DISCOVER - My Church
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DISCOVER My Church
DISCOVER My Church
WHAT MAKES BCC A FAMILY?
Four Things Unite Us:
Our Salvation - What God Had Done For Us)
Our Statements - (Why We Exist As A Church)
Our Strategy - (How We Fulfill Our Purpose)
Our Structure - (When & Where We Fulfill Our Purpose)
SESSION 1: Our Salvation
SESSION 1: Our Salvation
26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.
What It M
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A CHRISTIAN?
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A CHRISTIAN?
How do people seek happiness?
Real happiness come from understanding my PURPOSE.
1.WHY AM I HERE?
1.WHY AM I HERE?
A. God made me to LOVE me!
3 Long ago the Lord said to Israel:
“I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love.
With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.
4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
B. We were created to ENJOY a personal relationship with God and to MANAGE all the rest of God’s creation! This makes us special!
27 So God created human beings in his own image.
In the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
Gen 1:
C. When we know and love God and live in harmony with His purpose for our lives, it PRODUCES all kinds of POSITIVE RESULTS in our lives.
= CLEAR CONSCIENCE | = CONFIDENCE | = HELP WITH WEAKNESS
THIS IS THE KIND OF LIFESTYLE GOD INTENDS FOR US TO LIVE. WHY THEN AREN’T MOST PEOPLE REALLY HAPPY?
2. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
2. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
Man has a natural desire to BE BOSS and to ignore God’s principles for living.
The bible call this attitude SIN.
Sin is a biblical word that means “TO MISS THE MARK.
Key Word: REBELLION
6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
the sins of us all.
8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
WHEN OUR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD IS NOT RIGHT, IT CAUSES PROBLEMS IN EVERY AREA OF OUR LIVES - MARRIAGE, CAREER, RELATIONSHIPS, FINANCES, ETC.
WHEN PEOPLE HAVE PROBLEMS, THEY OFTEN TRY MANY DIFFERENT WAYS OF COPING BEFORE TURNING TO GOD.
The Bible teaches us that our attempts lead to DEATH. A relationship with God is NOT based on anything you DO.
3. WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?
3. WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
JESUS HAS ALREADY TAKEN CARE ON YOUR SIN PROBLEM.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
5 For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.
4. WHAT DOES GOD WANT ME TO DO?
4. WHAT DOES GOD WANT ME TO DO?
A. ADMIT that God has not been first place in your life and ask Him to forgive your sins.
9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
B. BELIEVE that Jesus died to pay for you sins and that He rose again on Easter, and is alive today.
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
C. REPENTANCE is necessary for salvation. One cannot truly believe unless he or she repents, and one cannot truly repent unless he or she believes.
D. ACCEPT God’s free gift of salvation. Don’t try to earn it.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians
OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD IS NOT RESTORED BY ANYTHING WE DO, BUT ON THE BASIS OF WHAT JESUS ALREADY DID FOR US!
E. INVITE Jesus Christ into your life and be the director (Lord) of your life.
John
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
"Dear Jesus, thank you for making me and loving me even when I've ignored You and gone my own way. I realize I need You in my life and I'm sorry for my sins. I ask You to forgive me. Thank You for dying on the cross for me. Please help me to understand it more. As much as I know how, I want to follow You from now on. Please come into my life and make me a new person inside. I accept Your gift of salvation. Please help me to grow as a Christian. Amen."
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
The Bible says that there are two symbols we need to be involved in to remind us of the decision we've made, BAPTISM and the LORD’S SUPPER.
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING BAPTIZED
WHY SHOULD I BE BAPTIZED?
A. To follow the example set by Christ.
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
B. Because Christ COMMANDS it.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
C. It demonstrates that I'm really a BELIEVER.
8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.
3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
2. WHAT IT THE MEANING OF BAPTISM?
A. It illustrates Christ's BURIAL and resurrection.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
B. Baptism illustrates my new life as a Christian.
B. Baptism illustrates my new life as a Christian.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
3. WHY BE BAPTIZED BY IMMERSION?
A. Because Jesus was BAPTIZED that way.
16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;
B. Every baptism in the BIBLE was by immersion.
38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.
C. The word “baptize” means “to DIP IN water.”
D. It best symbolized a burial and resurrection!
The founders of denominations agree about this.
Martin Luther (Lutherans) said, "I would have those who are to be baptized to be entirely immersed as the word imports and the mystery signifies."
