Worship, Small Groups, Serve
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Worship, Small Groups, Serve
Minimum Expectations for Spiritual Growth
Minimum Expectations for Spiritual Growth
This is Pentecost Sunday...
11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;
15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,
16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
Introduction: Explain about spiritual growth and unity.
Our passage for today tells us that as a follower of Christ Jesus we should be growing spiritually with the expected outcome of being like Jesus. In other words we are to grow up to be like Him. Two things that are specifically mentioned for growth is our faith and our knowledge of Christ Jesus. These things, along with other aspects of our growth, are to be increased through the ministry of the Church because Jesus has given the church people who work for this purpose.
Transitional Sentence: To facilitate Spiritual Growth and unity within this body of believers every attendee should participate in a minimum of three activities: a weekly corporate worship service, a weekly encounter group meeting and serve the church in some way.
The Sunday Morning Worship Service (who is the worship service for? Should it be set up for those who believe or those who are seeking?)
a. Worship comes in many forms and styles - (what is worship?) - different ways to worship - (best corporate worship?) Will some of the things we do chase away seekers?
The things we currently use during our worship service:
Missions moment - a way to worship the Lord for the things that are being done around the world.
Offering - We worship by giving back a portion of what He has given us.
Prayer - We pray together corporately to worship.
Reading of the scriptures - We worship by sharing in His word
Singing - We sing as a means to celebrate Him and what He has done for us.
Message - We worship by learning what His word says.
b. What do the Psalms say about worship? Use your senses!
34:8 Taste and see
34:11 Come, you children, listen to me
95 - Sing for joy, Shout joyfully, Bow down, Kneel before the Lord, Hear His voice
96 - Sing to the Lord, Bless His name, Bring an offering
100 - Serve the Lord with gladness, Give thanks to Him
150 - Praise Him - So, what is praise? Praise is the act of expressing warm approval or admiration.
Praise Him with the trumpet, harp and lyre, dancing, stringed instruments and pipe, resounding cymbals (This sounds like a celebration - why are we so sullen during our time of worship?) (get a video of celebrative worship) Psalm 147:1
1 Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant and praise is becoming.
c. Why corporate worship? Hebrews 10:23-25 says:
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;
24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,
25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
When we gather together it is easier to hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering. Together we can strengthen each other. Together we can stimulate one another to love and good deeds. It is easier to encourage and lift each other up when we are face to face and when we are standing together worshipping the one who is the rock that we are holding fast to.
We are not little islands, made to be alone in this vast ocean of sin. God made us to live and breathe in community with each other. That is why He gave each of us different gifts. together we are whole together we are strong. So don’t forsake meeting together as some have. Don’t be a loner Christian. Each Christian is part of a body and should fill the place in that body which is given by God.
2. A Weekly Encounter Group.
So, what is an encounter group? Well you may know them as a small groups, or a life group or maybe a growth group. They are all the same. The name may simply be a reflection of the expectation the Church has for their group ministry. We are calling our small groups - Encounter groups because the idea is that each individual would at some point have an encounter with the living God through the ministry of the encounter group. The purpose of the group is to create an environment that creates discipleship opportunities, spiritual growth, encouragement for drawing closer to Jesus.
The activities of the encounter groups will be based on Acts 2:42
42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
There are four activities in this verse that best practiced in a small group environment to facilitate spiritual growth and discipleship.
They were devoted to the teachings of the disciples. Think about that - they were devoted - they were given over to the study and discussion of what the Apostles were teaching. Are you devoted to the teachings of the Apostles? An encounter group is a great way to study the scriptures.
They were devoted to fellowship. They met together regularly to share life, to share their interests and to grow together. Are you devoted to fellowship? Do you meet together with others to encourage one another and to stimulate each other to love and good deeds?
They were devoted to breaking bread. That’s an easy one. They ate together, they shared what they had so that no one went hungry. What about you? Do you eat with others regularly? Do you do it in conjunction with studying the teachings of the Apostles and fellowship with other believers?
And last but not least they were devoted to prayer. What about you? Are you devoted to prayer? Do you gather together with other believers and pray?
That is the framework of an encounter group. Practicing these four things together with other believers will help grow your faith, knowledge and love for Jesus. An encounter group is the place where you get to practice the Christian life. So, who wants to get started?
3. The last of the three necessities for spiritual growth and unity within the body is Service.
So what is service? Simply put it is the action of helping or doing work for someone. In this case that someone is the Lord Jesus. We serve Him by serving the Church - His body. So the big question here is: Are you serving the Lord by serving the Church?
How many of you have heard of the 80/20 rule? Do you know what it says? The 80/20 rule says that 20 percent of the people in the Church are providing 80 percent of the funds to support the church and are doing 80 percent of the work required to keep the church strong and healthy. There are many reasons why this happens but what would happen if that rule wasn’t working in the Church? What if everyone did something for the Church. What if everyone served the church according to their gifts? We could probably do a whole lot more than we do now.
So should you serve? Hebrews 12:28
28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;
So what is an acceptable service?
So what would service look like for you? What can you do for the Lord to help the Church? Here’s a list of possibilities.
Join a team! We have the Discipleship team, the Outreach team, the Worship team, the Building and grounds team, the Fellowship team and the Missions team. You don’t have to be a member to be a part of the team - you just have to want to participate.
Along with the teams we have lots of ways to get involved:
You can help care for the buildings and grounds, you could volunteer to do some administrative work, you can help with coffee and things, decorate the buildings and grounds, host an encounter group, lead an encounter group, help with the tech and audio visual stuff, help welcome people to church, be a part of the praise team (can you play drums?) lead or work with the youth, work with kids (here or at the schools), work in the nursery, start a security team, lead a social media campaign team, be the webmaster. I’m sure I didn’t name everything that is possible and I’m sure I didn’t name something for all of you. If you have something you would like to do for the Lord come and talk to me. I’m sure we can figure out a way for you to use your gifts without making a lifetime commitment.
Exit: There you have it. The vision for the church moving forward. The bare necessities for each part of the body to grow spiritually and be a unifying part of the body of Christ Jesus.
Every part of the body should participate in a weekly Sunday morning worship service, a weekly encounter group and serve the church in some way. Participation will help us each encounter God in some way. We can encounter Him through the teachings of the Apostles, fellowship, the breaking of bread or prayer. As we encounter God we will grow in faith and love. As we grow we will begin to shine the light of Christ Jesus into the valley and fulfill the purpose of the church - make disciples.
This will probably be a big change for some of you. Sunday morning once in a while doesn’t cut it. It won’t help you grow spiritually and it won’t help you become a thriving part of the body of Christ. It’s time to do what Acts 2:42 says: continually devote yourself to the teaching of the Apostles, to fellowship, the breaking of bread and to prayer. Don’t be satisfied with the status quo.
Every one of us needs to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ. Get busy and get growing.
Pray!