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Churches can easily become 'hotbeds' of apathy because they sometimes forget to listen to what God wants them to do. Their past successes lead them to believe that they can just continue doing what they have in the past without being prepared to listen to the Holy Spirrit and be led by the Spirit. To counteract this apathy we ned to continue to come to God morning by morning with open expectant minds and listening hearts.

Christ has come to the seven churches of Asia Mior to evaluate their faithfulness to the teachings of their apostles and their spiritual health as Christian communities. His major criticism sems to be that their faith has become less important to them than it had been originally and they have slipped back into the ways of their surrounding cultures, compromising their love for Christ. They have become nominal Christians in many cases. Today, our Christian churches need to be aware of the danger of becoming nominal christians who meet for worship but whose hearts aren't really in it. Sometimes, following Christ seems too hard and other lifestyles seem more attractive. What a shock we would get if Christ did an impromptu evaluation of our Sunday worship and mission goals. Perhaps he already has and nobody noticed. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

I presume this question is referring to compromises christians sometimes are faced with in their work situations. A very difficult problem sometimes, especially if standing up for your principles loses you your job and means you may not find work in the same industry again. Presumably, this was the conflict faced by new christians in the church at Thyatira. What compromises do C21 christians face today? Fortunately, in Australia, we live in a nominally christian society, but where a christian is living in a muslim society, they can expect very real persecution of themselves and their family if they refuse to conform to traditional muslim culture. Nevertheless, even in Australia, with rosters covering a 7/24 week, many people have a real struggle if they ask for Sundays off so they can worship and rest.

I must say that I find this a very diffficult question to answer. There are so many ways that the church has lessened its standards to conform to society, such as allowing divorced people to remarry, permitting unwed mothers to worship in church for example. My dilemma is that I think that the Church is right in doing so, because there is a tension in taking the words of scripture which were important for the situation in which they were written and applying them for ever more. If our Bible contains the Living Word then I feel it is our duty to reinterpret the intention behind the words for today's society. The denomination to which I belong allows people who are living together but not married, practising homosexual people, people who have chosen never to marry, people who may have had an abortion in the past. I am sure there are many who would hold to a more rigid interpretation of scripture than this denomination, but I ask myself in these situations, "What would Jesus say to someone like this who wanted to worship God?" I think Jesus came to break down all the barriers to reaching God. In my experience, the people themselves have, in time, come to want to put their situation aright between themselves and God.

I feel that a local congregation is in danger of losing that 'first love' for Jesus when they discourage expressions of emotions, even of our love for God. Whenever faith is based purely or primarily on head knowledge rather than allowing people to experience the love of God through reverent worship and acts of kindness offered and received then a church begins to die spiritually. When there is a lack of love within a faith community, it is not long before divisions occur with the congregation splitting into unpleasant factions. The focus turns inward, meaning that the desire to welcome new people into the church is lost. Indeed, very few seekers or new converts would choose to join such a community. The congregation can only regain their love for God, each other and those who are still outside the church by repenting and turning their focus in both worship and ministry back to being Christ-centred.

The knowledge that Christ is walking among the lampstands, or churches, is a great encouragement to today's persecuted communities of faith because it is an assurance that Christ is not remote but very near and actively involved in their welfare. This teaches us that the Church is essential to God's purpose for the world and that God's will is for the Church to continue the ministry of Christ with the help of the Trinitarian God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The vision John describes is of the glorified triumphant Christ. The reader is struck with awe and reverent fear at this amazing depiction of Christ. This understanding of Christ is important if Christians are to have a balanced faith. The Carpenter-Teacher was certainly fully divine in nature, but God came in Jesus having first emptied God's self of all the majesty due to the eternal King. Now we see that the One who was present at creation is again on the throne of glory and will reign from there for ever more.

In Australia, I would say Christians are not being persecuted for their faith, but many of our missionaries have been killed even in the past few years. Christians in such countries as China, Vietnam, Indonesia and many muslim countries live with the daily threat of being arrested, tortured and dying for their faith in Jesus Christ. The book of Revelations must be a tremendous encouragement to such people because in it they will read that Jesus Christ has promised to those who believe in his name a special place in the kingdom if they remain strong in the face of persecution..

The significance of these verses to our understanding of Jesus' identity is that Jesus is making the same claims as the Father, that they are both eternal, existing prior to any created thing and continuing to exist long after all creation passes away.

