Reeallen

Hello everyone. My name is Ree Allen and I am very happy to know that we are all in this together. I've enjoyed the bible study before and now I am ready to proceed to the next step. Hope to hear from you all again. I live in Charleston, South Carolina.

The convictions God has formed in me through "vision for the church" Bible Study that will make a difference on how I think about value, and act toward my own local congregation and towards the greater church around the world is knowing that we are all one in Christ and we need to spread the word of God every where we go. My conviction of being slothful when it comes to making time for studying more has now given me a greater desire to study the word of God and be prepared for fulfilling my obligations to the Lord. In my local congregation I am more prepared to be more active in Bible study and doing whatever is assigned to my hands. Thank you Pastor Ralph for this study. I have enjoyed it very much and I am telling others about it. This is the second evaluation I have done.

As I began studying the "Vision for the Church" Bible Study it led me to believe that now I have a clear understanding of the "church" which is myself and all others who are walking in the footsteps of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The convictions that has formed in me is that of knowing who we are in Christ Jesus and that we as a church need to keep our temple clean and free of sin. We must renew our church (body) boldly every day before the throne of grace. This study has made a great difference in my thinking of value and action toward the local congregation. It is time now for us to be real women and men of God and let the church know that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. It also let us know that in order for us to be a body and operating in the spirit of God, we have to be united. As I foresaid, we are many members but only one body. I enjoyed this study so much. It has made me a bold person for the Lord. Thank you very much.

We should love the church because it is our own body and we don't want to do anything to harm this body. We need to continue feeding this body with the word of God daily. We need to make sure that anything we do to harm this body we have to repent to God and ask his forgiveness everyday. If we continue to repent, it will become a big part of our life. We want this body to be replenished with nourishing food to continue on our journey, so we will be ambassadors of Christ preaching and teaching the sound doctrine for everyone to become a part of this body, and living the way the Lord wants us to live.

In what sense is the church "glorious" or "resplendent"? The church is "glorious" because of the new bodies we will receive when Jesus comes. We should always remember that Jesus is not talking about the building, but our innerman. We will move out of this old earthly body and receive our glorious bodies because we have been cleansed by the word of God. In order to receive this glorious body, we have to be found without spot, wrinkle, or blemish. We have to be holy and reain that way until Jesus comes. Paul is talking about the coming of Christ to collect his jewels. This is determined by our faith and belief in Jesus Chrit. Although we have never seen him, we do believe that he exist.

The word of God work in cleansing , purifying process by stripping us of our worldly possessions which is the old man and cleansing us from all unrighteousness and riotous living. In other words we have to go through the process of being born again through the word of God, taking off the old man and putting on the new man through the new birth.. The word of God should be implemented in a congregation by reverencing him in every thing we do. We must learn to put him first in our lives and begin to feed the flock to nourish their souls. Just like we need food for the nourishment of this physical body, we also need food (which is the word of God) for nourishment of our spiritual body. In other words eat it (the word of God) all up. We can use the word for purification without relying upon threats of hellfire to scare people into repentance by preaching and teaching sound doctrine. We need to let the sinners know that in order for them to be united with Christ, they have to be holy. There has to be a change of heart and mind. Let them know that Jesus is coming back for his bride and they must be ready to meet the bridegroom when he comes.

What constitutes "holiness" in the church? Holiness is constituted in the church by Christ. I Thessalonians 4:7, and 8 says "For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness and He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy spirit. In other words we have to be consecrated and dedicated to the work of the Lord. We must also sanctify ourselves in order for the spirit of God to dwell in us. Is the church holy because of Christ's sacrifice for her, or because of her own actions, or both? The church is holy because of the sacrifice Christ made for us. St. John 15:13 says, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends". Jesus called us his friends if we do whatsoever He commanded us to do. Once we (as the church) hear the word of God, then we begin to act on it and do as the Lord asked us to do. The answer to this question is "both". Romans 12:1 says, "I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service". How can we be holy without being legalistic and judgmental toward one another? The word of God says in Romans 12:16a, " Be of the same mind one toward another". In other words we are many members, but there is only one body. In order for us to be holy without being legalistic and judgmental toward one another we need to stay in the word and do what the word of God says, not man. Romans 12:10 says "Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another.

What does it mean that Christ "gave himself up" for the Church? This means that God sent His son down here in human flesh to demonstrate to us who He really is. In other words he gave himself up for us by dying on the cross and taking our sins upon his shoulders so that we may have a right to the tree of life. What does this teach us about God's commitment to us? It teaches us that he loved us so much, even though we were sinners and he was committed to us that's why he gave his life for us. Was this sacrifice altruistic or self-serving or both? This sacrifice was altruistic because he did it without being selfish about it. He showed unselfish concern for the welfare of others.

