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That I will suffer at times but God will be there to restore me and make me strong and give me the strength to carry on knowing that God will be my Strength and Supporter snd guide leading me till it is time for Him to call me home to be with Him. Knowing too that God will give me only what I can handle at any given time. He knows my limitations. Thank you Lord for your Grace and love . I receive from you so much more than I give back in return. How selfish I am to accept so much. Amen. Thank you Pastor for inviting me to take part in this Bible Study. I have enjoyed it and learned much from it. It was very well presented and made one think of his/her relationship to the Lord. Peace. Ann From Canada

Paul tells us to have control of ourselves, to remain alert, and to fight to resist the devil as he tries to influence us. We must be true to our faith and at the same time to be ready to suffer for our belief. God is there to carry us through the difficult times. Paul gives us basically the same conditions. Fight the devil and follow the shepherd.

We must be aware of the Devil or Saran at all times. I truly believe that he is more active in our times trhan in previous eras. The verse teaches that that we must always be aware of his presence no matter where we turn, It is important that God always be in our lives. At all times we must fight Satan, but knowing that God cares and wants us to put our trust in him helps me to keep the devil a little further from me. I am not saying that I am free of Satan but that knowing right from wrong and hopefully chosing what I think is the right path along with God's guidance I am freeing myself from him.

We should put our fears in God's hands for he cares for us. Taking our fears to God in prayer will help alleviate our troubles. Working them through with Him at our side makes things so much easier to handle. God will only give us what we can handle. He is there to care for us a parent cares for a child. Thank you Lord for being our Saviour and Guide. I will do as the Lord guides me and then try and carry on with my life.

To have a leader who is able to admit to a mistake. to be able to relate well to those under his care in a caring passionate way. I think you have to know the person before you put him/her in a place of leadership. This will come aboutas you experience the person in his home and community, and church activities. One who gives willingly of his/her time and talents will usually become a church and community leader. (many times this person is active in all levels in his /her community. They are the ones who will find the time to do or make the time!!!) Choosing the most popular person does not always make the best choice, The quiet, unassuming, caring person also has great gifts to offer in leadership.

There has to be guidelines in place to help prevent this. To limit authority too much also limits the work of God. It is sometimes difficult to test a person before bestowing authority, as in our church a newly ordained minister is settled into his first charge by a commitee of the conference court making a decision based on the wishes of an Ordinand and the needs of a Charge looking for a minister. Much prayer and reflection is taken before the final decision is atained by those involved. It is important that the guidelines set down are followed as closely as possible. No overstepping various church levels. Trust in one another is also important. Prayer and guidance from the Lord should abound. Sitting down and talking about the problem before it develops into a full blown catastrophe is essential.

If a person doesn't want the job than he isn't going to do much while in office. I think this attitude damages the church. If it can't be filled willinglythen it is best to leave the position vacant for awhile --- in time the right person will come forth to fill the position. Being put in unwillingly does not produce a good leader --- more damage can be done than good.

Basically I feel these words all basically the same> The pastor or minister would have more academic training and be more versed in the meaning of the Word. Elders and oversees I would see as more lay persons. However, considering these words they all are basically leadership figures that one could look up to , yet feel as if you are of no leeser worth. Humility is one of the most important qualities along with being able to relare to people.

It is the way to work on our belief -- to follow Jesus and further his work. We are not doing the work set out for us if we are not willing to die if need be. We have to commit ourself to His way. In our own community we are now faced with the the future of our local church and pastoral charge. Financially we are struggling, but love and mercy abounds. Being chair of the church council, remarks about how we are working on facing the problem will be a form of persecution for severaql of us. However, with the love and caring of our Lord, we know the work of the Lord will continue in our community. Maybe it won't be in the same church building that we will be worshipping, Maybe it will mean having a clergy person on a part time basis, Maybe the Laity are going to play a more important role in the ministry-- But by our committment to a faithful Creator we will continue to trust and love the Lord and work to spread his word.

People would view us as being uncaring, self righteous, or looking out only for ourselves. If people persecute me for believing in Christ and working for a better kigdom on earth, then I have to be happy that because of my belief/work, I am causing people to look more closely at heir own lives. Persecution by others can also be a form of jealousy of my happiness and knowing that I am Loved by God.

I do not have to go to a lower level of belief or ideal just because of someone else, I have to live my life so I am pleased with myself and more important that God is pleased with my actions. Showing humility with my fellow man will make me a better person or servant of God than my trying to extol greatness. Just knowing that I have a Saviour who gave up His life for me is enough for me to try and live my life fully throug any persecution that I amy experience.

Then I am moving away from Christ. I am going to a level where Satan is at work. I will not fully understand what it is to suffer as Jesus has for me. I must believe in what I am doing and by following christ I can. Yes many times I am pulled towards doing things I don't want to do and by leaning on God I can pull myself back on hte correct path Yes. I have observed this in other Christ. By Facing the persuction and wrath of others can often make you a much stronger person as your Belief and faith will grow stronger.

They are proclaiming themselves as the centre of the goodness. They probably lack maturity and security. They are not proclaiming God as the centre or source of their ability. My spiritual gifts are not, to many, very significant. However, I try to use the ones I have as best I can. I feel best in the 'back seat' but often find myself in the 'front' , helping to organize or lead. I think by being able to serve my church and community and also family, I am helping to use my gifts to God's glory. By not want to brag, My thirty five years in the classroom was a gift I hope that i was able to share with the children that I came in contact with. The gifts that they passed on to me number in the hundreds. Thank you, Lord, for those wonderful years.

Non Christians don't want to be reminded of their wrong doings. We, as Christians, are the same -- We are also hurt that we have lowered ourselves of our expectations. We have not only hurt ourselves but also those around us and most of all our Lord who gave His life for MY sins. The realization that we must give an acoounting of our actions inspires us to want to bring our actions up to a level acceptable in God's sight.. To do this we must exert more self control of our mental and physical actions. As a result we should accept the attitude of being alert.

Non Christians try to get you to sin with them as they feel it will bring you down to their 'level.' We are tempted so as not to be different, to be one of the crowd, etc. The resistance to temptation can be shown by refusing to go with them, by not participating, by being able to speak out that you don't go along with them. I have no difficulty with just not participating or saying "I'm sorry, but I just don't like that 'or I won't be there'. I know many times I have been called a 'goody goody' or eventually not asked to attend their gatherings. I am just not comfortable being in these situations.