Foundations
The Church is built on Jesus by Jesus. The Church is not a building, it’s the Family of God. Family Church is here to Love God, love others, Worship God alone in Spirit and in Truth, and Honour and obey God’s Holy Scriptures. We do this by practising Scripture, Prayer, Worship and Serving, every day, everywhere we are. These are the foundations of family church and in today’s youth service, this is what we take a look at.
Scripture
Matthew 22:37-39 ESV Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22: 16-20 ESV Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Bible Study Questions
The great commandment
When the Pharisees challenged Jesus about which were the greatest commandments, he replied by summing up the 10 commandments into two. Can you identify the structure Jesus used to sum up the commandments?
Exodus 20: 1-17 And God spoke all these words, saying,
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands[b] of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.[c]
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.”
The commandment applied
How do we at the family church interpret how we are to live out the great commandment?
Matthew 22: 16-20 ESV Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
1 Corinthians 16:14 ESV Let all that you do be done in love.
1 Timothy 1:17 ESV To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
John 4:24 ESV God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
John 14:15 ESV “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Lessons from Acts
We strive to love, honour, worship and obey. When we apply these filters to the Acts of the Apostles, we can see four clear ways in which they live these 4 pillars. Can you spot what they are?
Act 2:42-47 ESV And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
The four pillars
When studying the Acts of the Apostles, we see four pillars of their enactment of love, honour, worship and obedience. They are scripture, prayer, worship and serving. How do we hold ourselves to honour, love and obedience through the scriptures?
Acts 17:11 ESV Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
2 Peter 3:16 ESV As he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.
Joshua 1:8 ESV This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Prayer
To love, honour, worship and obey, we need to devote ourselves to prayer in various forms. How can you conduct a prayer life that honours God?
Philippians 4:6 ESV Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
James 5:16 ESV Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
Matthew 6:6 ESV But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Worship
When the church speaks about worship in the modern age, it mainly refers to singing songs and hymns that glorify God. Is this correct? Do you think there are other forms of worship, and what could they be?
Psalm 95:6 ESV Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
Hebrews 13:15 ESV Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
Colossians 3:16 ESV Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Serving
The final pillar, which we learn from Acts is serving. How does serving bring about love, honour, worship and obedience?
1 Peter 4:10 ESV As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace:
Galatians 5:13 ESV For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
Joshua 22:5 ESV Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”