When you received Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, you become part of the family of God - you become a child of God! So don't go it alone!

1 John 3:1 – "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"

Belonging to a church, particularly a small group within it will bring you regularly in touch with other people who also know Jesus and are part of the same family. They can encourage you and you can encourage them in return.

Hebrews 10:25 - " Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another..."

When we talk about Church, we are really talking about the family of God or the Christian family.

The Church is not just a building where Christians go to worship God. It is the gathering of people to worship God.

 

In church, you will be able to worship God – to give expression to the joy and thankfulness that is in your heart. And you will be able to receive teaching to stimulate your mind, to inspire you and to nourish you.

The church is not a cruise liner on which we glide to heaven. It is a battleship that requires all hands on deck as it fights its way through life to a tremendous destination. So get involved! As well as joining the Oikos groups in the church, why not try to find some way you can help out – Ushering, the Music Ministry (MM), Social Concerns, etc.

"Fellowship" is derived from the Greek word koinonia, which means, "sharing in common". God has given us much to share. Sharing involves giving and receiving, and both are integral parts of meaningful fellowship.

What can we share with other fellow believers?

1. Our [LOVE].

1 John 4:11,12 - "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."

2. Our [BURDEN].

Galatians 6:2 - "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ."

3. Our [SINS] and [PRAYER] needs.

James 5:16 - "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

Picture the following situation. Several Christians are in a fast food restaurant having a meal as they discuss the latest happenings on the local scene. The conversation moves to the subject of "where would you go for your next holiday". Then one of them cracks a joke he recently heard. They enjoy a good laugh together, and begin to talk about the latest fashion in Singapore. As one of them leaves, he says, "It sure is good to have Christian Fellowship!" Is this genuine Christian fellowship? Why and why not? How could it be improved?

Each week, apart from the Sunday Worship Service and Wednesday Prayer Meeting, members of Bethesda Cathedral meet in various venues as “Oikos Groups”.

a. "Oikos" is the Greek word for "[HOUSEHOLD]". It is in these "households" that smaller groups of Christians gather to :

• Worship God
• Study the Bible together
• Engage in lively discussions
• Share their personal experiences and
• Pray for one another.

All of these cannot be done in a large church service.

Genuine Christian fellowship is found in the Oikos groups.

 

b. Organized as small groups catering to various age ranges, Oikos groups seek to meet the needs of the individual as he or she lives the Christian life. The ultimate aim of the Oikos group is to follow the biblical example in Acts 2:42-47 where the early believers met together for [TEACHING], [FELLOWSHIPPING], [BREAKING of BREAD] and [PRAYER].

Acts 2:42-47 – “They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 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”.

c. Oikos is also another way to reach out to others.

You will always have friends who wouldn’t come to church on a Sunday morning. They may have a preconceived idea of what church is all about. But they would feel very open about coming into a home or a small group in a relaxed atmosphere. Here, the people can share honestly, doubts can be raised and questions can be asked. In this way the pre-believers can see the love of Jesus demonstrated in the practical lives of the Christians. It is indeed a very relaxed and non-threatening way to share Christ with others.

So why not start to attend an Oikos group this week if you have not already done so?

When Christians meet together for prayer and worship, God’s [PRESENCE] dwells with them.

Matthew 18:19,20 - “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

This comes about when we worship God in [SPIRIT] and in [TRUTH].

John 4:23,24 – “Yet a time is coming and has come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

In all our worship services, every activity that we engage in is completely adhering to what God desires in His Word, the Bible.

In assisting you, the new believer in the Christian faith, these activities are listed and along with them the Scripture verses from the Bible. These verses are by no means exhaustive. However, they do help to explain why we worship the way we do.

1. Worshipping God in [SILENCE]

Psalm 46:10 - “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

2. Worshipping God with [SINGING]

Psalm 100:2,3 - “Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture”

3. Standing, Lifting of Hands, Bowing and Saying of “AMEN”

Nehemiah 8:5,6 - “Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground”

4. [CLAPPING] of Hands and [SHOUTING]

Psalm 47:1- “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy”

5. [KNEELING] and [BOWING] Down

Psalm 95:6 - “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker”

6. Musical Instruments and [DANCING]

Psalm 150:3-6 -“Praise Him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise Him with the harp and lyre, praise Him with tambourine and dancing, praise Him with the strings and flute, praise Him with the clash of cymbals, praise Him with the resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord”

7. [PRAYING] and [SINGING] in Tongues and in English

1 Corinthians 14:15 - “So what shall I do?” I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind”

8. [PROPHECY]

1 Corinthians 14:3 - “But everyone who prophesise speak to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort”

9. [SPEAKING] in Tongues and Waiting for [INTERPRETATION]

1 Corinthians 14:26 - “When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church”

10. Praying [ALOUD] all at Once

Acts 4:24 - “… they raised their voices together in prayer to God…”

11. People falling after being prayed for

John 18:6 - “When Jesus said, “I am He, “they drew back and fell to the ground”

Acts 9:3,4 - “As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

12. [LAYING] of Hands on Sick for Recovery of Illness

Mark 16:18 - “… they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

13. Receiving of [TITHES] AND [OFFERINGS]

2 Corinthians 9:6-8 - “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

 

a. The Lord’s Supper (Holy Communion) was instituted by our Lord Jesus Himself on the night he was betrayed.

Matthew 26:26-29. - “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’ Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.’”

1. The bread represents the [BODY] of Christ broken for us.

2. The cup or wine represents His shed [BLOOD] for the remission of our sins.

Hebrews 9:22 - “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

b. The significance of the Lord’s Supper is to remember what [CHRIST] has done for each one of us at the Cross of Calvary. We are to do this until He comes again.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 - “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

c. All believers can participate in the Lord’s Supper provided they know the significance of what they are doing. They must also examine themselves first before partaking of the bread and cup.

1 Corinthians 11:27-29 - “Therefore, whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognising the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgement on himself.

In Bethesda Cathedral, we celebrate the Lord’s Supper on the first Sunday of every month.

 

The next step a person must seriously think about after receiving Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord is water baptism. But first we must understand that baptism does not make us “more saved”. We are saved by [GRACE] through [FAITH] and nothing else.

a. What then is water baptism?

It is a [PUBLIC TESTIMONY] of our faith. When we are baptised, we are telling others, “I belong to Jesus. I have died to my former life. I have been given a new life. I am not ashamed to declare that I am a Christian.”

b. Baptism is a command given by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew 28:19 - “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

I want to challenge you to be a MEMBER of this church. Make a commitment today: “ This is going to be my family. This is going to be my church. I’m going to commit myself to her and I’m not going to float around and be a church-hopper.” The difference between membership and just attending is the difference between living together and getting married. It is a commitment! It is a commitment to a group!

 

>> Basics 6: Sharing Your Faith