Hiawatha church of Christ

  Every organization has a head. The church is not different in this regard. The apostle Paul wrote, “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” (Ephesians 1:22-23) The understanding of Jesus being the head of the church is of great importance. When you take a moment and consider all the different religious beliefs in this world, it can appear overwhelming. The light that enables us to see through all the confusion is the light of Christ. When it comes to worship, for example, there are many ideas presented by Christendom that are most often in direct conflict with one another. However, a return to the biblical pattern provided by the authority of Christ allows us to see the matter clearly. Jesus stated to the woman at the well, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24). The term “spirit” indicates that one is worship...

  There is nothing sweeter in life than to know that we have been redeemed from our sins. Paul teaches how this redemption was made possible. He writes, “In Him we have redemption, through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace.” (Ephesians 1:7)   We have a great appreciation of the blood of Jesus when we acknowledge the consequence of our sins. Sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2). Sin enslaves us (John 8:34). If left unchecked, the consequences of sin will lead to death (Romans 6:23). We learn from Scripture that there is nothing we can ever do to atone for our own sins. The Hebrew writer states that the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sins (Hebrews 10:4). Under the old law, there were numerous sacrifices made upon the altar. However, none of these could fully satisfy the wrath of God. Jesus did for us what no one else could. He lived a perfect life. As the Hebrew writer records, Jesus was tempted in all points that we a...

  The apostle Paul stated that God has “…blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3). I love easy math. If all spiritual blessings are in Christ, then it is right to conclude that there are no spiritual blessings found outside of Christ. In his letter to Timothy, Paul identified one of these spiritual blessings. He wrote, “Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” (2 Timothy 2:10). Returning once again to easy math, we can safely conclude that if salvation is in Christ, there is no salvation to be found outside of Christ. This lesson is taught throughout Scripture by various illustrations. For example, salvation was found in the ark that Noah built. Right before the flood waters came upon the earth, the Scriptures records, “So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him ...