Week 4 - Making the Most of Church

Appendix A - See page 41.

"We go to church, not in order to get something out of it, but to put something into it ... of course, we too will be encouraged and taught and stimulated to good deeds, and we need this encouragement to keep going in the Christian life."

What are you supposed to put into church? How can you encourage and stir up others? Read Appendix A for specific, helpful suggestions.

Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Study 3: Friends and brothers

See Page 17

Do most men that you know have good, close friends, with whom they  share their joys and problems? How does God want us to live together as brothers in Christ?  Take some time to think about how you can make a difference (question 4 in the lesson).
 
Ephesians 2:11-22; 4:1-6  11Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
 
1I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Study 2: The Man who makes a difference

What is the solution to men’s problem? The solution—the remedy—is the subject of this week’s study. See page 13

Ephesians 2:4-7 4But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.…”

Study 1: The problem with men

What’s the problem with men??? Read the quote in the study book. What do you think—is he right? (See Page 9)

What does God say?
Ephesians 2:1-3
 1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Study book: The Man who makes a difference, by Tony Payne. Matthias Media, 2001
Available at bookstore.