UNDERSTANDING
CHURCH
LIFE
An
Equipping Course
UNDERSTANDING CHURCH LIFE
Lesson 1:
THE CHURCH AND ITS PEOPLE
Since you have received Jesus Christ, you need to learn all you can about Him and His people, the Church.
There are two ways of understanding the Church. The first is to know that the Church is made up of more than a billion believers in Jesus who live in every country on Earth.
(Matthew 16:18, 28:18-20)
The second way to understand the church is what this course is about: the local church. Hosanna New Testament church is one of millions of local churches here on Earth. It is the local church you are part of. Therefore it is really important for you to understand "church life". Then you will know what the Lord Jesus Christ expects of you as a member of His Church, and as a member of Hosanna Church. (Acts 2:47, Philippians 1:1)
Why learn these things?
A. Jesus is our king. We need to please Him.
B. To understand how church life works.
A Definition: Christian- For the purposes of this course the word Christian (or Believer) refers to any person who has believed in Jesus Christ, that is to say, who has committed his or her life to following Jesus Christ, having received Him as Savior and sin bearer and who is relating to Him as Lord.
FIVE KINDS OF BELIEVING PEOPLE IN ANY LOCAL CHURCH
1. New Converts. These are people who have just recently received Jesus as Savior and Lord.
2. "Babes" in the Lord.
a. Those who are almost new converts
b. Those who have been believers for a while, maybe
even for years, but have never "grown up" in
their faith
3. People from other types of churches.
a. Those looking for another church like their old
one which they miss
b. Those looking for something better than their old
church
4. People from churches similar to ours.
5. People who have been hurt in another church or by other Christians.
LIFE IN THE CHURCH FAMILY
1. There are people and leaders who care about you. You begin to become a "family member" and have real friends who will help you to live in ways that please God.
2. You begin to "grow up" in the Lord. If you are serious about pleasing God, He will give you what you need to become effective for Him.
THE TWO PARTS OF THE REAL CHRISTIAN LIFE
a. Love and serve Jesus Christ. (Mark 12:29-30)
b. Love (really care about) other people. (Mark 12:31)
The Bible says: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself."
-Jesus (Matthew 22:37-39)
This course will help you learn these two important things. Please read the above verses carefully and think about what they mean to you. Then answer the questions which are on the next page. Each lesson will have questions. These questions help the elders to understand you and help you to really "get" the ideas which this course teaches.
By the way, the entire New Testament assumes that every real believer in Jesus Christ will be a vitally connected, ongoing part of a local Bible preaching church family. There is not such thing as a lone Christian in the Bible. This is so strong in God’s word, that all the instructions for living found throughout the New Testament, assume that the believer is part of an active part of his or her local church.
QUESTIONS ABOUT LESSON 1:
1. Why learn these things?
2. Name the five kinds of Christians who come into any church.
3. Which type were/are you?
4. What two things happen when people are truly part of a church family?
5. What two commandments did Jesus say are the most important of all?
6. Have you been hurt in a local church by leaders or others?
7. Would you like to get together with an elder of the church?
UNDERSTANDING CHURCH LIFE
lesson 2:
OUR FIRST CALL: LOVING GOD
If we really know Jesus, we will love him because we will know that he really loves us. He suffered and died for us. He loves you so much that he suffered punishment for your sin, as he died on the cross.
(I John 4:19)
If we love Jesus, we will want Him to be our Lord. This means that he is our boss and our guide. We will "put Him first" by obeying his word, the Bible. His Spirit, the Holy Spirit
gives us the power to do this. The Bible says:
"To be controlled by the human nature results in death; to be controlled by the Spirit results in life and peace." -Romans 8:6.(Good News Bible)
A real Christian will obey Jesus. A person who will not obey Jesus is not really a Christian. Jesus is called "savior" only 37 times in the Bible, but He is called Lord 7,736
times. (Matthew 7:22-23)
It is easy to see that our first job as believers in Jesus is to obey Him. It is good to know that God will give us the power to do this when we ask him in prayer! Here are Action steps to help you do this.
1. Pray every day. Pray as you go through each day. Also have special times of prayer when you are not doing anything else but prayer. Make time for this every day.
(Luke 18:1)
2. Read and/or listen to the Bible every day. Please use a Bible that you can understand. This practice is just as important as eating food. Good food keeps your body strong. The Bible (God’s word) keeps your spirit strong. (Psalm 119:105)
3. Do the good things Bible teaches us to do.
(Ephesians 2:10)
4. Don’t do bad things. Ask God to help you overcome the temptation to do bad things.
(Romans 6:1-2)
We can feel right about obeying Jesus because He loves us and he wants what is best for us. Will you "put Jesus first." by obeying Him? Ask God to help you with this.
