Jesus Challenge:
Having brainstormed and came up with a potential outreach event, make a list of non believers that you would like to invite to that event. Assign the job of printing invites to one cell member, making sure dates and times are right and agreed to by all.
Should you need help with the printing then please talk to the office staff.
Spend time deciding how the outreach will run and what jobs/responsibilities need to be allocated to various members of your cell.
Issues to think about:
Who are you aiming to reach by this event?
How will the gospel be shared?
How will you follow up those people who came and heard the gospel?
Read 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8. Ephesians 4:1. Philippians 1:27
If you were to join the local athletics team, it would come with a set of expectations. You would be expected to train with them and to eat well and to exercise regularly, apart from the corporate training session. If you indulged in unhealthy food and didn’t attend training regularly, you would prove yourself to be a false member of the team. If you joined the local gardening club or car club, both would come with a set of expectations. Even membership in the local chess club and the photography club comes with a set of expectations. If you didn't meet these expectations you prove yourself a false member of the team.
Christianity is no different. When a person becomes a Christian, as we’ve seen before, their very centre is changed from self to sacrifice. And since Jesus now fills the centre of that person, he or she cannot continue in the same lifestyle that he or she had before Christ entered. Christ’s indwelling will make that person want to live differently to how they used to live.
The expectation from God is that the Christian life is holy and pure. We simply cannot worship a holy and righteous God and continue to live an unholy lifestyle no more than we can join the local athletics club and continue to live an unhealthy lifestyle.
The word ‘holy’ means to be set apart or to be different. In the ancient world, things could be set apart for almost any god or official person. The difference was seen depending on who or what you were set apart for. When we are set apart for God we take on His characteristic of holiness. God has called us to a life of holiness, a life of purity.
That calling to a life of purity has implications for the way we live in every department of our lives. God calls us to be holy and pure in our relationships, in our financial dealings, in our sports endeavours and even in our thoughts and day dreams. God will not settle for half hearted holiness or part time purity. He wants us and equips us to be pure and holy in every single area of lives.
Such lives speak volumes to the non believing world. When they see Christian lives that are no different to their own lifestyles they feel justified in using the ‘hypocritical’ tag for us believers. But when they see lives that are different, set apart for God, they are challenged and drawn to the source of that difference - Christ Jesus himself.
A holy life is a powerful life indeed.
Prayer:
Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.
Adoration:
Confession:
Thanks:
Supplication:
V Praise God that He has given us the power to live a holy and distinct life. Pray that God would be making you and your congregation more and more holy. Pray that He would be weeding out the sins in your life and the lives of your brothers and sisters. Pray that God would create a desire for purity in our hearts.
V Pray for the various Presbyterian churches in the Darling Downs. Pray that God would raise up men and women to do the work He’s given us to do. Pray for faithful preaching, for dedicated children’s and youth workers. Pray that God would bring growth to these churches through evangelism and conversion.
Discussion Questions For Families and Groups
1. How important is a holy life to spreading the gospel message?
2. What is the Christian motivation for purity?
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