69.
A Living Church
Is
the Church the building or the people?
See The Lessons
In Your Bible Read This
1 Corinthians chapters 12 to 14
Here Is Your Memory Verse
I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not
overcome it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you
bind
on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose
on earth will be loosed in heaven. Matthew 16, 18-19
Afterwards Talk About
This
Next time you go to church why will you go, and what will you
expect?
Something To Do Before
Next Time
Next time you go to church be sure that you seek God for a
gift to take
to someone who will be there, and make sure they receive it
before you go home.
Written Diploma Work
Write a page respectfully suggesting changes that would bring
about positive progress in church life.
Meditate Word By Word On
This Verse
2 Timothy 1, 6-7
- Spend
a Minute to Change the World
- Pray For American
Native Indians - 2,000,000 people, 266 groups
- Poverty, disease,
unemployment, small but growing response to Jesus
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- Be sure to
teach this lesson to others.
- Always pray
and prepare well adding your own verses and stories to
bring it to life.
1. Why Do You Go To
Church?
Some people go to church out of a sense of
duty or because it is Sunday morning. For some it is a good place
to find business or they like the feeling they get. Others go
because their friends go and it is the centre of social life.
People go to be entertained on Sundays or to be enlightened, or
to hear great speakers. Some go to please their spouse, or to
find a wife or husband and some even go to get away from their
wife or husband. Hopefully some go to learn the Bible as well.
2. What Is The Church?
Whether it is the Church universal which is
the worldwide gathering of millions of believers or the local
church round the corner, a church is always the
people and never the building. We are the Church, the House
of the Lord.
- A New Community
- The Church is a radical alternative
society that is supernaturally enabled by the Holy Spirit.
A community that is united in faith, bears each others
burdens, and offers disciplined living with close
fellowship, accountability and action.
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- A People Focused On God
- Church means joy, prayer and worship
to celebrate our Heavenly fathers daily goodness.
More grace is received through baptism, the Lords
Table and the presence of God.
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- Destined To Triumph
- Jesus promised to build his church and
that the gates of hell would not prevail as the Church
advances against them. Matthew 16.18.
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- Think about these pictures too from
the Bible. The Church is the family of God, a building
with Jesus as the Builder and the Cornerstone, a living
body with Jesus as the head, a flock with Jesus as the
shepherd, a bride with Jesus the bride-groom, a casket of
jewels, branches of the vine, a temple with Jesus being
the high priest, an army and as a powerhouse of prayer.
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- Want To Know More?
- Use your concordance to find the Bible
verses for these references to church.
3. What Happens At
Church?
- We Meet With Jesus
- Jesus is present even when just two or
three are met together in his name, offering forgiveness,
acceptance and eternal life. Matthew 18.20
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- We Hear From Jesus
- Through his word and his Spirit.
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- We Are Healed By Jesus
- Jesus, the same yesterday, today and
forever is still our healer.
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- We Worship God Together
- God dwells in the praises of his
people.
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- We Strengthen Each Other.
- Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 14.26
that when the church meets, everyone should come with a
gift from God for someone else. Paul mentions five gifts
here but there are many more that meet the needs of the
people in church.
4. Lets Unwrap God's
Gifts.
1 Corinthians chapters 12-14 explains Gods
gifts and shows us how to use the different gifts, properly 12.4.
- Communication Gifts
- Tongues, let you speak in languages
that you have never learned.
- Interpretation, to know what is said.
- Prophecy, which should always be
welcomed, reviewed and tested.
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- Revelation Gifts
- Words of knowledge, from God's eternal
store of information.
- Word of wisdom, to know what to do.
- Discernment of evil (not human)
spirits.
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- Power Gifts
- His faith, that moves mountains.
- Healings are Gods gifts for sick
people.
- Miracles, literally, deeds of power.
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- Gifts That Make Leaders
- Ephesians 4,11 and 1 Cor. 12, 27-31.
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- Gifts For All Gods People
- Romans 12, 6-8 and 1 Peter 4, 8-11.
- Prophesying, not being a Prophet, but
bringing God's word to strengthen, comfort and encourage
people, 14.3.
- Serving, means happily helping others!
- Teaching, but this does not mean you
must have the gift of the Teacher.
- Encouraging, like Barnabas, Acts 11.23
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- Giving, being willing to share Gods
blessings with others, is a great gift.
- Governing, is the elder's gift.
- Mercy, is to help you to help the weak.
- Administration is a vital gift that
organises the church activities.
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- Other gifts include the intercessor,
elder, deacon, singer, teacher of songs, door-keeper and
priest. No wonder Paul says to stir up the gift in us, 2
Tim. 1.6; 4.14. There are different things to do with the
gifts and different ways of working with the same gift,
but God is in them all. All are given by the Holy Spirit
as he wishes. We neither choose our gifts, nor can we
switch gifts on and off, rather we use them in love. 1
Cor. 12, 5-6 and all Chapter 13.
5. Is There Any Ranking?
The Bible says that apostles and prophets
lead the way and then come teachers to keep us straight. After
that all the gifts are important, so discover the gift that God
has given you and develop it by serving others.
Philip began as an administrator but
became an evangelist and Paul began as a teacher and grew
into an apostle. Ephesians 2.20, 1 Corinthians 12,28.
If another brother or sister is more
gifted than us in a certain area, we should bring people to
them who we cannot help. Together we are God's team, the
complete body of Jesus in today's world. See 1 Cor. 12.12-27
- To Close Pray For The
- World's Most
Unreached Peoples By Name
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- Taken from the Joshua Project
2000 Unreached Peoples List
- no cell, church or mission
has committed themselves
- to prayer, adoption or church
planting among this people.
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- © Dr
Les Norman | School of Christian Leadership, UK
Permission is granted to provide copies at cost price for
study purposes
- but
not for sale or commercial purposes. Freely you have
received, so please freely give.
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