What is a Healthy Church Member?

Transcription

1 What is a Healthy Church Member? Study Guide FBC Community Groups Fall 2015 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 2 Peter 1:10-11

2 Study Guide for the Introduction and Mark 1: A Healthy Church Member is an Expositional Listener Memory Verse: Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ An Introduction: Mark Dever states that living the Christian life is not something we re supposed to do alone. Being a Christian is a personal matter, not a private one. He goes on to say, When you are born again, you are born into a family. And that family is not only the great extended family of Christians throughout the world, but also the particular nuclear family of a local congregation. Our hope at FBC Church is that every member might find their place in our family in genuine community each of us growing by the ministry we receive from others, and each of us ministering to others for their growth so that we might all contribute to the health of His Church to grow in love (Ephesians 4:16) and increasingly reflect His glory. The health of the local church depends on the willingness of its members to inspect their hearts, correct their thinking, and apply their hands to the work of the ministry ~ Book Introduction by Thabiti Questions: 1. What role does the Bible play in shaping our view of God? How has God chosen to reveal Himself to us? Why is this question so important? 2. Read Psalm 119: and answer the following questions: a. What is the psalmist s attitude toward God s Word? Was this attitude automatic, natural, or did the psalmist do something to develop this attitude? b. What is the impact of the Word on the psalmist? Is this impact prior to, subsequent to, or simultaneous with the attitude towards the Word discussed in question (a)? c. At the time the Psalm was written, there were only a handful of copies of the Word in existence. Very few Israelites would ever read any lengthy section of the

3 Word themselves; instead, they heard it read, heard it preached, heard it explained. With that in mind, what would loving God s law mean in that culture? How would that love manifest itself? d. What are the implications for how we respond to the preaching of the Word? How can you live out such a love for the Word through listening? 3. Define expositional listening, and then list the five benefits Thabiti notes in the chapter. Have you experienced these benefits at FBC or elsewhere? Describe what that looked like in your life. 4. What are some of the dangers that can happen when we are not expositional listeners (both personally and corporately)? 5. How will you strengthen the way you listen to sermons? Is one of Thabiti s six practical ideas particularly needed in your life? Which of those six ideas have your grown in and what impact has it had on you personally? Do you have other suggestions for how you personally or we as a church body can develop expositional listening? Prayer Requests

4 Study Guide for Mark 2: A Healthy Church Member is a Biblical Theologian Memory Verse: Hebrews 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil The Importance of Theology (the study of God): What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Questions: 1. J.I. Packer argues that the ignorance of God both of His ways and of the practices of communion with Him lies at the root of the church s weakness today. He sees one trend being that Christian minds have been conformed to the modern spirit: the spirit, that is, that spawns great thoughts of man and leaves room for only small thoughts of God. What do you make of this statement? Do you agree or disagree, and why? 2. Read Colossians 1:3-10. Paul s earnest prayer for the Colossians was to become filled with the knowledge of the will of God in all spiritual wisdom and understanding (v9-10). What are the characteristics of true faith in the Gospel which Paul observed in the lives of the Colossians? 3. How important is growth in the knowledge of God in our individual lives and in our life together as a church? What do you think happens when our theology is inaccurate/unbiblical?

5 4. Thabiti suggested several strategies for us in becoming Biblical theologians. Which method is the most difficult for you? Is there anything you could add to his list? 5. What specific plans could you make to strengthen your knowledge of God? Prayer Requests

6 Study Guide for Mark 3: A Healthy Church Member is Gospel Saturated Memory Verse: The Gospel: 2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich Charles Hodge says The gospel is so simple that small children can understand it, and it is so profound that studies by the wisest theologians will never exhaust its riches. Thabiti: The greatest need in the world today is the gospel. It is the greatest need of the world because men, women, and children are perishing without a vital knowledge of God through the good news of our Savior and his Son, Jesus. The greatest need in the church today is the gospel. The gospel is not only news for a perishing world, it is the message that forms, sustains, and animates the church. This week we will be discussing what it means to have the gospel message as central to how we view ourselves, how we view our God, and how we live our lives. This is not a passive experience, but an active battle, with the many distractions that fight for our attention, and beckon us to live our lives for other things. Questions: 1. Before reading the chapter this week, write out a summary of the Gospel below. 2. What does it mean to preach the gospel to yourself? What would a gospel saturation look like in your own life? In your own thinking? In your home? In your relationships? In your small group? What do you think it means to take the gospel to its conclusion? 3. In what sense do unbelievers need to hear the Gospel? In what sense do believers need to keep hearing the Gospel?

