4Ws for Week 18, 1-7 May 2017 WELCOME (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. Would you rather Everyone in the group will sit in a circle and take turns to ask a question that begins with Would you rather? and provide two scenarios for the rest of the group to choose from. For example, Would you rather fly to USA or fly to Europe? For some of the more interesting questions, choose one or two members in the group to share their reasons for making the choice. 2. The Lord Knows Me Leader will gather the group in a circle and read out Psalms 139 (NIV). For every time the word know is read out, the group will stand if they are seated, or seat if they are standing. If you start from a sitting position, you will end off with being in a standing position and you may transition into a time of worship from there by getting them to pause and reflect about how much God thinks about us. 3. Praise Challenge Divide the group into 2 groups. Giving a time limit of 1 minute, ask each group to list down as many areas that they can thank God for as possible. After the 1 minute, each group will spend some time going through the list. After each praise report is given, everyone in the group is to applaud and cheer. Transition to Worship: Thank everyone for their sharing. Worship is a time with God in which we bring our body as a living sacrifice, and a sweet offering to God. The Lord inhabits in the praises of His people. So let us enter into a time of worshiping God right now. WORSHIP (20 minutes) You may use the following suggested worship songs: 1) Lord I Lift Your Name On High 2) You Are My All In All 3) Beloved 4) Come Holy Spirit (CHC) 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: Heavenly Father, You are indeed faithful. Your love and Word endure forever. We want to open our hearts and listen to Your Word. May we obey and apply Your Word in our daily lives. Help us to live out Christ-centered lives day by day. In Jesus name! Amen. 1
WORD (45minutes) Memory verse of the week: Ruth 1:16b (NIVUK) Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Sermon Title: One Thing By Rev. Poh Wee Long on 29 & 30 Apr 17 Scripture Passages: Psalms 27:4 (NIVUK) One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. Introduction If we were given a chance to ask God for something, anything, what would we ask God for? If God were to give us a choice to ask for just one thing, what would we ask for? Do we desire simply for the presents of God and not the presence of God? King David desired to be so close to God that he wanted to experience the tangible presence of God daily all the days of his life. He counted it a privilege to be able to see God and gaze upon His beauty all the days of his life. Do we want to want to run after and seek the Father heart of God? How can we too dwell in this Manifested Presence of God? 3 things we must have in order to dwell in the Manifested Presence of God: 1. Praise God dwells and is enthroned in our praises 2. Purify Do we have clean hands and pure hearts? 3. Persevere Press on until we see the breakthrough Let us choose to desire the ONE THING and not the WANT thing. Discovery and Understanding Questions Q1. What was it about the Presence of God that King David desired? A1. King David was known as a man after God s very own heart. And from the key scripture of the week, Psalm 27:4, we can see that the one thing that he requested was to have many days all the days of his life to dwell in the house of God. Some of us are merely scratching the surface by acknowledging that the presence of God is everywhere. However what King David sought after was dwelling in the Manifested Presence of God. Q2. What happens when we choose to Praise God regardless of the situation that we face? A2. When we choose to Praise God no matter what happens, we are inviting the Manifested Presence of God to come into the situation. Even though it is tough, we have just learnt what it means to turn the key to unlocking the door and inviting God to come and take over. This is seen too in many examples throughout the Bible. (King Jehoshaphat 2 Chronicles 20:21-22, Apostle Paul Acts 16:25-26) Psalms 22:3 (NASB) Yet You are Holy. O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel. Q3. I am such a sinful person, can I still run after the Manifested Presence of God? 2
A3. The Lord knows that even as Christians we struggle with sin. However, the more we understand and acknowledge that we are a sinner, the more we grow to understand how much we need God. God wants us to not only recognize that we are a sinner, but He also wants us to purify our hearts and keep our hands clean. We can live right with the help of God. Let us Persevere and choose to run to God and run away from sin. Not just once or twice, but for all the days of our lives. Will we kill off the sinful nature of our lives? Psalms 24:3-4 (NIVUK) 3 Who may ascent the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 The who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false God. James 4:7-8 (NIVUK) 7 Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you doubleminded Galatians 6:7-8 (NIVUK) 7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Application Questions: Break into smaller groups, pray and minister to one another Q1. Do you desire for the manifested presence of God? Yes/No. Share why. Q2. Do you believe that if you freely ask for the Lord s presence, you will also freely receive? Is there something that is blocking your faith? Q3. Is there an area in your life or sinful desire that you need to kill off? (Cell Leaders, be sensitive to your members struggles, especially those who have experienced hurts. If it s necessary and possible, pair your members up with mature Christians to allow for deeper sharing and ministry). Family Altar Time (F.A.T.) (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.) Use any of the 3 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 (www.fcbc.org.sg/youthchildren/gkidz/parents), or 3) Review and discuss this week s memory verse, or 3