The theme of testimony and witness is important to encouraging and strengthening a church because by definition a testimony comes from one speaking from personal experience to others who believe, but as yet have not seen or experienced for themselves. This testimony, then, confirms that what they have believed, is in fact, true. So to those who believed John's version of who Jesus Christ is, but who were struggling to see any evidence of the promised abundant life, John's revelations from the Risen Christ himself was a tremendous encouragement and confirmation that the one in whom they had put their faith was indeed trustworthy. Today, I believe we are ineffective or perhaps non-effective witnesses because we do not have the same assurance of faith that John had, that the risen Jesus Christ is powerful and willing to fulfil the promises he gave to those who believe in his name, ie abundant joyful life. If we ourselves have not experienced this, then we cannot really authentically convince others.

The verse which sums up best the conviction which God has shown me over the past five weeks is from Ephesians 5:21 - Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. From now on I will be aware that my thoughts about my fellow church members' 'shortcomings' (I mean from my point of view) must make no difference to my ministry for God. Previously, I would sometimes like to shake some of the people God has given me to work alongside, but now I see them differently and I will love them as I love my self, that is with much more compassion and grace. My attitude towards the wider church has changed so that I have now come to realise that just as on a small scale a local community forms the Body of Christ, so on a world-wide scale does the Church universal. We all are still part of the One Body, with our different gifts. Our world could do a lot worse than to learn to value unity in diversity.

In what sense should we love the Church because it is our own body? When we understand this fact, we realise that it is our responsibility to feed and care for the Church as we do our own bodies. It is not someone else's responsibility - it is ours. We can no longer justify not becoming involved in some way. What will that kind of love produce? We cannot justify friction within our own community nor between our Church traditions, because if we hurt another part of the Body, we also harm ourselves. Why do we need to repent of despising the Church and begin to love her aright? We want what Christ, the Head, wants for his glorious, resplendent Church - perfection. We will achieve this by allowing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control - in other words, the Spirit of Christ to live in us, work through us and touch everyone we come in contact with. Thank you very much, Pastor Ralph for leading us through this study and thanks also to the others who have shared their insights with me. I have learned a lot.

In what sense is the Church glorious or resplendent? Here we are speaking about the Church universal, the Body of which Christ is the head. Christ has made the Church glorious and resplendent or perfect because he himself is perfect, therefore the whole body is also perfect. Is Paul talking about the present era or when Christ comes? I believe Paul is meaning that the Church will be presented to its bridegroom at the parousia or second coming. However, just as individuals have been made perfect now since Christ died for our sins once for all, so it is also with the Church. Although it may not seem to be perfect all the time, anymore than we are perfect all the time, we still believe in faith that Christ has made his Body holy.

How does the word of God work in the cleansing, purifying process? By showing the need for people to be cleansed from their sinfulness. The Word of God's, that is Jesus Christ's, purity shows up our impurity so clearly. However, he also provides the answer through the giving up of his life to save the world because of his great love for it. How should the word of God be implemented in a congregation to achieve these purposes? Christians in one sense have already been cleansed and purified, but in another, we are all still being transformed. Therefore, through preaching, bible study and prayer we become aware of some of the insidious ways that the world still has hold of us. How can we use the word of God for purification without relying upon threats of hellfire to scare people into repentance? The way of love is to walk alongside another and tell your own story, share some of your own areas of weakness, and the places in your own spiritual journey where you struggle. It is best, I think, to avoid sounding as though, as a christian, I have 'made it' and am somehow superior to anyone else.

What constitutes 'holiness' of a church? I notice you ask: of a church, not of the Church. A church which has recognised that it is somehow in the world, but not of the world; a church which has seen itself as dedicated to God, set apart, part of the Body of Christ. Is the church holy because of Christ's sacrifice for her, because of her own actions, or both? According to this passage, all the action is from Christ, and none from the Church. Christ loved, gave, makes holy, cleanses, presents. How can we be holy without being legalitic and judgmental towards one another? We, meaning the church and one another meaning our non-christian friends? When we realise that the Church has been made holy in a corporate sense, in the same way that individuals who make up the Church have - that is by the pure grace of God - then we don't have any right to be legalistic and judgmental towards others. Rather, we want to tell them that we understand because once we were lost too, but the good news is that now we have found peace and our true home, and we would love to show them the way to find these things for themselves.