7 4. Consider pages What do you personally need to change so that you might order your life around the Gospel more fully and to share the Gospel with others more regularly? 5. How can the congregation and elders work together to guard the Gospel? Why is it important for the congregation to play its role? 6. "What would be different about FBC if we were consistently living a gospel-saturated life that splashes out onto others with good news?" What evidence would we see resulting from this type of lifestyle? Prayer Requests

8 Study Guide for Mark 4: A Healthy Church Member is Genuinely Converted Memory Verse: 1 John 1:6-7 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin Genuine Conversion: Thabiti mentions that about 40% of the people he has interviewed for membership did not understand the gospel and were not, by their own assessment, converted people. That experience is common. And nominal (in name only) Christianity is widespread across Christian churches today. We want to undergo the self-examination that Thabiti calls healthy to do (2 Cor 13:5; Phil 2:12; 2 Pet 1:5-11). And we want our first order of business to be knowing our own souls. And we want our small groups to be the place where we, by God s grace, can always ask each other the tough questions so that we might see ourselves accurately, and understand the love and mercy that can be found in Christ Jesus. Conversion is the radical turn from an enslaved life of pursuing sin to a free life of pursuing and worshipping God. Conversion is a change of life, not merely a decision. This change is not a matter of moral rectitude, self-help, or mere behavior modification. It is not accomplished by outward displays or religious practices like walking the aisle. It cannot be accomplished by human effort but only by the power of God. Thabiti s definition Questions: 1. According to Thabiti, what is the most crucial starting point in making sure we come to a right understanding of biblical conversion? 2. Thabiti offers 5 biblical evidences of genuine conversion: (1) Walking in the light; (2) Loving God; (3) Loving other Christians; (4) The Spirit s testimony; and (5) Persevering in the faith: What does it mean to walk in the light? What does it mean to grieve over sin? 3. How is your love for God in competition with your love for the world? What loves in this world make it more difficult for you to love the Father? [The world is not always/only made up of things diametrically opposed to God, but can often be His good gifts.]

9 4. Read 1 John 5:1-5. a. Why did the Apostle John write this letter? b. What are some of the effects or evidences that we see about the new birth from verses 2-4? c. Verse 4 says, Everyone who has been born of God overcomes (or conquers) the world. This means that there are forces and temptations in the world that hinder us from loving God and each other. What are some of those forces and temptations that hinder you? If I am struggling with some of these, and therefore not showing all the evidences of regeneration, does it mean I am not genuinely converted? 5. If God is the one who decisively causes the new birth in the hearts of spiritually dead sinners, then what is the task of believers in the salvation of others? 6. How is your love for other Christians genuine? What are some practical ways that you can love other believers at FBC Church? Food for Thought: The chapter opens and closes with an example of a person who seemed to become a Christian, but was not genuinely converted. After reading this chapter, if Kenny came to you and wanted to know if he was genuinely converted, how would you answer him and where would you take him in the Bible? Prayer Requests

10 Study Guide for Mark 5: A Healthy Church Member is a Biblical Evangelist Memory Verse: Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek Biblical Evangelism: To be a biblical evangelist means that we have the right understanding of the gospel, evangelism, and genuine conversion, and that we faithfully proclaim the good news with the people around us in both our words and our actions. Thabiti states that a non-shallow, biblically faithful proclamation of the gospel includes: (1) the holiness and righteousness of the sovereign God who created all things; (2) the sinfulness of man and the judgment due to him for rebelling against God; (3) the need of man for a radical change, for a new heart and perfect righteousness; (4) the fact that only Jesus Christ has provided the righteousness we need and made the atonement for our sins that satisfies God the Father; and (5) the need to bring forth fruit worthy of repentance and to rely solely on Christ Jesus. Questions: 1. A famous quote: Preach the gospel at all times; use words if necessary. Do you agree? Why or why not? 2. Mark Dever states: We don t fail in our evangelism if we faithfully tell the gospel to someone who is not converted; we fail only if we don t faithfully tell the gospel at all. Evangelism itself isn t converting people; it s telling them that they need to be converted and telling them how they can be. What do you think is our part in evangelism? What do you think is God s part in evangelism? Where should our confidence lie? 3. Summarize Thabiti s explanation of the role of the local church in evangelism (p ). What is spiritual individualism, and why is it a danger?