Friendship With God!
There is more too! It is important to obey Jesus, but he also wants to be your very best friend. The same goes for God the Father. He wants to be your loving heavenly Father. The Bible says: "...there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."
-Proverbs 18:24 (NIV)
If you love Jesus, God himself, by His Spirit lives inside of you, even though you can’t see Him. The Bible says: "But you do not live as your human nature tells you to; instead, you live as the Spirit tells you to, if, in fact, God’s Spirit lives in you. Whoever does not have
the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him."
Romans 8:9 (Good News Bible)
God loves you very much, so you can be sure that He wants to be your friend. He even loved us before we loved Him. The Bible says: "This is what love is. It is not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son (Jesus) to be the means by which our sins are forgiven."
I John 4:10 (Good News Bible).
The reason that anyone loves God is because He loved us first and proved it by Jesus dying on the cross for us, taking the punishment for sin that we deserved. The Bible says:
"Everyone has sinned and is far away from God’s saving presence."
Romans 3:23 (Good News)
"For sin pays its wage - death: but God’s free gift is eternal life in union with (or "Through working with") Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 6:23 (Good News)
See how much God loves you! He paid a high price to save you from sin’s penalty of eternal punishment.
Remember: Our first call as believers in Jesus Christ is to love him. Also remember that He loves us.
QUESTIONS ABOUT LESSON 2:
1. Who is a real Christian?
2. How can we obey Jesus?
3. What are some good things to do?
4. What are some bad things we should not do?
5. How can you know that God loves you?
6. Does God want to be your friend? How do you know this?
UNDERSTANDING CHURCH LIFE
lesson 3:
LOVING PEOPLE
It is important to learn about real church life so we can please God. God wants us to learn how to live in ways that are right, not like selfish people who don’t know God.
This begins with knowing that God loves us, and in learning to love him too. We learn to obey Jesus in ways that we learned about in our last lesson.
God also tells us to love each other. The Bible says: "Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Whoever loves is a child of God and knows God."
I John 4:7 (Good News Bible)
God also warns us that if anyone does not have love for others, that person is not really a Christian. "Whoever does not love does not know God for God is love."
I John 4:8 (Good News Bible)
Special Note: The word love, as used here, does not talk about what the world calls "Making Love". That is a whole different thing that is only for people who are married to
each other. To do that stuff with anyone else but your wife or husband is not love at all, but is a counterfeit. It is a sin. Please don’t ever get fooled about this. See one of our pastors for more help about this if you have questions on this subject.
The first Christian believers really did love each other. They proved it by taking care of each other’s needs. If one person had plenty of food and money and another person
didn’t, the person with plenty would help the person who did not have enough. The Bible says: "All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need."
Acts 2:44-45 (NIV)
We also know that each one of them was doing their fair share of the work in the first church because the Bible also teaches: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
2 Thessalonians 3:10 (NIV)
Real love causes us to help people in their needs and to do our fair share of the work, without trying to get out of it.
Caring about other people (with God’s love in us) also means that we will be nice to each other, and speak rightly, as taught in the following Bible verse. "Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling, and slander, along with every form of malice. (wishing bad things would happen to others) Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ, God forgave you."
Ephesians 4:31-32 (NIV)
Kindness is one of the marks of a true Christian. Each of us needs to pray every day and ask God to control us. Sometimes we have to pray many times about this in a day.
If we have a time when we begin to store up "bitterness, rage," or any of those other sins from Ephesians 4:31, we need to tell God that we are sorry, tell whoever we have hurt that we are sorry, and then ask God to give us the power to not sin like that. The Bible promises that God will help us. "If we confess (Confess means to admit and turn away
from.) our sins, He is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins, and purify us from all unrighteousness."
I John 1:9 (NIV)
WHAT IS THE “CHURCH”?
Many people have thought of the church as being a building where people meet, but the Bible doesn’t teach that. Others have thought of the church as being a club where people get together and elect officers and have dues, but the Bible doesn’t teach that either. Still others have said that the church is religion, but even that isn’t what the Bible teaches. What is the church? Let’s see what God says.
Jesus mentioned "Church" twice in the New Testament. He used the Greek word which means "called out ones". From the other things that Jesus said, we can tell that we (people who are part of His Church) are called out from the way that people who don’t know God live, and called into a better way of living. We are also called to meet together and share our lives with each other. We, the people who love and trust the Lord are the “Church”.
God’s word says of the first church: "Every day they continued to meet together in the Temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people, and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Acts 2:46-47 (NIV)
Jesus also said: "...I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it."
