I’m so thankful for you participation this year! I was so encouraged by talking with you this year, and am thankful for what God is doing in each of your lives. How could the chatroom be improved? If you participated last year, was it more beneficial for you to do it weekly, or biweekly?
First in our discussion tonight, using at least two verses, respond to the phrase: “Give me Jesus but not the church.” Is this Biblical? How does Jesus feel about this statement?
Second, summarize how your life has been impacted through studying the scheme of redemption. What stood out to you the most? How will this change the way you live?
I personally like doing the chat weekly.
Ok! <3
I liked doing it weekly and biweekly.
Great! <3
It is absolutely not biblical to ” have Jesus but not the church.” Jesus is the head of the church. Ephesians 1:22. Jesus is the church’s “groom” so to speak. He died for His bride. Ephesians 5:25. God might feel as if His sacrifice seems insufficient for us when we don’t want it. Besides the church family is great!
Perfect. I love how you focused on the metaphor of Jesus being the groom, Isabella focused on Jesus being the head. Both are perfect metaphors. You cannot have a groom without a bride, and you cannot have a head without a body. We might also add that the church is simply those who have been saved (Acts 2:47)…so therefore we cannot be saved outside of the church.
Ooh I like the groom analogy you used!!
I think the way you did everything this year was great!!!
In regard to the first question… No this is not biblical because Christ is the head of the church! If you were to cut someone’s head off their body would not function at all, and with Christ being the head of the church we can not sever him from the church! Ephesians 5:23 1 Corinthians 11:3
Very good. The church as the body is a metaphor used frequently in scripture (1 Cor 12, Ephesians 4, Romans 12). There are many parts of the body that we can function without…but we can NEVER function without our head! You’re exactly right.
I liked the analogy between the bride and groom and the church and Jesus. Revalation 21:2
I also liked the analogy between the bride, groom, the church, and Jesus.
No it is not biblical. Jesus wants us to be apart of the Church. God’s plan was always for the church to reveal Jesus to the world . So without the church we wouldn’t be able to reach out to so many people. 1 corinthian’s 12:12-14
Excellent point. Not only is Christ the head, and not only is He the Groom, but the purpose of the church is to reveal Jesus to the world. The book of 1 John centers around the love which is shown through Jesus, and how that is played out through the Christian life. More specifically, Paul states exactly what you said in Ephesians 3:8-11:
“To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord…”
For the second question… I think that this study really deepened my understanding of how everything in the Bible fits so seamlessly together in order to redeem us from sin. One of the things that stood out to me most was the fact that I’m supposed to be preparing for the Second Coming and that it may not be as far away as it seems… sometimes I tend to think that its ages away, when really no one except God knows just when it will happen… 2 Peter 3:9-10… it will come like a thief… so we must constantly be preparing and serving and evangelizing!
Yes, me too! It became so much easier for me to learn from the Old Testament when I understood the scheme of redemption. It’s like the framework of a house, and everything else is the furnishings and decorations. 🙂
That is an excellent point to bring up. 1 Peter 3:11-12 says: “Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God…” The fact of the second coming ought to transform the way we live our lives. Furthermore, in some way it is possible for us to “hasten” the coming of Jesus. Though we cannot be too dogmatic about what that means, it might mean that we can speed up His coming through prayer and evangelism. I love Revelation 22:20: ” He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” Our hearts and lives should be in such a state that we can honestly pray this prayer!
YESSS!! I thought the exact same thing. We should always be ready for the second coming and prepared.
The phrase “Give me Jesus, but not the church.” Is not at all biblical. We must be a member of Christ’s church in order to get to Heaven. In Matthew 16:16-19, Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ. Later on in this passage Jesus tells Peter that he will build his church on the confession that he made. If Jesus built the Church, then shouldn’t we be a part of it? In Isaiah 2:2 we read that the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established the highest of the mountains. This is talking about the Church. The Church will be established as the highest of the mountains. As in, it will surpass every denomination and false teaching. We should be a part of the church that was established by Christ!