11 4. Read 2 Corinthians 5: a. Define reconciliation. In this passage, who needs to be reconciled? Why? Who does the reconciling? How? b. Explain how these verses elaborate on the idea of Romans 1:16, that the Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. c. What does an ambassador do? What phrases in this passage elaborate on our responsibilities as ambassadors? What must we do to live out these responsibilities, according to the passage? 5. In light of this lesson, how will you live out your role as Christ s ambassador, to whom God has entrusted His message of reconciliation? Prayer Requests

12 Study Guide for Mark 6: A Healthy Church Member is a Committed Member Memory Verse: Hebrews 10:24-25 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 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 Committed member? I love Jesus; I just don t love the church. My relationship with God is private; I don t think I need other people to tell me how to worship my God. I can grow on my own; why do I need to commit to the church? Thabiti states: People don t become committed church members and therefore healthy Christians because they don t understand that such a commitment is precisely how God intends his people to live out the faith and experience of Christian love. One of the goals at FBC Church is for believers to find the joy that comes from being committed to the Church, and collectively living out their faith with other committed believers who love one another, bear one another s burdens, and speak into each other s lives with instruction and even rebuke. We desire that there would be no Lone Ranger Christians. We believe that one s love for Jesus will be seen in loving and committing to His Church. Questions: 1. Joshua Harris uses the phrase dating the church to describe the many who will not commit to a local church body. What are some of the ways you have seen people date the church? What are some of the reasons you think people do not want to become committed members? 2. Why do you think Thabiti claims that the essence of membership is committed love? 3. On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your commitment to membership in your local church? If your rating is not a 10, why? What are some of the passions and gifting you think the Lord has granted to you? Where would you like to serve within FBC Church? What ministries do you think would benefit from your commitment?

13 4. How can you personally give yourself to the people at the church? How do you think the perception of the church would change in the community, if it saw how deeply committed believers were to each other? 5. According to Thabiti, what are the reasons why some people are apathetic about church membership? How does he argue that church membership is biblical? 6. Thabiti lists eight actions of a healthy church member. Test yourself on all eight. Which ones do you personally need to improve in? How can you help others in this local church grow in these ways? What can we do as a small group and as a church to build up each other in these ways? Prayer Requests

14 Study Guide for Mark 7: A Healthy Church Member Seeks Discipline Memory Verse: Hebrews 12:11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness There is purpose in discipline: Jay Adams summarized the connection between orderly discipline, learning, and the Christian life well: When we are baptized into the church, we thereby matriculate into Christ s school. Then, for the rest of our earthly life, we are to be taught (not facts alone, but also) to obey the commands of Christ. This is education with force, education backed up by the discipline of good order that is necessary for learning to take place. Thabiti: No one lives an entire life without the need of discipline, whether positive or corrective. So the healthy church member embraces discipline as one means of grace in the Christian life. One of our goals at FBC Church is for our members to walk together in brotherly/sisterly love, with an intimate care and watchfulness over each other, unashamed to speak into each other s lives, for both continual encouragement and admonishment. Questions: 1. What is the difference between formative discipline and corrective discipline? Explain how these are acts of love. How does a healthy view of discipline encourage you to seek discipline? How has your experience with these been in the past? 2. Two ways we can love one another and cultivate a healthy desire for discipline are: by humbly accepting correction from others; and to take seriously our responsibility to discipline others. How can you personally be more inviting of someone to speak into your life? How can you personally be more intentional on watching out for your fellow brother/sister? Can you do this with joy?

15 3. How do you think we can identify between a believer who is genuinely struggling with sin and someone who thinks they are a believer but may not be? How would your approach vary with either person? Would your approach vary? 4. Here are some selections from our doctrinal statement, which are similar to those quoted by Thabiti: 1. The Plan God the Father disciplines His children and expects churches and individuals to participate with Him 2. The Purpose The ultimate goal of church discipline is restoration of the sinning individual. It also purifies the church and prevents others from sinning. 3. The Procedure Church discipline is the process of confronting sin to achieve repentance and restoration. It can be carried out privately between two Christians, with two to three witnesses, by the Elders or before the congregation, depending on the severity, kind and length of sin. i. What are the benefits to church discipline? 1. The primary benefit of church discipline is that it s the Godordained process for the restoration of sinning brother. Additionally: The Church maintains internal purity of doctrine and character Within the church, God places a greater fear of sin. 2. Outside the church, a purer testimony is maintained with the surrounding unsaved community. Given these commitments and Thabiti s discussion, describe in your own words our responsibilities both as recipients and as givers of discipline in the local church? 5. Think broadly about how we come to be disciplined and trained in the Christian life, enduring to the end. What are some of the roles of the local church, of the body of Christ in that process? 6. What can we do as a small group and as a church to improve the training and discipline of each other? Prayer Requests

16 Study Guide for Mark 8: A Healthy Church Member is a Growing Disciple Memory Verse: 1 Peter 2:1-3 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good Thabiti: Advancement in the knowledge and likeness of Christ, spiritual maturity and progress toward it, are supposed to be normal for the Christian. This week we are going to look at spiritual growth and progress in discipleship. Questions: 1. Read 1 Peter 2:1-3. Notice that verse 1 begins with the word so or "therefore." What truth discussed in chapter 1 is the basis for what he says here in this text? Elaborate on and explain Peter s admonition in verse 1. In verse 2, what does he ask his readers to pursue in order to grow up into salvation? What is the spiritual milk he refers to? 2. Read Luke 18:9-14 again. It can be very easy to fool ourselves into thinking we are more mature in our faith than we really are. Where did the Pharisee go wrong in thinking about his growth in godliness? Have you fallen prey to the performance trap, or judging by the wrong standards, or depending on personal strength or effort in spiritual growth? 3. In this chapter, Thabiti discusses three key misunderstandings about spiritual growth that end up stunting that growth. What are these misunderstandings and how can we keep from making the same mistakes?