4) Question: If you could only ask God for one request, what would you ask Him for? [Let your family members share candidly about what they would ask God for, and share your own request candidly too. If they are not joking, their answers will also reflect what is most important to them currently and it is good that as a parent you know that, if you don t already know it.] Ask one person to read Psalm 27:4 and then highlight that King David s one request was to be in the house of the Lord, i.e., in God s presence, not just for a season, but all the days of His life. In fact he said this only do I seek, emphasizing that this one thing that mattered above all else. Seeking God s presence should be the highest priority to all of us. Since this is the case, consider how we may seek God s presence and be in God s presence. Question: Read Psalm 22:3 (NASB/NKJV/ESV). According to this verse, where and how God s presence can be experienced? [God is enthroned upon the praises of Israel (i.e., His people). KJV renders it as God inhabits the praises of Israel. In other words, when God s people praise Him, He makes His presence felt. There are examples of this in Scriptures. E.g., Judah under King Jehoshaphat, when surrounded and outnumbered by enemy forces, experienced God s intervention and deliverance when they started praising God (2 Chronicles 20:21-22); God showed up when Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns to God in prison at midnight (Acts 16:25-26). In both examples, praise was offered under difficult circumstances, illustrating the point that in order to experience the presence of God through praise, praise must be offered under all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18).] Question: Read Psalm 24:3-4 and James 4:8. According to these verses, what must we do/be in order to experience God s presence? [Psalm 24 tells us we need to be pure and live holy lives, or as James put it, we need to cleanse and purify ourselves, in order to draw near to God and experience His drawing near to us. I.e., we need to deal with sin in our lives confession, appropriating the cleansing by Jesus blood, and repentance. We often run away from God when we sin, although we should instead go to God for cleansing and deliverance.] Question: What if despite our efforts in praising God and purifying ourselves, we still do not experience God s presence? [Jeremiah 29:13 tells us we need to seek God with all our hearts. In other words, persevere in cultivating the lifestyle of praise and purity and we will definitely experience the presence of God. The Word of God is truth and it will be fulfilled; so don t give up.] Question: Pursuing God s presence more than anything else; praising God and worshipping Him under all circumstances; purifying ourselves from sin; and persevering in the above three actions which of these do you most need to do? End by thanking God for the promise and the privilege of experiencing His presence in our lives, and pray according to the answers to the preceding question. Pray also for other needs (like any upcoming exams) and for the salvation of pre-believing family members, relatives and friends. Transition to Works: We have just learned through today s lesson that God wants us to long for and be in His presence. We want to allow that desire for the Lord to grow our love that we have for Him. WORKS (15minutes) 1. 3x3 Prayer 4
Let s lay hold of God s promise in Galatians 6:9, pressing on to intercede for our 3x3 prebelieving contacts. As we pray, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the strongholds that bind the people, preventing them from drawing near to God. Ask the Lord to set divine appointments to grant us opportunities to minister His power over them (words of knowledge, healing, helps, etc., as revealed through our prayers). As the Holy Spirit leads, plead the blood of Jesus over the circumstances, strongholds and barriers that block them from come to our cell group and our celebration services. Pray for one another for boldness, courage and obedience to follow through. 2. 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 to them to members of the cell and invite them to fellowship with the faith community during cell meetings and celebration services. Affirm them on their decision to embark on this journey to begin a new life in Christ. Introduce them 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 will replace the current Pre- Encounter Class, Encounter Weekend and Post Encounter. Please check out the Equipping page at our website or Mobile App. Visit https://fcbc.org.sg/equipping/event-listing for more details. Announcements 1. Join our Hospitality and Security teams! Our hospitality and security teams are currently looking for volunteers. If you d like to serve the Lord by helping us run our services as a friendly usher or vigilant security personnel, send your contact details to htstvolunteer@fcbc.org.sg. All are welcome. No prior skills are required, onthe-job training will be provided. 2. Parents Appreciation Banquet The annual Parents Appreciation Banquet is back this year on 21 May, Sunday, 6.30pm at Tim Palace, SAFRA Toa Payoh. We ve invited gospel singer Elaine Teo and there ll be fun games and a blessed draw. The programme will be conducted in both Mandarin and Hokkien. Get your tickets at $45 per person before and after the Hokkien and Mandarin Services from this weekend onwards. For more details, contact Pastor Kathleen at kathleen.tan@fcbc.org.sg or 6424 9480. 3. Empowered21 Asia Congress Empowered21 Asia Congress Wind & Fire is happening next month! Singapore has been chosen as the country to host this global celebration of Pentecost, fulfilling our prophesy as the Antioch of Asia. This Congress features a never-before-seen intergenerational team of preachers, along with Dr David Yonggi Cho, Prophetess Cindy Jacobs and more. There ll also be two evangelistic rallies on 3 and 4 June featuring Evangelist Daniel Kolenda for us to bring the lost and the sick. You will witness the Holy Spirit moving mightily in your ministry and miracles happening to your family and friends. Admission to Wind & Fire is by ticket only. If you d like to attend, let your cell leader know soon before tickets run out. 4. Cell Worship 101 6 May to 1 July, every Sunday at TOUCHCENTRE, Haven. 5
The Worship Department is conducting a basic six-week course on worship leading during cell group meetings. This course will teach you the fundamentals of worship leading, vocal techniques and guitar strumming for a small group setting. All participants need to have an acoustic/classical guitar, capo, tuner, and pick/plectrums. No experience or music background is required. Only FCBC members who ve completed either Pre-encounter or LifeClass 4 and 5 should sign up. This course is free and limited to 25 candidates only. Register at https://goo.gl/forms/kzgracgjd7afcmn02. Registration closes on 3 May (Wed). 5. Volunteer for Gateway Theatre Opening Festival If you are 16 years old and above, Gateway Theatre is looking for you! Gateway Theatre is looking for volunteers to serve and help out at its official opening festival from 7 to 9 July. Each role plays an important part to ensure the success of the opening festival. Volunteers will their have meals provided for and will also receive a pair of complimentary tickets worth $40 to Gateway s upcoming production Hansel & Gretel. Confirmed volunteers will be notified by 26 th May and will be required to attend a compulsory briefing on 23 rd June. Visit http://theatre.gateway.sg/events/volunteer to register or contact chelsea.cheng@gateway.sg for further enquiries. 6