What does "submission" mean in regards to the Church's relationship to Christ? Submission means that we are to submit or subject ourselves to the movement of the Spirit of God. In other words, when we come together to worship the Lord, we need to submit our whole heart, soul and body to the Lord in order to have a relationship with Christ. We are the church and without the spirit of God flowing in us and working through us, we will be lost. In practical experience our own submission should be to obey the Lord and worship him in spirit and in truth. A congregation would look like an "angelic choir" seriously submitting its corporate life to Christ because we would ask Him to empty our minds and our hearts of all worldly lusts and let God clean us up. By doing this we would be singing praises to the Lord and worshipping him, giving him thanks for what He has done for us. With Christ being the "head" of the church, we will show reverence unto His name and serve him with fear and trembling. We will respect him and give him all the glory and honor because He want to present us to his Father as a radiant church without spot or wrinkle, blameless and holy from all sins.

The purpose of constructing a healthy local congregation is to make sure that everyone in the congregation is on the same page as far as unity in the faith is concerned and believing in the one true God. In order to build a house, your foundation have to be solid, sound and stable. The same thing goes for the local congregation. We are no longer babes, but we are grown mature people who understand that we can't be shifting with every wind and doctrine that comes by. James 1:6-8 says, "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed, For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord, a double minded man is unstable in all his ways. So in order to construct that healthy congregation we need to make sure that we understand what the unity in faith means. We need to come as one and until we establish that unity we won't be able to do much in the natural sense, but thank God for Jesus we can do it in the spiritual sense.

Pastors should focus on "equipping the saints for the work of ministry so they can get on with their ministry. Once a person is saved and receive the baptism of the Holy Ghos they should be trained how to minister the word of God to the lost souls outside the building. Equipping involves teaching the word of God and training the saints how to deal with those who are not saved, how to deal with spiritual warfare and how to build up the body of Christ. Jesus trained his disciples to "observe all thing that he commanded them to do in the Great Commission" and we need to do the same things today.

Pastors and teachers work together to build up the Body by equipping the saints for ministry and teaching the Word of God to the local congregation. Yes there are people in my church who have pastoral and teaching ministries. The effect they have is phenomenal. Small group leaders and Sunday school teachers prepare God's people for works of service so that the body of Christ can be built up.

An evangelist in a local church looks like an ordinary person anointed by God to teach/preach the word of God. Local church evangelist function by conducting revivals in their home church or abroad. They instruct church members in the word of God and encourage them to continue to seek the Lord for deeper depths and higher heights in the Lord. They also train them for ministries in the church.

Apostles goes out and establish churches and appoint elders to the different churches in that town or city, whereas a prophet is one who prophesy a God given revelation for God's people.

All Christians receive their gifts by the grace of God. Sometimes we fail to operate in the gifts that the Lord have given us Each/every part is the whole body of Christ doing its job. Remember we have one body, but many members.

The act of Christian unity I need to practice for the next two weeks is that of humility and patience. I also need to be more outgoing and sympathetic with people and continue to develop lasting relationships with them. The area of repentance is that of not allowing God to use me to the fullest, and I also need to continue to put him first in my life so the Holy spirit can deal with me and the issues facing me. I also need to repent because I asked the Lord to give me a praying spirit, but I have not done that yet anv any sin that I have committed against him.

In what sense should "one baptism" unite us rather than divide us? one baptism should unite us rather than divide us because we need to understand Matthew 3:16-17-" And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water; and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him, (17) And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. This wii be in the sense of his burial and resurrection. We can maintain the unity of the spirit and still disagree with other Christians group about the administration of baptism by letting them know that Jesus gave the command in Matthew 28:19. Striving for unity should not blur our faithfulness to Biblical understanding because we should exhibit a passion for the word of God as stated in Luke 24:45, " then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures". We balance the two by searching the scriptures daily with an open heart and applying the word of God to our every day lives with understanding so we can maintain the unity of the spirit in God's house.

The seven elements that unite all Christians areone body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all. The two that is compelling to me are: (1) one body, because we are many members serving but only one body for all the members, and (2) one faith, although we are of different denominations we all have that "now faith" as stated in Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen". Why? Because one day we will all die, but we can have that blessed assurane of faith that we serve a God above all gods and we will have that hope that we are going to spend eternity with him if we let him abide in us and we abide in his word.

