Lesson 3, Week 3: Becoming Spiritually Whole Through Church and Ministry


Today’s Scripture Focus:  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come.

*Pause and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you as you read and study God’s Word.

One of my favorite memories from childhood is of picking wildflowers.  The morning glory vines would anchor themselves to the metal fences dividing our fields.  Their megaphone blossoms of purple, pink, and white decorated our fencerows.  Honeysuckle, intertwined just as firmly on the metal arbor and sweetly perfumed the air.  Clustered along the bottom of the fencerows, sweet peas blossomed in hues of rose.  A wild rose bush could generally be found nearby, and always there were the hearty dandelions, which I called “dots of gold.”  After picking the bright blossoms, I would set my pail aside and run off to a new adventure.  I remember the disappointment I felt when I returned a short while later and found my flowers drooping their heads, totally wilted.

How vibrant and alive the wildflowers had been when connected to their source of nourishment. But, oh, how quickly they withered when separated.  Believers are like that, too.  They attend church and receive nourishment from meeting together.  God’s seed is multiplied among the worshipping fellowship and the body of believers grows.  But when a believer breaks off from their source of spiritual nourishment, they loose the strength and encouragement that they receive from other believers. 
They, too, will experience a wilting in their spiritual life.

Think on These Things

Almost everyone below fifty years of age would predict that the second half of life is bound to be a “slow-down” period.  They envision every day of retirement as being filled with leisurely activities. But for those of us who are living in the autumn and winter of life, we know better.  Much to our surprise, when we arrived, life just picked up speed.  The rockers are empty for this ALIVE generation, for we are “out and about.”

We are more involved with family, friends, and worthy causes.  Many of us have lived in the fast lane for so long that we don’t have a clue about how to slow down. We may feel healthy and even work occasionally to supplement our retirement.   Besides, we want to live the American way—to embrace it all, including our dreams of travel and leisure.  Our lives are filled to the brim and at times, we may even be tempted to pass “church” and move on down the road to family activities and recreation.  In fact, it can even become a habit.  The Scriptures explain why we must not let this happen.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage—one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.  Hebrew 10:24-25 NIV

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and through all its parts are many, they form one body.  So it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.  1 Corinthians 12:12-13 NIV

Read I Corinthians 12:12-31 regarding the importance of each believer. 

Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. I Corinthians 12:1 NIV

  There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.  Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  I Corinthians 12:4 & 7 NIV

Read I Corinthians 12: 7-11 to better understand why each believer is given one or more gifts from the Holy Spirit.

Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you.  Deuteronomy 5:12 NIV

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.  And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.  Genesis 2:2-3 NIV

Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed. 
Exodus 23:12 NIV

God knew what man has a hard time grasping; a man needs a time of refreshment and refueling.

What I Have Learned

One reason we meet together is to __________one another.

What might a church or individual member to for a fellow believer
--during sickness?_________________
--during a period of grief?____________________
--during a time of financial problems?____________
--during a spiritually dry period or struggle? _______________
What other situations come to mind where one Christian could encourage another?___________________________________

Who makes up the body of Christ?___________________

What do all believers share?________________________

The Holy Spirit gives each believer one or more gifts. The gifts are to be used for what purpose? ___________________

After reading the Scriptures regarding the Sabbath, give two reasons why you think God wanted man to keep the Sabbath holy and for man to rest from his labors? 

1.
2

How I Will Apply What I Have Learned

  1. I will make it a priority to join with a band of believers in weekly worship.
  2. I will pray about my spiritual gifts and choose to serve actively in my church. 

(Scripture never mentions a time of spiritual retirement—more on that subject later in our study. Your church ministry will be a witness to the younger generation.)

  1. I will choose to spend my Sunday worshipping the Lord and in restful activities.  I will use this day as a time of restoration both spiritually and physically.

Father,
      Thank you for teaching me the importance of joining together in fellowship with other believers.  May I encourage as well as receive encouragement from them.  Father, may I love them with Your love.  May I overlook their faults and forgive their shortcomings.  May I remember to bear their burdens in prayer


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