Matthew 16:18
Jesus has been building his Church now for almost 2000 years. Evil people have tried to stop this. The Devil hates this, but nothing will ever stop the Church from being built.
(Remember that the "church" is all the people who love Jesus.)
How Is The Church Made Visible?
There are different ways that the Church is seen any town or city, but the main ways are big gatherings such as Sunday morning meetings, and small gatherings such as those in
people’s homes. Sometimes adults gather together. Sometimes it is teenagers, and sometimes children or a mixture of ages. What is important is that people who belong to Jesus get together and share their lives, learn the Bible and worship God. Then the Church is seen.
God calls every person who is part of this church family to be committed to:
A. Putting Jesus first and obeying his word, the Bible.
B. Each other, really caring and helping each other in love. (The Bible talks about "each other" stuff 30 different times!)
How can you start living like this? Here’s how:
A. Pray every day and really put Jesus first.
B. Decide that you will love everyone with God’s help.
C. Don’t Gossip or think evil things about fellow believers who are part of our church family. (The harm that does is HUGE.)
D. Be generous toward others with your time, your love, your attitude.
E. Be faithful in your church and small group attendance and be willing to share some of the work there.
QUESTIONS ABOUT LESSON 3:
1. Did the first Christians demonstrate love for each other?
2. What are some ways that they showed that love?
3. Can a person have no love and really be a Christian?
(use the Bible to prove your answer.)
4. What are some ways that you can serve others in love?
5. What does “Church” mean?
6. How is God’s Church seen in local towns and cities?
7.. What are some ways that you, as part of the family here at church, can show love for Jesus and for other people?
UNDERSTANDING CHURCH LIFE
lesson 4
THE CHRISTIAN AND MONEY
So far we have had three lessons and have covered the following things:
Lesson I. Introduction and five types of people who come into a church.
Lesson II. Loving God.
Lesson III. Caring about other People.
LESSON 4: The Christian and Money
- Money is talked about in 700 places in the Bible.
- Jesus told 38 stories (called "parables") in the Bible.
26 of these stories deal with money.
- One out of every six verses in the Gospels deals with right and wrongs ways to use money.
- Chapter 7 of the Bible book called "Numbers" deals with giving. This chapter is 2000 words long! It is one of longest chapters in the Bible.
Consider the Sermon on the Mount.
This is the most famous sermon ever preached. It was about the really important things we do in life. Jesus talked about giving in this sermon, along with other really important things like praying to God. (Matthew 6:1-4)
Yes money is important. We need it to buy the things we need and to be able to give to help others. There are many wrong ways to use money. God has right ways to use it. They include:
1. Planning ahead, not just spending any old way.
2. Being a partner with God in how you use money, using part of it for God’s work.
3. Love God, love people, and use money. Don’t use people and love money.
God owns us if we are Christians. This means that he owns all that we have too, including our money. He calls us to be managers of His stuff, including money. (See Deuteronomy 8:18, Haggai 2:8, Psalm 50:10, I Chronicles 29:11-16) We need to be good managers who please God with our choices. This whole area of money is one of the ways that God tests us and shows us what is really in our hearts, our inner thoughts and desires.
Helping Financially With God’s Work:
The Tithe, Offerings, and Alms.
The Tithe
This word simply means "the tenth". God wants believers in Jesus to bring one tenth of our income into the "storehouse", our local church, in order to support those who work full
time in God’s work. If you make $200 per week, your tithe each week is $20. The tithe comes off the top of our pay first. (Deuteronomy 26:1-2 and other scriptures)
Remember that 100% belongs to God. He asks for 10% as a starting place to simply keep the church supplied, and those whose work is “the word of God and prayer” cared for. The 10% is also a reminder that everything belongs to God. After your tithe is brought into the church, you the Lord will lead you to also give offerings to help with
Offerings
There are many different types of financial offerings. An Offering can be simply giving more than your tithe into the plate on Sunday morning. For instance, you might sense that the Lord is leading you to bring $30 to church instead of $20 on a week that you make $200. Offerings can also be given to meet special needs and projects that help the family of God. You might give a designated offering at church to help pay down the building loan. You might send a check in the mail to help support a good Christian radio program, or maybe you choose to send money to a missionary each month. When a traveling ministry comes to church and we pass the offering plate to help them, any money you put in at that time is an offering.
Alms
Alms are special offerings that are for poor people or people who have an extra heavy need at the present time. Alms can be for people who already know Jesus, but they can also be to help people who don’t yet know Him. Any poor or needy person or family may receive alms help. The fourth Sunday of every month, we have a special alms offering at Hosanna church. This money is often used to buy heating oil or to help someone buy essential items for home.