The Spirit of God brings about the unity and we are commanded to maintain it. The bond of peace is the binding together to form unity with our brothers and sisters, so the Holy Spirit can work freely in our lives. Christian unity should be a primary goal for us. Matthew 18:20 says "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." That's why Christian unity need to be our primary goal so we can keep the Holy Spirit working.

The characteristics or attitudes necessary for maintaining unity with other Christians according to verse 2 are, humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance and love. I think humility is the most important because in order for us to do anything we have to possess an humble spirit. Jesus showed his humility when he died on the cross for us. I think love is the most difficult because if we don't have that agape love within us to put us in the right attitude and frame of mind we will be in trouble. We have to have the mind and heart of Christ. We must always remember that our attitude determines our altitude in the Lord.

Living a life worthy of your calling is to walk circumspectly before the Lord and walk in your calling. We should be able to display this worthy living everyday because we are a child of the king. If God calls you to be a teacher, be the best you can be and do it gracefully and to the best of your ability. We must remember that we are in the world, but we are not of the world. Unity is the oneness of God and we must strive to keep it in the church by showing love to our fellow man and keep it flowing. There will be some hard times but we must continue to show the oneness of God by showing meekness and love towards one another. Separation from fellow Christians should not be especially if we believe in the oneness of God. If we allow separation in the church, that will cause a "di-vision" and we know that that is of the devil. Amos 3:3 says, how can two walk together except they be agreed? Our calling is to follow Jesus, live according to his words and make new disciples for the kingdom of God. There is no way we are going to heaven by ourselves, so we have to spread the word of God all over.

The congregation should be "a dwelling place for God in the Spirit", when we begin to "enter into His gates with thanksgiving" and begin to worship him in spirit and in truth. Letting him get the glory and honor out of our lives. The word of God says in I Chronicles 16:27 "glory and honour are in his presence; strength and gladness are in his place, and verse 29a says, "give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name, and 29c says "worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness". In other words, for God to dwell in us our house have to be holy and clean St John 4: 24 says, "God is a spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Our life should take the shape of a new creature in the Lord, because we are no more twain but now we are one. The congregation's life should take the shape of a new beginning in the Lord.

The apostles and prophets contribute to our life today because they have given us instruction how to build a strong foundation. That foundation is the Word of God. They contribute to the life of our congregation by giving us the Word of God to let them know that we now have hope. Like Hebrews 11:1 says "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen". In other words we have the hope that one day we will be in that eternal home with our Lord and Savior. Although we have never seen him, but we know that one day we will reign with Him if we follow his instructions and directions. Jesus Christ will serve as chief cornerstone to our congregation because we know without Him, there would be no us. We should always put Him first in our lives and give him the respect so he can dwell in our hearts, minds, souls and spirit. A congregation will grow or rise by continual studying of God's Word, like 2nd Timothy 2:15 says, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman who needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth". This is our backbone and our great break through so we can perform our mission of winning souls for the Lord so he can get the glory out of our lives. That's why we have to serve him in spirit and in truth. Growth will occur when we all get with one accord and begin to show love and compassion toward our brothers and sisters and neighbors alike. God is love and he want us to be full of love, no matter what come upon us, we should be able to show that agape love toward each other.

The phrase "members of God's household" let us know that we can be whole in Jesus and that if we put on his nature, we will become like him, wholesome and wanting to do the right things in life to make it happen. We must remember that we are many members, but one body and if all the parts are working together we can be great. The kind of fellowship that is appropriate in the local congregation should be one of love and determination. We must be determined to reach out and bring the fellowship in the church. We realize we can't do nothing without the help of God because He is the one working with us and through us to get this job done. The congregation should be happy to come together and let the spirit of the Lord flow with the majesty and glory of God. The implications for those Christians who aren't faithful to gather with the local congregation is one of not wanting to belong because they don't want to come together as one. But the word of God said "we must not forget to assemble ourselves with one another, because where two or three are gathered together in His name, He will be in the midst". We have to teach them how to build lasting relationships once they enter into the presence of the Lord and begin serving him realizing that the church is in the heart of the person.

We are citizens of the household of God because we accepted him as our Father and our personal savior. When we accepted Christ in our lives and turned our lives over to him, we became his children and we are now adopted into the royal family of our Lord. We are holy and saints because we are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone. Once we repented of our sins and asked Jesus to come into our heart, and put away the things we used to do we became saints of God.