Key Verse
"Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude, praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved."
Acts 2:46-47
Acts 2:46-47
Lesson Objective
“The Church consists
of all those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, are redeemed through His
blood, and are born again of the Holy Spirit. Christ is the Head of the Body,
the Church, which has been commissioned by Him to go into all the world as a
witness, preaching the gospel to all nations. The local church is a body of
believers in Christ who are joined together for the worship of God, for
edification through the Word of God, for prayer, fellowship, the proclamation
of the gospel, and observance of the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s
Supper."
C&MA Statement of Faith
Resources
Church: God sends (Video, Audio) (Mark Driscoll)
Worship: God transforms (Video, Audio) (Mark Driscoll)
Stewardship: God gives (Video, Audio) (Mark Driscoll)
Baptism (C&MA)Worship: God transforms (Video, Audio) (Mark Driscoll)
Stewardship: God gives (Video, Audio) (Mark Driscoll)
What is Baptism? (Video) (New City Catechism)
What is baptism and how important is it? (Desiring God)
What is the importance of Baptism? (GotQuestions)
Why and how we celebrate the Lord's Supper (Desiring God)
What is the Lord's Supper? (Video) (New City Catechism)
Sacrifice & Atonement (The Bible Project) (Has a good image of what Baptism and Communion is about)
How did the Church come about?
What was Jesus’ instruction to the
disciples in Acts 1:4-11? What were they to wait for and what were they to do?
Jesus instructed them to wait to be baptised with the Holy Spirit,
and then be His witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to
the ends of the earth.
It is interesting that the Disciples thought that now that Jesus
had come back to life, that they were saved and the New Kingdom would come. (In
a way a relatively selfish view of Salvation). They did not understand that
there was more work to do! Now, the next Phase of God’s plan was about to take
place, and Salvation was to be preached to the Whole World in order to save the
lost.
Summarise what happens in Acts
2:1-14; 40-41
-
The Holy Spirit descends on the Disciples
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The Disciples burst out in evangelical praise, worshipping God by
proclaiming the Gospel
-
The Holy Spirit works in the hearts of many and causes many to be
saved that day.
From these verses, what can you say
is a key point of the identity of the Christian Church?
“Church” is the
natural result of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Salvation is accompanied
by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which is naturally accompanied by a love
for and participation in the Church.
What is the Church and what does it do?
Looking through Acts 2:40-47, what can you identify as
important hallmarks of the Church? (There are at least 10!)
A gathering of BELIEVERS
Evangelism
Baptism
|
Bible Study/Sermons/
Teaching
Fellowship
|
Communion
Prayer
Miracles
|
Generosity
Hospitality
Worship
|
What is the spiritual root of the activity of the Church?
What is the key thing that, if you miss it, you can do all these things and
still NOT have church? (Hint: See 2:14-41)
Jesus! Jesus is the
source of ALL the life of the Church. Without His Saving Grace, we would not
have the Church. We must ALWAYS remember this. It is very easy to do things
in the modern church without a focus on Jesus. But without Jesus, it simply
isn’t CHRISTian! (This is especially important for people who lead! Eg.
Fellowship programs and Worship) It’s ALL about Jesus, and if it doesn’t point
to Jesus then there is something seriously wrong!!!
Given the description of the Church
in Acts 2:40-47, do you need a nice building, a lot of people, a lot of
resources, or a lot of programs to have a church? What DO you need?
No, of course J All you need is
Jesus, and a few other Followers who want to love Jesus together. This is especially
important to remember in times of persecution or hardship; the church exists
wherever Christians are.
What is the Church’s Mission?
Matthew 28:18-20 - 18 Then
Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has
been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I
have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the
age.”
Acts 1:8 - 8 But you will receive power when the
Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Matthew 22:37-40 - 37 Jesus
replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your mind.’[b] 38 This is the first and greatest
commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love
your neighbor as yourself.’[c] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on
these two commandments.”
1 Peter 2:9 - 9 But
you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging
to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness
into his wonderful light.
What is Jesus’ relationship to the Church?
What are some of images that are used
to describe Jesus’ relationship with the Church, and what do they mean
practically for us?
Verse
|
What is the Image used?
|
What does this symbolism mean?
|
Ephesians 2:19-21
|
Cornerstone
|
Jesus is the firm foundation on which our faith is built upon.
|
Matthew 16:18
|
The Builder of the Church
|
Jesus is the one who builds His Church. We are His tools, but
ultimately it is HE that builds the Church, not us.
|
Ephesians 4:15-16; 5:23
|
The Head of the Body
|
Jesus is the one that directs the whole Church in its life.
Again, He is the source of our life.
|
Ephesians 5:22-33
|
Husband of the Church
|
We are to submit to Christ as our Head, just as the wife is to
submit to the Husband. Jesus loves us intimately as a husband loves a wife.
|
1 Peter 5:4
|
Chief Shepherd
|
He is our Guardian and Protector, the one who nurtures and cares
for us.
|
John 15:1-17 (esp John 15:5)
|
Vine
|
Jesus is the source of all our Life as a Church.
|
Revelation 2:5
|
The Judge of the Church
|
Jesus closes down unfaithful churches.
|
(Note there are more that aren’t
covered!)
