That challenges us of course to ask ourseves: How then can we practice God's thoughts about church today? Finding the answer might not be easy. Only scripture can be our guide.  

would love to hear your thoughts!

What would be your answer to a child thats asking "what is the Holy spirit?"

The Lord calls on the disciples to take up their own cross. It is not a matter of taking up the cross that the Lord Jesus bore (that is impossible), but rather we are to carry our own cross.

What does this mean? It is often associated with the various “burdens” that each of us has to bear. But that cannot be what it means. For I cannot impose illnesses on myself; rather, they are imposed upon me. Even the often-heard statement, “Do not saw off your cross,” clearly misses the true meaning of the Lord’s words.

Back then, when the Lord spoke these words, anyone walking down the street with a literal cross was a rejected person. He was finished. Such a person went to the place of execution to meet a shameful death there before everyone’s eyes. We, too, must be willing to accept the world’s rejection. This rejection can end in death, but it usually manifests itself in much smaller things. Am I willing to accept that for my Savior? Then I take up the cross. I am challenged to do this daily (Luke 9:23). Someone who is hanging one a cross died there. His life came to an end. That's true also for the desciple: My life has come to an end, it's all about the Lord Jesus. 

The Lord first said that one must deny oneself. That means saying no to oneself. Then comes the part about the cross, which means accepting the world’s rejection. Are we ready for that? Every day of our lives (Luke 9:23)? Or would I rather just leave the cross behind? To follow the Lord Jesus means I accept His authority and "go" where He leades me. 

Hope that helps! 

But what does it actually mean to take up my cross?

Most of the chapters in Revelation are still future. Everything beyond the third chapter of Revelation has not yet been fulfilled. It all lies in the future.
The only two chapters in Revelation (chapters 2 and 3) in which we find the word ‘church’ contain the prophecies concerning the church here on earth. This sequence of church history revealed by God is nearing its conclusion, and the events foretold from chapter 4 to the end of the book have yet to be fulfilled.

In chapter 1:19, we read: "Write therefore what thou hast seen, and the things that are, and the things that are about to be after these." This verse gives us the structure of Revelation: 

1. "Write therefore what thou hast seen," --> Chapter 1 (the glories of the Lord Jesus as judge)
2. "and the things that are," --> Chapters 2 + 3 (the seven letters to the seven churches/assemblies)
3. "and the things that are about to be after these." --> chapter 4 - 22 (the main part of Revelation beginning with the judgements)

Once one understands that the correct key to understanding is the threefold division provided by chapter 1:19, one will have no trouble recognizing the following: 
Chapters 2 and 3 (the letters to the seven named churches) have not only a historical but also a prophetic significance. They depict seven successive phases of church history.
The description begins with the first decline in Ephesus and ends with the complete moral collapse in Laodicea.
Chapters 4 through 19 presuppose that the true believers will be raptured before the hour of trial that is to come upon mankind (which is at the same time the great tribulation upon Israel, cf. Rev 3:10; Jer 20:7; Matt 24:21), and will not live through this time. This is called the “pretribulationist” interpretation of Revelation.
Chapters 19 through 22 describe an actual millennial kingdom that, in accordance with Old Testament prophecies, will be established on this earth. Christ will reign there in righteousness, power, and glory. 
Hope that helps! 

We find here the first prophecy concerning the Lord Jesus. 

In the Bible, we find many prophecies about Christ. The prophets foretold of him throughout the centuries. However, God reserved the right to be the first to speak the prophecy about Christ Himself. Immediately after the Fall in the Garden of Eden, God spoke these words:

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Gen. 3:15).

This prophecy, which would remain the only one until the days of Noah, contains the seeds of many important truths that would be further unfolded at a later time: What a far-reaching prophecy! This prophecy was addressed to the serpent, but Adam and Eve were allowed to hear these words, which surely kindled their faith.