17 4. List the methods Thabiti details on pages for cultivating spiritual growth. Why is each important? Are these alternatives means to growth, or is each necessary? 5. Spiritual maturity doesn t come from some magical, break-through experience. How do the ordinary means of grace (the study of the Word of God, the participation in the ordinances of baptism and communion along with the gathered church, and prayer) cause spiritual growth? When have any of these simple means caused you to grow in Christlikeness? 6. Assess your own spiritual growth over the last year or two, using the 1 Peter passage above and the ideas from this chapter. In what areas are you not growing? Given this study, what do you need to change to cultivate further spiritual growth? What role can this small group play in helping you to grow? Prayer Requests

18 Study Guide for Mark 9: A Healthy Church Member is a Humble Follower Memory Verse: Hebrews 13:17 - Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you Thabiti: The health of a local church may ride exclusively on the membership s response to the church s leadership. In the final analysis, church members are the people who generally make or break a local church. And making or breaking a church has a lot to do with the membership s attitudes and actions towards its leaders. Questions: 1. Read Hebrews 13:7-9, and vs. 17. What should be the congregation s role toward the church s elders? Why do you think this is so important? How can we make the work of the elders a joy? What do you think it means to imitate their faith? 2. Write down the list of all the elders and also others in church leadership that you have benefited personally from. Divide the list and take time to pray for them, their families, and their ministries every day this week. Consider giving them a word or a letter of encouragement! 3. What are the 3 attitudes towards leaders that are highlighted in this chapter? Now list the 5 actions towards leaders that are mentioned. What areas of attitude or action do you need to grow in in order to be a healthier church member? How can the members of your small group help you accomplish this?

19 4. Thabiti says, The leader s job may be boiled down to one task: teaching. If a member or any significant portion of the membership proves unteachable, the shepherd s task becomes a burden, even undoable, since it s opposing him at this most essential point. Rank your ability to be taught (1-10). How can we be both teachable/submissive to our leaders and yet also discerning when it comes to the teaching (Hebrews 13:9)? How can we partner with our leadership so that they can better be faithful to what they are responsible for? 5. Read 1 Timothy 3:1-7, 1 Peter 5:1-4 & James 3:1. How can we pray for our leaders? As we think about the qualifications of leadership and the role they must play within the church, what are some key and specific areas we can lift them up in prayer? Are you faithful in habitual prayer for the leadership at Faith Bible Church? If not, how can we practically make sure we will be? 6. Read 1 Thessalonians 5: (It would be helpful to read the whole chapter to gain context.) How do respect and esteem for the leaders work toward enabling the church to become what God intends it to be? We are called to esteem them very highly in love because of their work for they ultimately report to the Chief Shepherd. What has been your attitude towards the elders and leaders at FBC? Do you appreciate them? How can you grow in esteeming them highly? Prayer Requests

20 Study Guide for Mark 10: A Healthy Church Member is a Prayer Warrior Memory Verse: Psalm 145:18 - The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth Thabiti: Can there be a more marvelous privilege than that which has been afforded to Christians through Christ: to stand before God our Father and respond in prayer by his Spirit to his Word spoken to us? If we would be expositional-listening, gospel-saturated, biblical theologians, we should pray with the confident knowledge of what God is doing in the world through Christ his Son and pray for the worldwide advancement of his gospel and will. One of our hopes and goals at FBC Church is for each member to understand and love what prayer is, and to be devoted to prayer. Questions: 1. What is at the root of most misunderstandings about prayer? What must our understanding of prayer be rooted in? Why is that so important? 2. How will that truth change how you pray? 3. When and how should we pray? For what and for whom shall we pray? 4. Does prayer work? If so, to what end? What is the relationship between God s sovereignty and our prayers?

21 Using what you have learned in this chapter I want you to spend a bulk of your time this week making up a prayer plan for yourself and be ready to share. While creating this I want you to remember a few key things --- What is the root of your understanding of prayer? (the gospel) How -- prayer cards, phone app, list in you Bible? When -- in the morning, when getting ready, while driving? Who -- create a list, think outside your immediate world? What -- pick appropriate verses for them remember you want to pray God s will for their lives? What role can this small group play in helping all of us together to become the healthy church members and prayer warriors God intends us to be? Recommended resource that really changed my heart in prayer and how I pray is A Praying Life by Paul Miller. Prayer Requests