Summary
God wants us to tithe to show our faith in him and to keep the church supplied. He also wants us to be generous people who also give other offerings. He loves poor and needy people. So should we. Alms offerings are a way that we can express that. God also wants to bless us by taking care of our needs and by giving us right desires so that we do not spend our money in wrong ways.
Please read Malachi 3:8-12. God shows us right and wrong here concerning tithes and offerings. He also tells us that He will take care of us as we tithe faithfully, and work diligently and thankfully at our job or career.
There are six things to remember about how we should give as people who know Jesus:
1. According to how much money you make or get (Deuteronomy 16:17)
2. Without showing off (Matthew 6:3)
3. Freely, generously (Matthew 10:8)
4. Simply, without worrying, fussing, or feeling cheated (Romans 12:8)
5. Regularly, every time we are paid (I Corinthians 16:2)
6. Cheerfully; glad to do this (II Corinthians 9:7)
Parting Thoughts:
Please remember that we need to make wise choices with the money that we have left after bringing in the tithe and giving offerings.
a. Do not use credit in wrong ways and get trapped in crushing debt.
b. Do not buy things in a selfish or foolish manner.
c. Do not spend money on things which do harm, such as cigarettes, pornography, or music which has ungodly values.
Ask your Bible teacher or pastor for help with these thoughts if you need that help.
TIME COUNTS UP TOO
Also remember that our time needs to be used wisely, not wasted. Please make plenty of time for prayer, Bible study, and serving God every day. Our time is a trust from God, just
as our money is. Let’s invest it well.
QUESTIONS ABOUT LESSON 4:
1. Who owns us?
2. Who owns our money?
3. What is the tithe?
4. Name some things that offerings beyond the tithe are for.
5. What are alms?
6. Will you obey God in these matters?
UNDERSTANDING CHURCH LIFE
lesson 5
BECOMING A SERVANT
Review:
Part I: Five kinds of Christians who come into any church
Part II: Loving and Serving God
Part III: Caring About Other People
Part IV: What God Teaches About Money
LESSON 5
Bible Basics about being servants.
1. (Matthew 20:26-28) The Selfish Nature
In ourselves, we are all selfish by nature. Every person would rather sit around than do the dishes. They want someone else to do it. It is not just dishes either. This is true of everything. Can you think of any selfish thoughts that you have had? Can you think of any selfish things others have done or said that hurt you? God wants us to act like Jesus who was not selfish. He wants our desires to be good ones. We have to get His help in this matter or we can never do this.
2. (Psalm 51:10-13) A Clean Heart
Only God can give us a clean heart. He wants to do this for every person who knows Jesus. Then, and only then, will we think and act the way God wants us to. Read Romans 12:1-2 for more help with this.
3. (Philippians 2:3-5) A Right Attitude.
God wants us to care about others and to be nice to them too. He wants us to work for the good of others and not to consider ourselves "better" than other people.
4. (I Peter 3:1-17) A Good attitude produces right actions.
a. We will do right at home. (verses 1-2, 7; also Ephesians 6:1-4)
b. We will do right out among people. (verses 8-12)
c. We will share Jesus with others who do not know him as their savior and Lord. (verses
15-16)
B. Living this out.
1. Jesus wants people to see him when they watch how we live. We need to let his light shine in us. (see Matthew 5:16) We need to do right because it is right and not just because we fear punishment or want a reward. God can give us a genuine loving heart. (Matthew 7:12) Don’t sit home and feel bad if nobody has visited you, invite people over! Reach out in love EXPECTING NOTHING IN RETURN. Remember, we are all called to live this out in our actual lives. (Matthew 23:8-11)
God’s Equipping of Us
God has given many gifts into the people of the church family. These are to help us serve each other and to serve God. Gifts are not to make some people big shots and other people nobodies. God’s way is different than the world’s way. We are all called to do our share of the work, to care for others, and to be happy in this.
God has also given gifts to you. Some of them you may already know about, and others you might not yet know about. Some of these include things such as serving, giving, and showing mercy. (Romans 12:6-8).
We offer several courses through this church on God’s gifts. One course is on the gifts talked about in Romans 12. We also teach about gifts found in I Corinthians 12 and in Ephesians 4.
Understanding these Gifts:
• The Romans 12 gifts are called "Motive gifts" because they deal with our whole approach to life based on how God has made each of us individually.
• The I Corinthians 12 gifts are called "supernatural" gifts or "manifestational" gifts.