John Calvin (Presbyterians) "The word `baptize' signifies to immerse. It is certain that immersion was the practice of the ancient church."
John Wesley (Methodists) "Buried with Him, alludes to baptizing by immersion according to the custom of the first church."
4. WHO SHOULD BE BAPTIZED?
Every person who has BELIEVED in Christ.
41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
At BCC, we wait until our children are old enough to believe and understand the true meaning of baptism before we baptize them.
13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.
12 But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
At BCC, we wait until our children are old enough to believe and understand the true meaning of baptism before we baptize them.
There are many churches that practice the baptism of confirmation. This ceremony is intended to be a covenant between the parents and God on the behalf of the child. The parents promise to raise their child in the faith until the child is old enough to make his own confession of faith. This custom only began about 300 years after the Bible was finished. It's not in the Bible. It's just a tradition.
This is different than the baptism talked about in the Bible, which was only for those old enough to believe. The purpose is to publicly confess your personal commitment to Christ.
5. WHEN SHOULD I GET BAPTIZED?
As soon as you BECOME a believer!
41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
There is no reason to delay. As soon as you have decided to receive Christ into your life you can and should be baptized. If you wait until you are “perfect,” you will never feel “good enough.”
The next Baptism Info Meeting is the 2nd Weekend after each service in our conversational nooks.
FAQS ABOUT BAPTISM
THE MEANING OF COMMUNION
THE MEANING OF COMMUNION
It's interesting that Jesus never asked His disciples to remember His birth, but He did instruct them to remember His death and resurrection. He gave the church two visible symbols called ordinances. We do not call Baptism and the Lord's Supper, sacraments. We don't call them that because the word sacrament means it saves you. We don't believe baptism saves you and we don't believe the Lord's Supper saves you. The Bible says they are symbols of your salvation, not things that make you saved. So technically they are not sacraments. We call the ordinances because they were ordained by God for Christians to remember Jesus' death.
WHAT IS COMMUNION?
23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 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.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
A. It is a simple ACT.
B. It is a REMINDER.
C. It is a SYMBOL.
D. It's a statement of FAITH.
2. WHO SHOULD TAKE COMMUNION?
Only those who are already BELIEVERS
29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?
3. HOW DO I PREPARE FOR COMMUNION?
27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
A. SELF EXAMINATION
B. CONFESS SIN
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
C. RECOMMIT LIFE
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
D. RESTORE RELATIONSHIPS
23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
4. WHEN AND HOW OFTEN SHOULD WE OBSERVE COMMUNION?
The Bible doesn't say. The Bible doesn't give a rule about how often. Anytime you hear a rule like, "You ought to take the Lord's Supper every Sunday" it's a man-made rule. It's not in the Bible.
Since BCC’s weekend services are designed so you can bring non-believing friends. We only take the Lord's Supper at those services a few times a year. We encourage our Life Groups to take it more often.
SESSION 2: Our Statements
SESSION 2: Our Statements
WHY WE EXIST AS A CHURCH
WHY WE EXIST AS A CHURCH
A. Our PURPOSE.
WE EXIST TO MOVE PEOPLE INTO A MORE DYNAMIC RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST.
“We believer a great commitment to the great COMMANDMENT and the great COMMISSION will grow a great church.”
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
B. Our STRATEGY.
To create environments that are conducive for people tobe equipped and encouraged to pursue three vital relationships.
We want you to pursue three relationships, and they are catalysts for health and growth:
CONNECT WITH GOD
CONNECT WITH OTHERS
CONNECT OTHERS TO GOD
THREE RELATIONSHIPS THAT HELP DEFINE OUR FOCUS AT BCC:
CONNECT with God.
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’ ”
a. CELEBRATION
1 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
KEY WORD: JOY
b. INSPIRATION
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
KEY WORD: HOPE
c. PREPARATION
KEY WORD: APPLICATION
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
Ephesians
2. Connect with OTHERS
24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
To KNOW and be KNOWN
To LOVE and be LOVED
To SERVE and be SERVED
To CELEBRATE and be CELEBRATED
The heart of BCC is our GROUPS.
Every member needs to be a part of one or two.
3. Connect others to GOD
a. Ministry in the Church: SERVING
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;
1 Cor 12:4-5
1 Cor
27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:
At BCC...
