If there is no future bodily resurrection of believers in Jesus, then Christians remain condemned in sin, live in present misery, and have no hope beyond the grave. Without the resurrection, Christianity collapses into empty moralism. But Christ has indeed been raised, so our faith is grounded in truth and filled with substance. We have forgiveness of sins, comfort concerning those who have died in Christ, present blessedness in the midst of suffering, and the assurance of eternal life in renewed physical bodies.

We are saved by holding firmly to the gospel—the Good News that Christ died for our sins and rose on the third day, just as the Scriptures foretold and eyewitnesses confirmed—so long as we do not add to, subtract from, or distort the message that was originally received.

Worship gatherings should reflect the authority of God's Word and the character of God Himself—peaceful, orderly, and edifying. Every message, prayer, song or other spiritual offering must align with Scripture and serve the purpose of building up the church. Practical structure in worship is not a limitation of the Spirit but an honoring of God's design. All members should come prepared to build one another up through their spiritual gifts in a way that fits that framework.

Everything said and done in the church gathering should aim to build up every member in Christ through clear and understandable communication. For this edification to happen we must have God's thoughts guiding our thoughts as we transmit those thoughts to each other. The gifts of the Holy Spirit facilitate this mental process. Today, this leads us to give priority to the ministry of the Word in the assembly of God's people.

Through Christ's death and resurrection, God has blessed his children with a rich inheritance of eternal life with him.

God has made all things and all things belong to Him for His purposes. None have a right to approach such a God of power and holiness, except those who are holy themselves. However all people, being unclean, are cut off from God's presence, the very thing they were created for. So Christ descended into our uncleanness to sanctify a people for Himself. All who receive Him by faith become, together, the eternal dwelling place of God.

When Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" from the cross, he was not only expressing his anguish but also quoting Scripture. In doing so, he proclaimed the purpose of his suffering and anchored himself in the promises of Psalm 22. This psalm reveals that Jesus took upon himself our sin and suffering to deliver us and to redeem a people from every nation to worship God and share in the blessing of eternal life. His cry was not one of despair but of trust—clinging to the Scriptural hope that the Father heard his plea and would raise him up with all the elect. In this, Jesus models for us how to sustain our faith by holding fast to God's Word in every trial.

The Corinthians' clamoring for influence and status revealed a heart of pride that was absent of love; true concern for one another. Love is God's nature, so without love, everything that impressed them was in fact empty and evil. When we view ourselves in relation to who we are in God and his love for us, our pride melts away and we are free to seek the good of others.

The description of the kinds of gifts that God has given to his church, through the Holy Spirit, for the strengthening of his Body indicate what a healthy church looks like; grounded in truth, and joyfully flourishing in relational and situational peace and wholeness.