• The Ephesians 4 gifts are called "equipping" gifts because they are there to help people become growing, serving followers of Jesus.
Please ask our elders or your small group leaders for further help in understanding these gifts and how God has given them to us to be better servants by his love.
Conclusion
Please read Galatians 5:19-26.
This passage shows us that our old self (the flesh) loves to sin. Not everybody does all of these things, but there is sin in the flesh of all of us. The second half of this passage shows us that God’s Holy Spirit grows "fruit" in us when we really and truly follow Jesus, and this fruit is good!
The selfish nature (the flesh) is about getting... getting our own way, getting more and more stuff... etc.
The kingdom of God is about loving and serving each other. In doing this, we are also serving Jesus. (Matthew 10:42). This kind of serving also pleases God our Father. (Hebrews 13:16) The New Testament tells many different ways to serve or care for each other. We know that this is really important to God.
QUESTIONS ABOUT LESSON 5:
1. List some ways that you can serve in the church.
2. List some ways that you can serve at home.
3. Who has God given to help us to become servants?
4. Did you know that selfish people tend to be very unhappy? Give an example.
5. Did you know that loving, serving people tend to be joyous and happy? Give an example.
6. Would you like to see an elder about any of this?
UNDERSTANDING CHURCH LIFE
Lesson 6:
PROBING TWO MYSTERIES
Review:
1. Five kinds of Christians who come into a church.
2. "Jesus Christ": Putting Him First.
3. Caring about other People.
4. What God Teaches about Christians and Money.
5. Becoming Servants of God and of people.
Lesson 6a
TWO MYSTERIES
Read Matthew 13:10-13 and verse 16.
What is a mystery? Simply put, it is "anything that is unknown or hidden". There are many mysteries in the world. Many things are mysteries to all of us, but in this lesson there are only two mysteries that we will look at. They are:
1. The Mystery of “Christ in You”.
2. The Mystery of “Lawlessness”.
THE MYSTERY OF “CHRIST IN YOU”.
The mystery of Christ in You is mentioned or talked about in these scriptures:
a. I Corinthians 2:7 & 4:1.
b. Romans 16:25-27.
c. Ephesians 3:1-12 & 19.
d. Colossians 1:24-2:3.
These scriptures may seem a little confusing, but for the real Christian (anyone who loves Jesus and wants to obey God) there is no mystery here! God wants us to be like Jesus. He lives in us by the Holy Spirit, and He will teach us through the Bible. He will also teach us through other Christians. He will teach us what it is to become more and more like Jesus. The World can never understand this! It is hidden from those who do not know the Lord.
God desires to reveal His glory (His greatness, power, love, and holiness) to other people through us! That is why Colossians 1:27 says what it does. It is all about God working in and through us!
To those who do not know Jesus, this really is a mystery. They cannot really understand it, but those of us who will follow Jesus with all of our heart, learn what it means to have Christ in us! We can really understand this mystery if we truly love God and are not just thinking that we can follow Him "half-heartedly". We must be real Christians to know what it means to say: "Christ in me, the hope of Glory!"
God is pleased when other people see his work in your life and can tell that Jesus is in you. Remember: If you seek God with all your might, so as to be pleasing to him, this mystery will be fully revealed to you.
THE MYSTERY OF LAWLESSNESS
Read II Thessalonians 2:3-12.
This is not a pleasant scripture, but it is an important one. Verse 7 talks about the "secret power of lawlessness" which is already at work in the world. Jesus warns us that there
will be people who claim to be Christians who are not. God calls people like that "lawless". (Matthew 7:22-23)
What does lawlessness mean as used in the Bible? Simply this: Without "principle" (internal sense of right and wrong ways to live), without "character" (the will to do right when doing wrong would be easier), and without "restraint" ( holding back from things like drunkenness, sex sins, violence, bad language, etc.)
The Bible warns us that many people will claim to be Christians at the Judgment* who are actually "lawless". Jesus said: "Many will say to me on that day, ’Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles?’ and then I will declare to them, ’I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’". (Matthew 7:22-23) Read also Matthew 13:41 for more insight.
Doing stuff in Jesus name does not prove that we really are following and serving him. Our heart (secret inner self) must be right with Him (the mystery of Godliness), or all the
good stuff; even going to church, singing special music, learning Bible verses, etc, that we do is just a show or an exercise that is worth nothing.
Lesson 6b
THE WAR INSIDE OF YOU:
Godliness is simply "obeying God on the inside", and lawlessness is "not obeying God on the inside". We might look good to others but still be lawless, but God looks inside where our thoughts and motives are. The inside of us is where the war for our soul and our loyalty is fought.