How should we relate to the Church?
Read Ephesians 2:10,4:7-13
Ephesians 2:10,4:7-13 - "For we are God's
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in
advance for us to do...to each one of us grace has
been given as Christ apportioned it...It was He who gave some to be apostles,
some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and
teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so
that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith
and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the
whole measure of the fullness of Christ."
What is each Christian given? The grace of the gift of talents to be used in service to build up the
Body of Christ
What are we supposed to do with what we are given? To build up the body of Christ to maturity.
In the context of Romans 12:3-8, what is Church Membership
and why is it important? (Refer to Romans 12:3-8)
Romans 12: 3-8 - 3 For by the
grace given me I say to every one of you:
Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of
yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of
you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with
many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so
in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We
have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift
is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your[a] faith; 7 if it is serving, then
serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to
encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if
it is to lead,[b] do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
-
Firstly
bring to their attention what is normally meant by the worldly definition
“membership” (ie “club” membership, something that people pay to get special
benefits)
-
It must be
emphasised that Membership of the Church is NOT like membership of a social club!
-
Membership
as in “members” of a body!
-
Not optional
or voluntary; it is essential and part-and-parcel of being a Christian.
-
A lot more
responsibility tied into it; you’re responsible for the Body’s health!
-
It is
commitment as a member of the body of Christ, to love and to serve as part of
that body.
-
Just as a
physical body cannot function without active, healthy, functioning members, so
it is with the spiritual Body of Christ.
What are some wrong views of the Church?
WHY are these views
of the Church wrong?
“I don’t go to Church but I’m still a Christian”
If you don’t follow
Christ’s command to meet with and fellowship with other Christians, how can you
be a follower of Christ? Christ’s mandate to love others cannot be done in
isolation; you need other people around you in order to love them!
“I don’t go to Church because all those Christians are
hypocrites and bad people. No one else really follows Christ, so I don’t need
to go to Church.”
Firstly this is a
position of extreme arrogance; it says that “I’m better than everyone else”,
which is probably not true.
Secondly, the Church
is not a place for those who’ve “got it all together”. It’s a place for
repentant sinners, who know that without Christ they are evil beyond
imagination, but willing to submit under Christ to grow out of their previous
sinful existence. As such, of course there will be “bad people”; everyone’s
“bad”, it’s just whether they admit it or not, and whether they’re growing into
maturity or not.
Any others?
Holy Rituals
What is a ritual?
Give some examples (bonus points for non-religious ones!).
A set of actions,
performed mainly for their symbolic value.
Saying ‘Hail Marys’,
making the sign of the cross, standing for the national anthem, a minute
silence for Remembrance Day, NZers doing the haka, etc.
What are two rituals that Jesus commanded His believers to
follow? (Matthew 28:19; Luke 22:14-20)
Baptism
What is Baptism?
What is the meaning behind Baptism? (Romans 6:3-6; Gal 3:27)
Baptism illustrates a
believer’s identification with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.
Do you have to be baptised to be saved? Does baptism save
you? (Romans 10:9-10)
No
Why do Christians get baptised?
- Matthew 3:15; Matthew 28:19: We follow Christ and His commands; He commands baptism, and so we get baptised
- Romans 6:3-4; Colossians 2:12-13: It is an important symbolic expression of our union with Christ. (Like a wedding)
When can we be baptised? (Acts 8:34-39)
When we believe!
What are the requirements for Baptism at BCAC?
-
At least
16 years of age – this is so that we are sure that this person has made the
decision for themselves, and not because other people have “forced” this upon
the person.
-
Have to
have gone through BFC – so they really understand what they’re professing that
they’re believing in.
Communion
What is Communion?
·
Eucharist
/ Last Supper
·
Done in
remembrance of Jesus and His sacrifice
·
The word
itself means ‘fellowship’ / ‘sharing’ / ‘participation’
·
The church
comes together to remember and celebrate what He did for us
What Old Testament ritual did Jesus transform into the New
Testament communion? (Luke 22: 7-13) What does this have to say about its place
in the Christian faith?
What are the elements of communion and what do they
symbolise? (Luke 22:14-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-34)
-
Bread –
Jesus’ body
-
Wine –
Jesus’ blood
What is Paul warning against in 1 Corinthians 11:27-32
(especially verse 29)?
-
Warning
against taking lightly the body and blood of Christ. It is not a warning
against sinfulness, as we sin all the time, and it would be against the
principle of Salvation by Grace. However, it is a warning against not
“recognising the body”, ie not acknowledging what Jesus has done.
Who does Jesus instruct to have communion?
All believers
Do you have to have communion to be saved? Does communion
save you? (Romans 10:9-10)
No
Who can participate in Communion at BCAC?
-
In BCAC, the
stance is that only baptised believers can participate in Communion.
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