Every member is a MINISTER
Every task is IMPORTANT
Every person is a “10” in SOME AREA
b. Mission in the World: SHARING
10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
WHY BCC MUST NEVER STOP GROWING
Because EVERYONE SPENDS FOREVER SOMEWHERE
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
2. Because GOD COMMANDS US TO REACH OUT
23 And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Jerusalem is TCOUNTY
Judea is WNC
Samaria is NORTH AMERICA
Ends of the earth is GLOBAL
3. Because GROWTH IS GOD’S WILL
1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face,
18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
UNBIBLICAL EXCUSES FOR NOT GROWING
GOD ISN’T INTERESTED IN NUMBERS
OUR CHURCH WANTS QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY
LARGE CHURCHES ARE IMPERSONAL
We believer our church must grow LARGER and SMALLER at the same time.
WE exist to incorporate God’s people through FELLOWSHIP and educate God’s people through DISCIPLESHIP.
DISCIPLESHIP means HELPING BELIEVERS GROW SPIRITUALLY
1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up 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 mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
Ephesians
DISCOVER: Spiritual Habits
WHAT WE BELIEVER - www.brevardcommunity.org
SESSION 3: Our Strategy
SESSION 3: Our Strategy
22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.
CONNECT WITH GOD
CONNECT WITH OTHERS
CONNECT OTHERS TO GOD
EVERYTHING WE DO POINTS BACK TO ONE OF THESE RELATIONSHIPS
IT’S ALL ABOUT MOVEMENT:
Think PATH not PROGRAMS
Our Strategy Is Lived Out In Next Moves
Move from DEATH to LIFE
Move from ISOLATION to COMMUNITY
Move from COMFORT to DISCIPLINE
Move from CONSUMER to CONTRIBUTOR
INVEST & INVITE
Luke
23 And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.
Identify People You Know / Use To Know / Like To Know
My 10 List
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TWO WAYS TO INVEST:
DEVELOP A PRAYER LIST
Be SELECTIVE
Be STRUCTURED
Be STUBBORN
BEGIN TO PRAY
Pray for you unsaved friends and neighbors. Ask God to work in their lives and to give you wisdom on how to effectively reach out to them and invite them to a weekend service.
I praying for them, keep in mind the following three areas:
A. THEM : Ask God to....
Draw them to Himself
Open their eyes
Remove confusion
Open their heart
Make them receptive
B. YOU : Ask God to...
Attractive and consistent
Authentic and honest
Knowledge
Boldness & courage
C. US : Ask God to...
Unity
Conversation
2. DO ACTS OF KINDNESS
Build a bridge strong enough to bear the weight of TRUTH.
How can you serve others?
SESSION 4: Our Structure
SESSION 4: Our Structure
33 For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.
As in all the churches of the saints,
40 But all things should be done decently and in order.
The Church is a FELLOWSHIP.
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
A top priority in a fellowship is HARMONY and UNITY
3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
ANY attitude that causes disunity is sin.
Implication: A good structure promotes unity and downplays DIFFERENCES.
17 But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part,
1 cor
“Voting” tends to CREATE DIVISIONS.
2. The Church is a FAMILY.
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
So we operate on the basis of RELATIONSHIPS, not RULES.
1 Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.
4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?
3. The Church is a BODY.
22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
Therefore
Therefore, we function on the basis of SPIRITUAL GIFTS, not ELECTED OFFICERS.
4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;
The people are the MINISTERS.
The pastors are the EQUIPPERS.
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
4. The Church is a FLOCK.
Matt
31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
Therefore it is cared for and led by SHEPHERDS.
1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly;
5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6 if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain,
Titus
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A MEMBER
The difference between being a member and “attendee” can be summed up in one word: COMMITMENT.
We ask you to commit to membership for four reasons:
A biblical reason: Christ is committed to the CHURCH.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
2. A cultural reason: It is the antidote to our SOCIETY.
e
3. A practical reason: It defines who can be COUNTED ON.
4. A personal reason: It produces SPIRITUAL GROWTH.
THE BCC MEMBERSHIP COVENANT
I Will Protect The Unity Of My Church
...By acting in love toward other members ...By refusing to gossip ...By following the leaders
THE BCC MEMBERSHIP COVENANT
I Will Protect The Unity Of My Church
I Will Share The Responsibility Of My Church
I Will Serve The Ministry Of My Church
I Will Support The Testimony Of My Church
NEXT MOVES?