Here are some helpful things to look at so as to understand the difference between Godliness and Lawlessness.
Godliness (obedience) Lawlessness (disobedience)
You are affecting the World. The World is affecting you
around you for Jesus. and your values.
You serve Jesus with all your You are trying to serve two
heart. masters, Jesus and the world.
Christ (the mind of Christ) is The desires of this world
being formed in you and you are being formed in you and
love to do God’s will. are like those of people
who don’t love the Lord.
I John 4:4. Greater is He that The world and its ways
is in me, than he that is in are greater to me than
the world. (Jesus is greater than obeying Jesus is.
the Devil is.)
Some Keys to Victory
Look up the Bible verses. Then read the comments.
Psalm 119:11. Hide God’s word in your heart.
John 17:6-19. Know that Jesus has prayed for us to be "sanctified" (set apart for God’s use, not the World’s use.) and that he has given us his word, the Bible.
I John 5:4-5. If our faith in Jesus is real (we love him), He will help us to overcome sin.
Acts 1:8. Be sure to ask the Heavenly Father to fill you with the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 5:18. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit over and over because we do and think things that turn him off, but he wants to fill us up over and over.
John 14:26. The Holy Spirit wants to be your guide, teacher, and counselor.
John 15:26-27. He (the Holy Spirit) wants to talk about Jesus Christ both in you and through you.
John 16:7-16. This is the #1 job of the Holy Spirit. He wants to use you in His work of convincing the world that there really is “sin, righteousness, and judgment”.
John 6:63. The Holy Spirit gives life. He speaks the life giving words of Jesus. The flesh (the old you) has no life giving power, so depend on the Holy Spirit all the time.
Romans 8:5-17. This passage really needs to be read slowly, letting the Lord reveal all that He is saying to you from it.
CONCLUSION:
The battle is within you. Only you can decide if you will really submit to Jesus Christ as Lord, be washed with the word of God, and live by the Holy Spirit. Only you can decide if you will fake it instead, or even turn away from God completely.
If you decide to be real about following Jesus, God will help you by the Holy Spirit, the Bible, and Godly pastors and teachers in the church family. To help keep yourself walking
in Godliness, please live in the following "life principles".
1. Be accountable. Your life is an open book, shared with fellow Christians who are your helpers in the Lord, such as your pastors, Sunday School teachers, Godly parents, etc.
2. Be responsible. Do what you say you will do with no question about it. Be the most trustworthy employee at work. Be the most honest bill payer in town. Be the best behaved
student in your class, all by God’s power. Be as good as your word.
3. Be Teachable. Don’t ever think that you can afford to be closed to new insights or help from your fellow believers or from other people such as your boss at work.
4. Be Approachable. Make sure, always, that people can feel safe in coming to you with any concern that they have about you. Be humble and gentle.
5. Yield to God. Draw near to Him. Resist the spirit of lawlessness which is always around us, waiting to tempt us. The Devil walks in the spirit of Lawlessness, but we can win
against the Devil. (James 4:7) Learn God’s word.
As God changes you "from glory to glory", He will also use you to change people. Jesus Christ is Lord!
* The Judgment: This is the Great White Throne Judgment that is talked about in Revelation 20:11-15.
QUESTIONS ABOUT LESSON 6:
1. What is a mystery?
2. What is the mystery of godliness, of Christ in You?
3. What is the mystery of Lawlessness?
4. Are these mysteries in conflict against each other? (explain)
5. Who decides which one is winning inside of you?
6. Are you committed to Godliness?
7. Name some of the ways God equips you to win this battle.
8. Would you like to know more about these things?
UNDERSTANDING CHURCH LIFE
Lesson 7
Relating Rightly to Rulers
Part 1: Five Kinds of Christians who Come into a Church.
Part 2: Jesus Christ: Putting Him First.
Part 3: Caring about Other People.
Part 4: What God Teaches about Christians and Money.
Part 5: Becoming Servants.
Part 6: Probing Two Mysteries.
Now let’s look at four areas of life where God has said that there are rulers we need to obey:
CIVIC LEADERS
The people who make the laws of the land, and those who enforce those laws
(Romans 13:1-7)
There are laws about many things in your town, in our state, and in our nation. We need to obey these laws because God tells us to. We also need to treat our policemen, town managers, mayors, governor, senators, representatives, judges, and president and vice
president with honor and respect. God tells us to do this in Romans chapter 13.
Many people break laws, but Christians must not. We need to be perfectly honest and never cheat, steal, or do other wrong or illegal things. The one time that it is right to break laws is when a law goes against God’s Law. God’s law is the highest law.
