study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15). The world also meet the requirement to, "preach the Word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." (2 Timothy 2:4). We might detect false apostles (2 Corinthians 11:13; Revelation 2:2) by the fruits they bear in the vineyard of the Lord (Matthew 7:15-20).

The old model of the minister or pastor being the main worker in the Church is not the will of God. This old model intercep the plan of God. It hinders the growth and maturity of people in the congregation. God's plan is for the Church community to be equipped and to "prepare God's people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up." The community hurts badly when only the leaders are working to build the Church is weak, it is sick. The purpose of pastors and teachers is to equip, prepare, and train the believers so they can learn to function in their own ministries. Pastors and teachers are to motivate, and deploy the people in a variety of ministries according to the gifts of each member, all of whom bring strength and depth to the ministry of the Body as a whole, and which bring about the maturity of the Body.

A person may have the spiritual gift of pastor or teacher without having an official position in a church because it is God that the person serves in this gift. In a church where the "senoir pastor" does not have the spiritual gift of pastor so much as of faith, leadership, teaching, or administration. The Holy Spirit is the giver of these gifts.

We can stir up the gift of evangelism among members of our congregation by encouraging those who show interest in this ministry/commission entrusted to the Church. The earmarks of a person with thius gift is our modern day evangelist who travels from place to placew teaching and preaching the good news to both saved and the unsaved. We can encourage and stimulate the Spirit-gifted evangelists in our midst by supporting them financially and by praying for them and their families that the Lord would open the door for them to teach and preach his Word.

If there were apostles today their function would be similar to that of the original twelve apostles chosen by Jesus. They would be leaders and their main role is to teach the Word of God and maintain administrative roles as overseers of churches. The needs that our congregations and regional groupings of churches have that an apostle might meet is an admonition by Paul to Timothy, "study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15). The world also meet the requirement to, "preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." (2 Timothy 2:4). We might detect false apostles (2Corinthians 11:13; Revelation 2:2) by the fruits they bear in the vineyards of the Lord (Matthew 7:15-20).

It is God who gives spiritual gifts. Yes. I believe our "natural" talents can be related to our "spiritual" gifts. God is the giver of all good gifts. He is the One who endowed us with both the natural and spiritual gifts. It is God who gave us both the "natural talents" and the "spiritual gifts" to empower and build the Body of Christ. Natural God-given talent is that of being a good musician and a good athlete. Spiritual gift is given to an individual for edifying and building up the Body of Christ. Both are given by God for a purpose in the Body of Christ.

To expend on Christian unity we must put much energy into it. We must make every effort and be conscientious and zealously make the effort to actively guard this unity. The "bond of peace" is the ligament which hold together the Body in peace. We are called to be peace makers and to live at peace with one another. We strike at peace when we become prideful, thinking that our ideas are better of than the rest of the members of the Body of Christ.

Patience and humility are so important to preserving unity because without these qualities we can not establish strong community. When we have right doctrine along with a sense of arrogance towards those who disagree with us we make a mockery of the teachings of Jesus and the Word of God will die within us. To be both "gentle" and to "fight the good fight of faith" we are to be im itators of Jesus Christ who took no offense at people. We are to allow the seed of the Word grow within us to get rid of all bitterness.

According to versae 1 the standard of our behavior is to follow Jesus, and to be like him. We are to live our lives in such a way that we bring credit (glory) to him. The "calling" is a general calling to be disciples, anf followers of Jesus. The way we walk, live a life, or lead a life must be worthy of the One who has called us to follow him.

It is God who gives spiritual gifts. Yes. I believe our "natural" talents can be related to our "spiritual" gifts. God is the giver of all good gifts. He is the One who endowed us with both the natural and the spiritual gifts. It is God who gave us both the "natural talents" and the "spiritual gifts" to empower and build the Body of Christ. Natural God-given talent is that of being a good musician and a good athlete. Spiritual gift is given to an individual for edifying and building up the Body of Christ. Both are given by God for a purpose in the Body of Christ.

To expend on Christian unity we must put much energy into it. We must make every effort and be conscientious and zealously make the effort to actively guard this unity. The "bond of peace" is the ligament which hold together the Body in peace. We are called to be peace makersa and to live at peace with one another. We strike at peace when we become prideful, thinking trhat our ideas are better of than the rest of the members of the Body of Christ.

