1 Timothy 3:15

YOU – VITAL PART OF THE BODY OF CHRIST!

(August 29, 2023) Brian Bell shares encouragingly on an important 2023 matter… 

These few thoughts I share with you here are taken from 1 Corinthians 12:12 – 31 in which Paul addresses the subject of spiritual gifts.

In these verses the apostle uses the human body to bring an illustration of the church – those early Christian believers – the ‘body’ of Christ.

And those lessons are also for us today in these troubled  times… Paul reminds us that within the body of Christ all of us are important. It doesn’t matter if we have different roles, abilities or gifts – whatever our part, our role – we should serve for the encouragement and strengthening of one another!

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THE MAJOR OFFENCE OF MOVING GOD’S BOUNDARIES

(November 30, 2021) Dr Jim McClure, noted theologian, shares a warning …

Can you imagine what your attitude would be if you went on a short holiday and returned to find that your next-door neighbour had expanded his block of land by moving the fence separating his property from yours?

You would not be at all pleased! Your relationship with your neighbour would become hostile and significant personal and legal argument would begin!

Fences are ‘landmarks’ that determine limitations and if they are ignored the consequences can be quite severe at many levels.

When the Israelites entered the Promised Land following their wandering in the wilderness, God assigned particular areas to each tribe and an allocation of land was made to each family. The boundaries of the land were marked by stones that were required to be recognised and respected. To move or remove those stones was a major offence.

In the Old Testament we are told that such boundaries established by God were definitely not to be violated. This was such a serious injunction and it is mentioned in a number of passages in the Old Testament (for example, Deuteronomy 19:14, Deuteronomy 27:17, Proverbs 23:10, Hosea 5:10).

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