LEADERS AT WORK OR SCHOOL
If you have a job, you are to treat your boss as though he or she was Jesus. This doesn’t mean that you bow down and worship your boss. It does mean that a real Christian will
not cheat his/her boss by goofing off when no one is looking. A real Christian will also talk nicely to or about their boss and not join in with unbelievers who are mean about their
boss. A real Christian will not steal stuff from work either, like many workers do.
Even if your boss is mean and doesn’t treat you the way Jesus would, you still must follow these good ways of working. Pray and tell your Heavenly Father if your boss is really wrong or bad. Let God be your protector. God is patient with people. He may just fill you with his strength to endure an unfair boss, or he may change your boss, but God
wants to help you be a truly great worker and employee.
Note: If you are a student in school, you need to treat your teachers the same way that working Christians are to treat their boss. You need to be respectful and work hard.
Please read these scriptures: Ephesians 6:5-8, Colossians 3:22-25, I Peter 2:18-20, Titus 2:9, I Timothy 2:9.
If you are an employer or a teacher, you are to lead with gentleness and treat those under you as a trust from God. They belong to God, not to you, and you are His trusted steward.
(Steward: One who is in charge of the property of another person)
LEADERS IN THE HOME
If you are a husband, you are to treat your wife gently and lead her by example, not force or threat. Jesus set the example when he treated the church with love and gentleness
and then died for us on the cross. Husbands are to protect their wives too, and not expect to sit around and have the wife do all the work at home. Do your fair share of the dishes and other housework. After all, you do some of the eating and tracking in of dirt. Pray with your wife and talk about God’s word with her. Let God teach both of you together.
If you are a wife, treat your husband with respect and don’t be bitter at him because he is not perfect. Encourage him. Let him know that you are believing for the best in him and that you believe he can become a truly Godly and able man.
Both of you please read I Corinthians 11:3, Ephesians 5:22-29, Colossians 3:18-21, and I Peter 3:1-7.
If you are a parent, train your children. Do not abuse them. Ask God to give you wisdom in how to deal with their childish or rebellious ways. If you lash out in anger or name calling,
saying things like "You’ll never be any good!", or if you become violent toward your children or teens, you will drive them away from you and from God. If you need some help with this, please call the church office (539-2295) and we’ll hook you up with someone who can help you.
If you are a teen, you are to treat your parents with respect and honor, even though they have faults and don’t do everything right. God already knows about your parents’ areas
of weakness. Pray about those areas. Tell God all about them, but do not become bitter. Take it to God and He will help you.
LEADERS IN THE CHURCH
Jesus is the Head of the Church. (John 10:16 & Ephesians 1:22-23). He has given gifted people into the church to equip us to serve him better. (Ephesians 4:11) These are people such as teachers, pastors, and others who help Christians to become more like Jesus.
He has also given "servants" (deacons) into the church to help us take care of poor people and people who are having a hard time and need a little extra care right now. He has given trustees to help us take care of our buildings and equipment. The trustees don’t do this alone. They help the whole church family to do these things.
Jesus, as the chief shepherd of we, His “sheep”, also has given us elders to "shepherd (pastor), teach, and guard (watch over)" the people of the church family. (Acts 20:28-30) Those who are real elders do not serve as elders in order to boss people around, but because they care about people. (I Peter 5:1-4). A group of proven elders is called to "Pastor" (lead, guard, teach) each local church.
The Church and You:
God wants you to respect and honor those who are the elders at your church. Check out I Thessalonians 5:12-13, and Hebrews 13:7 concerning this. You also should really pay attention to your Church Class teachers, your Home Fellowship Leaders, your Youth Leaders, the trustees, or anyone else with authority and/or teaching responsibility for you in the church.
Some people like to think that they can be a Bible Christian without being in submission to
anyone but Jesus, but that is not possible because that is not the way that God has set things up. Please read Hebrews 13:17. This scripture is mostly about the elders, but it
also applies to your Church Class teachers, the deacons and trustees, and perhaps others.
Please remember that at this Church, our goal as servant/leaders is not to boss people around. It is to see them become like Jesus!
QUESTIONS ABOUT LESSON 7:
1. Does God have understandable ways to rule us?
2. Does God want us to obey the laws of the land? Why?
3. Which are you: a husband, wife, parent, single adult, or teen at home?
4. How should you treat the other people at home?
5. Do you have a job?
6. Are you willing to treat you boss with respect and honor?
7. Do you attend school?
8. Are you willing to treat your teachers with respect and honor?
9. Do you know who the elders of this church are?
10. Are you willing to respect and listen to them?
11. Do you know who the trustees of this church are?
12. Are you in one of the following: 1.a Home Fellowship, 2. a youth group?
13. Have you ever been in trouble at another church?
14. Do you have questions about any of this stuff that an elder can help you with?
UNDERSTANDING CHURCH LIFE
Lesson 8
SHARING JESUS WITH OTHERS
Review of past lessons:
Part 1: Five Kinds of Christians Who Come into a Church.