1 Corinthians 1:10-13, Colossians 1:18.
Yes, it’s counterintuitive to try to have Jesus but not the church. Jesus built the church for us as a gift (Mark 10:29-30), and as you said, why shouldn’t we be a part of it?
Hebrews 12:25-29 is the perfect passage to study in correspondence with your comment about Isaiah 2:2. “See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.” This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us [j]show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.”
You mentioned the Holy Spirit and how He is active today. It made me think of God’s providence. I have two personal experiences with God’s providence that I would like to share with you.
1) My mom saw someone’s post on facebook a little over a year ago that a lady was wanting to study. So it just so happened that she lives in our area and we were able to study with her and her husband. A couple of weeks later she was baptized. About a week later the lady’s husband was baptized. My brother was sick and in the hospital earlier this year ( for the flu) that lady was able to stay with him( because she worked as an x-ray technicion at that hospital ) while my mom went home for a few things to spend the night at the hospital. That family now has a baby and are both faithful to the church as well as both doing the Digging Deep studies this year. We are so blessed to be able to know them and for them to be a part of our church family. How amazing is the providence of God that He put us in their lives so we could teach them and also for Him to put that family in our lives to be a great blessing.
2) My brother and I both act and we were coming home from Atlanta for our performances when our car broke down. We broke down at a gas station where there was a Kia technition ( we have a kia) as well as a car repairman who worked for a guy just down the road. Our car was able to make it to the shop, but he didn’t think we would be able to make it home in time. When the technichion realized that we had performances he kicked himself into high gear and got us going quicker than he thought we could. We called my director , who was in charge ( and loves my family) , and she was able to let my brother pick out one of his songs to sing. When we got there and he had finished his forst song, she said he could do His other song as well. I was able to do my show just fine and I personally believe that God knew how much my brother and I wanted to get to our performances and He helped place people there ( the technicions and my director) to get us there.
What wonderful examples of God’s providence! Thank you so much for sharing those. God is so good to us <3
Absolutely!
Someday you’ll look back on meeting your spouse, having your children, moving to different places, and being influenced by and influencing various people, and you’ll see God’s hand in all of it. Stay faithful to Him <3
That must mean you feel that way. It may be providence that you and Caleb moved to Florida and we were able to visit your congregation. Tell me what you think.
Yes, ma’am!
I can relate to that! I actually used to live in Florida also! About nine and a half years ago we moved up to Hot Springs, Arkansas and my parents always say that it was the best decision that they ever made and I couldn’t agree more! If we hadn’t moved up here, I wouldn’t have gotten the wonderful opportunities that I have gotten and I wouldn’t have met my amazing friends and church family!
I have a friend that moved here and I am so thankful.
Thank you for Sharing those! They are absolutely amazing examples of God’s providence!
Isn’t it amazing how things all fall into place!!
For the second question, my life has been greatly impacted by this study of the scheme of redemption. I never really realized that the Bible has countless examples of redemption! It really showed the common theme is the redemption of man! Personally, I love the examples of redemption in the Old Testament. I feel like we can learn so much from them! Everything in the Bible can be used for our benefit! We can learn more about the scheme of redemption with every single account parable and Psalm. With each one we can grow closer to God! This will cause me to appreciate the gift of Jesus Christ even more! It will also keep me constantly ready for the Second coming of Christ!
I’m so glad to hear this, I feel the same way about studying the scheme of redemption. I am constantly in awe of what we learn of God from the Old Testament. Though it was a different time and a different world, it was the same God who called for faithfulness from His people, and who lavished love and help on them.
Let’s add this question on since we still have some time: what are some practical ways we can prepare for the second coming of Christ?
Well some of the main ones would be: study God’s Word and growing closer to Him, evangelizing and fulfilling our duty as Christians to the great commission that Jesus called us to, and serving other people who may need our help!! And just imitating Christ in every work we do, striving to please HIM. And praying to God!
