Choose one of the following icebreakers: (If you have first-time guests, begin with a round of introduction and warmly welcome the new visitors.

Transcription

1 4Ws for Week 32, Aug 2018 WELCOME (10-15minutes) Choose one of the following icebreakers: (If you have first-time guests, begin with a round of introduction and warmly welcome the new visitors.) 1. How Much Do You Use? The leader pass out a roll of toilet paper and tells everyone to take as much as they need to get the job done. After they have all taken their required amount, the leader reminds the cell that we are all encouraged to be eco-friendly to save the Earth by doing the 3 Rs: Recycle, Reduce and Reuse. Now compare and find out who took the most and the least of the toilet paper. Enjoy a good laugh. Finally, ask these two persons to share with the group something new about themselves. 2. What Do You See? Show the two pictures to the group and ask What do you see? The first picture is titled "My Wife and Mother-in-Law." by William Ely Hill in Did they first see the old woman or the beautiful young woman? In the second painting, which did you see first: a frog or a horse? There is no correct answer, of course. From the same picture, we can see different images and have different interpretation. The take-home from this is that we need to look at something from different angles and not hold on to just one view or opinion. Have fun! Transition to Worship: Let us now prepare our hearts to enter into His presence to worship our God and King. Let us pray: Dear Father, we thank you for your presence that has come to dwell in our hearts through your Holy Spirit. We ask that you will quieten our hearts as we seek to enter into your holy presence. Lift our spirit, strengthen our heart and will to love you more as we draw near in intimacy. In Jesus name we pray, Amen. WORSHIP (15-20 minutes) You may use the following suggested worship songs: 1) Friend Of God (G) 2) Blessed Be Your Name (G) 3) Build My Life (D) 4) What A Beautiful Name (D) 1

2 Do give some time to wait upon the Lord for the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Encourage the release of the gifts of the Holy Spirit - words, visions, tongues and interpretation of tongues - to minister to the people who are present. Transition to Word: Dear Father, we acknowledge that all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. As we relate to your Word, help us not to just know your Word in our heads but to apply them into our lives and experience real change. In Jesus mighty Name, we pray. Amen! WORD (40-45minutes) Memory verse of the week: Acts 24:15 (NIVUK) 15 and I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. Sermon Title: The Gospel of the Kingdom By DSP Rev. Daniel Khong on 4-5 Aug 2018 Scripture Passage: Matthew 6:9-10; (NKJV) 9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Introduction The word gospel is often used and we have been exhorted to preach and share the gospel with our pre-believing relatives and friends. What is the exact meaning of the word gospel? The original meaning in Greek is God s Good News. Literally, it means the good news of God for men. The Bible tells us that Jesus went about preaching the gospel. What is this gospel? It is the gospel of the kingdom of God that Jesus preached as recorded in Matthew 4:23. The word kingdom appears 365 times in the NKJV Bible. 210 times in the OT and 155 times in the NT. That s one word per day. The same word repeated shows its importance! In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus taught his disciples to pray by saying Your kingdom come (Matthew 6:10) and ends with for Yours is the kingdom (Matthew 6:13). Why did Jesus preach the gospel of the kingdom of God wherever He goes? Because the importance of preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God represents two truths: 1. God's Passion for Us God sent Jesus to Earth for us and to establish His kingdom 2. God's Purpose for Us God wants to partner us in establishing His kingdom on Earth Discovery and Understanding Questions (10-15 minutes) Q1. How can we know God was passionate for us through the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom of God by Jesus?

3 A1 God sent Jesus to Earth to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19-10). Jesus rescued us from the dominion of darkness (Col.1:13-14). In preaching the gospel of the kingdom of heaven/god, Jesus calls us to repentance. When we believe in Him, we have redemption and the forgiveness of our sins. In so doing, we are brought into and become citizens of the kingdom of God. Luke 19:10 (NIVUK) For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Colossians 1:13-14 (NIVUK) 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Q2. God s purpose is to partner us to establish His kingdom on Earth. What can distract us from making the kingdom of God our priority and passion? A2. Matthew 6:34 says, do not worry. The Greek word for worry means to be distracted by anxiousness and concerns. So Matthew 6 is telling us not to be distracted. But instead, seek first the kingdom of God. The truth is that we often get distracted from this. We focus more on our own problems and situations to a point where we forget God s purpose for us. Then, the kingdom of God no longer becomes our priority and passion. Matthew 6:33-34 (NKJV) 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Q3. How can we establish the kingdom of God on Earth? A3. In Matthew 13:31, the kingdom of God is like a seed (small). We can take this seed and sow it in our fields. The seed will grow as we tend to it. It will become a big tree. You may not feel like you have much to offer, but it doesn t matter. All you have is this mustard seed, but this mustard seed is part of the kingdom of God which God has placed in your hands. What you need to do is to bring it to your field to sow it, tend to it and let God bring forth growth. Matthew 13:31-32 (NKJV) 31 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 32 which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches. Application Questions (30 minutes) Break into smaller groups, share, pray and minister to one another. Q1. In Matthew 19:16-22, the rich young ruler went away sorrowful when Jesus asked him to sell everything he has, give to the poor and to follow Him. He was unwilling nor ready to make God the king of his life and becomes His subject. Is God your King? Are you willing to follow Him? Q2. The Kingdom of God is not going to be advanced by our churches becoming filled with men, but by men in our churches becoming filled with God. - Duncan Campbell. How can we partner God to advance His kingdom on earth? Family Altar Time (F.A.T.) 3