Patience and humility are so important to preserving unity because without these qualities we can not establish strong community. When we have right doctrine along with a sense of arrogance towards those who disagreen with us we make a mockery of the teachings of Jesus and the Word of God will die within us. To be both "gentle" and to "fight the good fight of faith" we are to be imitators of Jesus Christ who took no offense at people. We are to allow the seed of the Word grow within us to get rid of all bitterness.

According to verse 1 the standard of our behavior is to follow Jesus, and to be like him. We are to live our lives in such a way that we bring credit (glory) to him. The "calling" is a general calling to be disciples, and followers of Jesus. The way we walk, live a life, or lead a life must be worthy of the One who has called us to follow him.

If bringing glory to God were considered the very most important function of the church, my own congregation must do away with offense and learn how to walk in God-kind of love, replacing people-centered programs with focusing on Christ-centered programs. If bringing God glory was my most important job my life would be different. If I can get rid of offense and walk in God-kind of love, then I can walk in divine health, be prosperous in every area of my life, and be blessed and be a blessing to others.

To be "filled with the Spirit" (verse 16) means a day-to-day emptying of myself and daily practicing the presence of God, reading and meditating on the Word of God. It is allowing/creating room for the Spirit to have absolute control of my whole being, on a daily basis. Being filled with the Spirit is not a one-time experience but rather a continual reality. To be filled with the Spirit we need to connect ourselves to the dunamis power source by reading and meditating on the Word of God. It is different. We need to daily surrender our weaknesses to God. Being "filled with all the fullness of God" (verse 19) is a daily process which leads us into the things of God.

The kind of things that prevent us from comprehending the far reaches of Christ's love are our inability to walk in God-kind of love, our inability to dwell in his Word, and allowing our flesh to detect to us. When we do comprehend, know, and experience the love of Christ our whole perspective about life changes and we see things in a new way. My life would be different, if I could grasp the love of Christ. My approach to life will be meaningful, fulfilled, and more productive.

The concepts (a) strengthened by the Spirit in the inner person, and ( Christ dwelling in our hearts are saying the same thing because when we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord we become a new creature the Spirit dwells within us and strengthened the inner person and continues to dwell in our hearts. The two concepts are inseparable and distinct ideas but in agreement that the Spirit dwells in us in his fullness.

If bringing glory to God were considered the very most important function of the church, my own congregation must do away with offense and learn how to walk in God-kind of love, replacing people-centered programs with focusing on Christ-centered programs. If bringing God glory was my most important job my life would be different. If I can get rid of offense and walk in God-kind of love, then I can walk in divine health, be prosperous in every area of my life, be blessed, and be a blessing to others.

To be "filled with the Spirit" (verse 16) means a day-to-day emptying of myself and daily practicing the presence of God, reading and meditating on the Word of God. It is allowing/creating room for the Spirit to have absolute control of my whole being on a daily basis. Being filled with the Spirit is not a one-time experience but rather a continual reality. To be filled with the Spirit we need to connect ourselves to the dunamis power source by reading and meditating on the Word of God. It is different. We need to daily surrender our weaknesses to God. Being "filled with all the fullness of God" (verse 19) is a daily process which leads us into the things of God.

The kind of things that prevent us from comprehending the far reaches of Christ's love are our inability to walk in God-kind of love, our inability to dwell in his Word, and allowing our flesh to detect to us. When we do comprehend, know, and experience the love of Christ our whole perspective about life changes and we see things in a new way. My life would be different, if I could grasp the love of Christ. My approach to life will be meaningful, fulfilled, and more productive.

The concepts (a) strengthened by the Spirit in the inner person, and ( Christ dwelling in our hearts are saying the same thing because when we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord we become a new creature the Spirit dwells within us and strengthened the inner person and continues to dwell in our hearts. The two concepts are inseparable and distinct ideas but in agreement that the Spirit dwells in us in his fullness.

Ephesians 3:12 teaches us about the manner of approaching God in freedom and wonder of our relationship with the Almighty God through faith. We "commoners" have access to come before the King of the Universe with our petitions and our hearts of praise (Ephesians 2:18). We are not to be timid before God. We can be confident of his favor and love. He delights in us. If we try to pray without these qualities we will not be able to have a solid foundations in God and our prayer life will be built on sand.