• Christ would become human, and He is the offspring of a woman. In the Bible, offspring is particularly associated with men. Here, however, it is implied that Christ was not begotten by a man, but by the Holy Spirit.
• Christ would be at enmity with the offspring of the serpent, that is, the Antichrist. Christ is the man after God’s own heart; the Antichrist is the man after the devil’s own heart.
• Christ would win the victory over Satan, “the ancient serpent.” He will crush the serpent’s head. Christ achieved this “moral victory” on the cross when he laid the foundation for sinful people to be freed from Satan’s bonds.
• Christ would suffer to achieve victory. The “crushing of the heel” took place on the cross at Golgotha.

Hope that helps!

If you ask the question: "Does baptism save?", many will be inclined to quickly answer: "No, of course not! Only repentance and faith save!" And again, someone might answer: "Well, of course, baptism saves. That's what scripture says!" So, how can we explain the vast difference between the two answers?

Well, the explanation is that both answers have a different understanding of "save/salvation"; they think of different things. The first answer equates it with eternal salvation, meaning one goes to heaven; the second answer doesn't share the same understanding, but rather thinks of a kind of salvation that involves time and this earth. To put it into a nutshell: Salvation does not always mean the same thing in scripture.  We can say that we are saved, that is the salvation of our soul (1 Pet 1:9). We could also say that we are being saved (through difficult situations; Heb 7:25; 1 Pet 418; 2 Cor 1:10). And finally we could also say: We will be saved (future, our bodily salvation, when the Lord comes to receive us unto himself; Phil 3:20.21).

When we think of baptism, it is absolutely scriptural to say that baptism saves! And your friend is absolutely correct: Mark 16:16 states that "He that believes and is baptised shall be saved". But then it continues: "and he that disbelieves shall be condemned." - no mention of baptism anymore. Also, 1 Peter 3:21 says: "were saved through water: which figure also now saves you, baptism." And in Acts 2 Peter says: "Repent, and be baptised, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ ... Be saved from this perverse generation." (vv. 38.40). How then does baptism save: If saves in that it changes our position here on earth - and only in that sense! Someone who gets baptised becomes a Christian in the fullest sense. Whatever he was before, he is now a Christian, and baptism gives testimony to that. He now belongs (at least outwardly) to the sphere on earth where God is known, His will done, and His blessings announced and enjoyed. He is no longer part of that part of this world that is under the judgment of God. In that way, and only in that way, does baptism save. 

As long as we keep baptism connected with time and earth, we are on the right track. When we start connecting baptism with heaven and eternity, however, we leave the ground of scripture. Someone who believes in the Lord Jesus as his personal saviour who died for his sins on the cross and does not get baptised is still saved in regard to heaven. But concerning his position in regard to this world, he is not saved unless baptised. Hope that helps! 

No, it does not mean that a Christian cannot sin, nor does it mean that we do not sin. Just go back to chapter 2:1: "My children, these things I write to you in order that ye may not sin; and if any one sin, we have a patron with the Father, Jesus Christ righteous;" A child of God is born again and thus received a new nature, one that cannot sin. But we also have the old nature in us, often called the sin in us or the flesh. Nowhere in scripture do we learn that we lose the old nature when we are born again. We have both in us, until we leave this earth (Phil 3:21; 1 John 3:2). 

You might wonder now whether we then have a contradiction in these verses. Whereas 1 John 2:1 implies that we can sin, 1 John 5:18 seems to state that we cannot. Well, we need to understand how John writes, how he looks at certain matters. The key is that John writes oftentimes a) in an absolute, abstract manner, meaning either something is the case or not. There is no middle ground. And b) he describes something as what it typically is. Let me make an example: Water is typically transparent. But now you might find some murky water. Is it therefore no water? Of course it is, even if it doesn't show the typical characteristics of water. To put it in John’s language, he would write: "Water is transparent!" He would do so because that is typical/normal for water. But he wouldn't consider the abnormal state of our murky water from the pond.

Likewise, it is in 1 John 5:18: He sees the Christian, the child of God (that is born again and has a new nature), as what he typically is, as what characterizes him. It is absolutely not typical for a child of God to sin, or even to live in sin. It can happen, even though it shouldn't. We never want to take sin lightly. The new nature does not sin - that's how John looks at it (see also 1 John 3:9). As in chapter 3:9, the term “sins” here does not refer to the commission of a single sin, but rather denotes an ongoing process, a state of continual sinning. That is unthinkable for a child of God. Hope that helps.