Sit! Walk! Stand!

The OBT Nottingham Conference
April 2008

Report by Janet Horobin

Over thirty people met at Stapleford to listen to three talks led by Willie Henry and Mike Penny. Everyone was given a warm welcome by Cliff Richmond, and during the refreshment breaks we met old friends and made new ones, some folk travelling many miles to hear the speakers and share fellowship. The talks were centred around the Christian life in Ephesians under the sub-titles Sit! Walk! Stand!

Sit!
This talk was very uplifting as it covered  all the redeeming work of our Lord Jesus Christ, and what this means for us.

	We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ
	We are holy, blameless and covered with God’s love
	We are sealed with the holy Spirit and belong to God by
	We are God’s work of art

How thrilling those first three chapters of Ephesians are, and how clearly they explain what God has done for us. We are rooted and established in His love.

Chapter 4 begins with ‘Therefore’. Because of what we have read in the opening three chapters, what should our response be? How can we know ‘the fullness of God’ day by day?

Walk!
We are encouraged to acknowledge our position in our daily lives. We need to get up from sitting and ‘walk’ (KJV) or ‘live’ (NIV) with Him. And not just ‘walk’ but ‘walk worthy’ of the calling we have received.

The interpretation of Ephesians 4 and 5 concerning how we can ‘walk worthy’ in today’s society, and how we should love and support other Christians, was a timely reminder to us all. It is our Bible knowledge that can be our guide as we seek to ‘walk worthy’ and please the Lord.

Stand!
Finally we are urged to stand in the power of the Lord. Paul tells us to use every piece of God’s armour to resist Satan’s attacks and to stand firm.

The word of God, our Bible, is the sword of the Spirit. It is the only weapon of offence in this armour, and we need practice to use it skilfully and to handle it correctly.

Conclusion!
The need to practice handling the Bible correctly has brought us full circle as why we were at this conference., and we say ‘Thank you!’ to the two speakers and the organisers. Ephesians really did speak to us of our need to:

	Sit and acknowledge all that God has done for us
	Walk and live a life worthy of our calling as our grateful response for all that Christ ahs done
	Stand in His strength in the full armour of God so that we can withstand temptation and fully trust in the truth and guidance of God’s word