4 (Cell Leader: Encourage your members to be faithful in keeping the weekly F.A.T. and refer them to this segment of the 4Ws for suggestions for their F.A.T. A possible time for the F.A.T. is after a meal together, say during the weekend.) Use either of the two icebreakers in the WELCOME segment above and select worship songs that are meaningful to your family. If they are old enough, ask your children to select the songs and lead worship, and take this opportunity to teach them skills in waiting on God, praying, and leading with a servant s heart and as a willing vessel for God. After worship, you may wish to: 1. Discuss last Sunday s Family Bible Study in the Living Life journal, or 2. Review your children s take-home materials from GKidz ( or 3. Review and discuss this week s memory verse, or 4. Question: People willingly give up their time, money and sleep to pursue their passion. E.g., Joseph Schooling woke up in the wee hours of the morning every day, even when he was on holidays with his parents, to go for swimming training. What are you passionate about and what are you willing to give up to pursue your passion? [Let your family members respond freely and if they are slow to respond, prompt them along from your knowledge of them. Summarize that we go through great lengths and are willing to pay a high price in order to pursue our passion.] Let s see what Jesus was passionate about when He was on earth. Ask one person to read Matthew 6:9-13 (NKJV), and another person to read Matthew 4:17 and 6: Question: When Jesus was on earth, what was He passionate about? [When He was on earth, Jesus was passionate about preaching the gospel of the Kingdom in order to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. He started His public ministry preaching on the Kingdom of God (Matthew 4:17). He taught much about the Kingdom of God (Matthew 5:3,10; 7:21; 18:3). When teaching His disciples to pray, Jesus started and ended His model prayer with the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:9-10 and 13). He expected His disciples to give priority to God s Kingdom above everything else (Matthew 6:33). Even after He resurrected from the dead, He was preaching about the Kingdom (Acts 1:3). See the Introduction and A1 and A2 of the WORD segment of the 4Ws above for additional points.] Question: Jesus wants us to share His passion in preaching the gospel. Why might we not be passionate about it? [Let your family members respond freely. It may be that we are distracted by the cares of the world (Matthew 6:31-34). It may be that we fear how people would respond; but that is not our responsibility and even Jesus faced rejection! It may be that we think we are not capable of explaining or answering questions and objections; but the gospel is inherently powerful in its effect on people (Matthew 13:31-32; Romans 1:16).] Question: What can we do to be more focused on the Kingdom of God? [In answering this question, reflect on this other question are your prayers self-focused or Kingdom-focused? Is there something specific you can do this week?] End by praying that God will help us by the Holy Spirit to be willing to pay the price and to partner with Him in preaching the gospel whenever we have opportunity. Pray also for the salvation of your pre-believing family members, relatives and friends.

5 Transition to Works: Father God, your Word says, What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Holy Spirit, empowers us to do acts of kindness for others so that Our Father in heaven is glorified. Amen. WORKS (15-25 minutes) 1. 3x3 Prayer Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the strongholds that bind the people. Ask Him to set divine appointments for us to minister His power over them (words of knowledge, healing, helps, etc.). Pray for one another for boldness, courage and obedience to follow through. 2. Inviting Friends to our Services Continue to encourage one another to invite pre-believing friends to our weekend Services. Make time to listen to The Voice of God for prophetic utterances that speak to our prebelieving friends circumstances as a prelude to inviting them. In addition, take some time to discuss, plan an activity and pray toward achieving the goal you have set as a cell. 3. Consolidation of New Converts Consolidate those who have accepted Christ - contact them via phone calls; meet up with them over a meal; make house visits; introduce them to members of the cell and invite them to fellowship with the faith community during cell meetings and celebration Services. Make them feel belonged. Introduce them to LifeClass. LifeClass is an exciting package of equipping that guides new believers through the foundations of their faith and leads them into a life-transforming encounter with Jesus. It does this through nine weeks of personal study, combined with fun and interactive classroom sessions of Bible teaching and an Encounter Weekend. It replaces the former Pre-Encounter Class, Encounter Weekend and Post Encounter. Please check out the Equipping page at our website or Mobile App. Visit for more details. Announcements: Please visit or our FCBC app for more details. 5