Part 2: Jesus Christ: Putting Him First.
Part 3: Caring About Other People.
Part 4: What God Teaches About Christians and Money
Part 5: Becoming Servants
Part 6: Probing Two Mysteries
Part 7: Relating Rightly to Rulers
Sharing Jesus:
Jesus wants every one of us to tell others about him. The reason for this is very important: People who don’t love Jesus will not make it to Heaven. They will go to Hell when they
die. This is in spite of the fact that God loves everyone. (see John 3:16-17) Sin simply cannot be in Heaven.
The Lord tells us that we have a job to do, which is to share Jesus with everyone. (Matthew 28:18-20) God wants everybody to give their life to Jesus and go to Heaven some day (II Peter 3:9 & I Timothy 2:3-4). His way for this to happen is to use us to tell others how to know Jesus. (Romans 10:12-15).One of the main reasons Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit was to give us power to tell others about Him. (Acts 1:8)
There are several ways to share Jesus with others.
1. The first is to tell those people who you already know about Him. Share Him with People who are your friends, coworkers, schoolmates, or neighbors. These are the people in your "Jerusalem". These are the people who are nearby and who you can talk with easily. You don’t know all the people in your Jerusalem but they all live nearby and could come to Hosanna Church.
2. Secondly there are the people from your "Judea". These are people who live in nearby towns. These people can be reached through home meetings in their towns. There are also other ways that God can show us to reach these people for Jesus. New churches
can be started in these towns if they don’t already have enough good churches that teach the truth.
3. Thirdly Jesus spoke of "Samaria". Samaria wasn’t very far away, but the people who lived in Jerusalem and Judea tended to hate the Samaritans. God did not like this. He had Jesus tell a story about a "Good Samaritan". God wants us to care about all people groups and not to hate any of them. Some people don’t like poor people and they avoid being around them. Some people don’t like black people. Some people don’t like rich people, or people who don’t talk well, or who don’t have perfect cleanliness. This is not good. God loves everybody.
Jesus died on the cross for everybody. He wants us to care about the people who live in our Samaria, no matter how they look or sound.
4. Finally Jesus said to go to "the Whole World". He cares about people who live far away, even on the other side of the world. Our church helps send people who are good at sharing about Jesus, to these far away people. Maybe someday you can go Too! It is a good thing to get involved with taking the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the Earth. Right now you can learn a lot about people in far away places who need the Lord. Know this for sure, God loves them! Pray for them. Pray for the work of God all over the World.
God wants us to always remember that He loves those who do not yet know and love Him. He wants all of us to tell others about him. If you are being a real servant of God, and doing the good things that are taught about in the other parts of this series of teachings, you are in good position to tell other people about Jesus, because they will see His love in
you. Are you being careful to live like that? Please make sure that you are a servant to God and to your fellow believers. God wants to love through you!
Some ways you can help.
Now: -You can invite friends to church, and even bring them. You can invite them to Home Meetings or Youth Group. You can pray for anyone you know that does not know Jesus. Ask God to get to them with the good news. You can learn who our "missionaries" (those on a mission for God) are and pray for them. (We have a whole bulletin board about them). You can also write to them and let them know that you are praying for them.
There are many other things that you can do too. These are just a few ideas. Why not help coordinate a special missions trip for your youth group or home fellowship? There are many ways this can happen.
REMEMBER: God wants everybody, everywhere to know about Jesus and to give their life to him. It’s a matter of life and death.
QUESTIONS ABOUT LESSON 8:
1. Who does God love?
2. Who does God want to use to tell others about Jesus?
3. Does God wish for people to go to Hell?
4. Do you have any "Samaritans" (people you don’t like) in your life?
5. How do you relate to the fact that God loves them?
6. Will you repent of the sin of disliking certain other people or "kinds of people"?
7. Who do you know that you can invite to church and/or small groups in the church?
8. Will you do this?
9. Will you pray for
a. People you know who need Jesus,
b. The people in countries where we have missionaries,
c. Our missionaries,
d. People in lands that are closed to missionaries?
10. Will you write to one of our missionaries and encourage them in the important work they are doing?
11. Do you feel a “nudge” to become involved in church planting or mission work?