We had very similar ideas! 😉
Great minds think alike lol 😉
I love that you brought up evangelism. God is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9), and it makes me wonder if “hastening the day of the Lord” (2 Peter 3:12) has to do with evangelism. If God is patient and waiting that all men should have an opportunity, it’s possible that our evangelism could play a part in God’s decision about when Jesus will come back. I’m just thinking out loud, though <3
I’m not sure that I had ever really thought about the hastening of the day of the Lord before, but it made me think that we need to make sure that we are praying that our brothers and sisters are faithful always, not just when they are baptized or ask for it. We need to pray for the church as a whole so that the entire church can all be in heaven one day. I will be praying for all of you ladies tonight!
Hastening the day of the Lord could just mean that we are mentally thinking about it…anticipation. But it could also mean that we have a role to play!
Helping to keeping our brothers and sisters faithful is certainly a factor! Thanks for bringing that up.
No problem.
I am sure that you get tired of me saying this, but it applies to everything. Prayer and study. I also think that fellowship with other christians ( like we are doing tonight) can be beneficial.
I can’t get tired of hearing that! It’s so true. They’re our conversation with our Father, our Sovereign, our God. We must always be devoted to prayer and study. Also, fellowship is certainly essential. Hebrews 10:23-25 says: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” We must encourage each other “all the more” as the day of the Lord is drawing near.
There are a lot of things we can do! We can pray, study daily, evangelize.We must fear God and live as he has commanded us to! Ecclesiastes 12:13, Ezekiel 18:4-5
Great verses to bring up. You have a deep knowledge of the Old Testament!
It puts our life in perspective when we realize that our whole duty is fearing God and keeping His commandments. It makes the things we struggle with seem so much smaller, it even puts our trials into perspective.
Yessss, sometimes I tend to worry over silly little things and I have to remind myself that when you look at the “big picture” it doesn’t even matter!
Those are very practical suggestions, thank you! I try to keep scripture and hymns in my head, too. The best way to fight sin is to dwell on God. When we are thinking about His grand qualities, His holiness, His love, His justice…it makes it easier to resist sin and prepare for Jesus to return.
Makes perfect sense!
Makes sense to me too.
I’m sad that the chatroom is at an end, but so happy for this quarter that we’ve had together! You truly impress me with your knowledge and love. I’m thankful to have you in my life.
If I can ever do anything for you throughout the year, I would truly love to! You can email me at bekahcolley@gmail.com, although I’m sometimes bad about email, though. You can text or call me at 417-522-4927. Or, comment on here. Lots of love and prayers for each one of you! Pray that I can have the time and strength to accomplish all that I hope to this year, including a book and chatroom for next year. Thanks for your love and friendship!
Thank you soo much Rebekah, I have truly grew and loved this class. Cant wait for the next one . Love you.
Love you, too! Have a wonderful year, hopefully talk with you soon <3 Thanks for your sweet and thoughtful participation!
So sad it has to end, but thankful for these wonderful chatroom studies! Can’t wait to come together again next year fore the next book! Love you all!
Kayla I was so impressed with your knowledge! Thank you for sharing it with us. Look forward to talking with you more!
I wish that she chatroom could go on as well and I am thankful for you Rebekah. I love you and your friendship as well. I will be sure to pray for you and I hope to see you at PTP with a new study for us to begin.
Thank you so much Kaitlyn! Talk with you soon <3 You've been so wonderful this year, thank you for all of your participation.
I just want to say that I am so thankful for you Mrs. Rebekah and for all you girls!!! Mrs. Rebekah, I’m pretty sure you are one of the SMARTEST people I have ever known, and it’s so encouraging to me because I know that if I study hard enough maybe I can have a knowledge of the Bible like you!! <3 I am soooo looking forward to next year's study! And hopefully I can catch you at PTP this next year!!! Love you all and I'm thankful for all you do! <3 <3
You are TOO kind! You can (and probably already do!) have much more Bible knowledge than me. You’ve been such an encouragement to me. Look forward to seeing you at PTP, Lord willing <3
Ouch! That about knocked the breath out of me just thinking about it!