Reflections

  Church : The body of Christ Matthew  18:15-20 V 19  Again I say to you, if two  of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.              Pauline  epistles  use the phrase Body of Christ  to refer to all individuals   who heard the  good news  of salvation, believed in him,  and were sealed by the holy baptism, thus receiving the  promise of the Holy Spirit. In today’s passage from the Gospel according to Matthew, we see Jesus giving some practical instructions on handling  conflicts within the community of believers.               However, looking at today’s conflicts between churches, it is sad to note that the Church nowadays  does not look significantly different from the rest of the   secular  world. It leads some to wonder, “what is the value of the church?”   Church is the body of Christ, but when differences emerge, it sometimes lead the people to walk away from faith, and the true meaning of the Kingdom of God is at stake. 

  Church – The body of Christ Colossians 4:2-6 v6  Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought  to answer each person.             The apostle Paul closes the book of Colossians  with an appeal to continue in prayer and thanksgiving.  Paul lays down three important principles for spreading and sharing the gospel.   a. We should talk to God  for his providence and blessing  or order that different avenues will be opened  in  continuing  His ministry.       b. Paul explicitly  wanted to make it clear  that  he is in chains, just because of  his commitment   to  talk about the mystery of the gospel.   Scripture  is clear that all are born spiritually lost, poor and without hope; but through Christ  we have been given new life. c.   Live with wisdom in the world.  To live with wisdom means knowing how to live  in this world, that is consistent  with who we are in Christ.  The world is watching our lives, and it should be a testimony which refl

  CHURCH - THE BODY OF CHRIST 1 Corinthians  1:10-17 V10  I appeal to you...by the  name of our Lord Jesus Christ  that all of you agree, and that there will be no divisions among you but that you be united in the same mind and judgement.                 Can  we pursue Christ-centered unity ? When we study the gospel portions, we  see that  unity  in the Church was one of Jesus'  prayers. In John 21, Jesus prayed “…that  they may all be one, just as you Father, are in me and I in you, that  they also be in us ,so that the world may believe that you sent me”.  Do we have the mind of Christ regarding the unity  among the believers?                Apostle Paul in this text is giving a call to put aside selfish pride in order to pursue unity among brethren.  Body of Christ, who are the believers, are called to act  like Christ to engage in unity which is deeper than just superficial emotions. Unity is not a mere adjustment to tolerate one another's differences.   As members of the

  Church -The body of Christ 1Chronicles 22:6-13 V10 He shall build a house for my name. He shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.             King David  saw that the Lord God had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there at the tabernacle of the Lord. For fear of the sword of the angel of the Lord David could not go near and inquire God. However he made all the plans to build a temple which was exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory  throughout all the lands.  He decided to make all the preparations  in order to complete the project before his death.              But the word of the God came to him saying, he may not build the temple, but his son Solomon will do the completion of the project. The reason being he fought many wars and shed blood on this earth.  It is not because God did not forgive him for all his mistakes, or the wars were not in the plan of God, but temple of God is

  Church – The body of Christ Ephesians  4:11-16 V.15  Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way  into him who is the head into Christ …...           The Epistle of Paul to Ephesians is considered  the queen of epistles.  Paul wrote this epistle while he was in prison at Rome and sent to the church of Ephesus through Tychicus.  This passage is one most powerful  portion in the Bible after the cross. We have to understand clearly what  God had done for the church – the body of Christ by  saving her, but also the purpose for which he did it so.           God is equipping a group of people  to  work for his ministry and to build up the body of Christ – the Church.  We have a calling to build the body of Christ ,which should be free from all  heresies, and false doctrine   caused by  men of deceit and  evil schemes.  In order to achieve that, the believer should   walk in humility and gentleness, and should able to forgive each others mistakes, and build unity and

  Church: The Body of Christ Ezekiel 37:15-28 v23b    But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they  have sinned, and  will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. Let's ask ourselves a question: Have people ever been united in history, except for categorizing and hating people of a different religion, race or class? We looked down upon others who are different from us. Even Adam and Eve were two people in a perfect environment, walking with God. But when they did sinned, they turned against each other and there have been problems between men and women ever since. God brought  Israel  out of slavery from Egypt to the promised land. But they sinned. After King Solomon's reign, the nation divided into two. Prophet Ezekiel wrote this prophetic book in around 580 B.C while nation was still in exile. In short, they were separated from God and from each other. It is our problem too. We are separated from God and each other,  because we pursu