Page 40 - Principles for Discipling Others-Student textbook

Study Section 8: The Obedience/Fellowship “Spoke”

1.1 Connect.

Many people in our community don’t go to any church during the week. They don’t see any
need to go. They may have met some people at a church who “say one thing and live just
the opposite life”. They call them hypocrites. Others think church is boring or not relevant
to their lives. They think it is just a waste of time and energy. Plus, they think that all they
want down at the church is more of our money. They have a really bad attitude toward
church.

Most people use say these things as excuses for not going to church. If they considered all the positive
and wonderful aspects of attending church, maybe their attitude would change. Going to church should
encourage every believer to walk with Christ and provides an avenue where Jesus Christ is collectively
worshipped. Today we are going to learn why Jesus established the church and how important it is for
us to be involved in His mission.

1.2 Objectives:

1. We will learn that God wants all believers to attend a Bible-believing church so that they
can grow in their faith.

2. We will discover that the church, rather than a building, is the body of believers coming
together to worship. It is “people”!

1.3 The Obedience/Fellowship “Spoke”

Obedience is the first of the “outlet spokes.” The young Christian needs to be around
other, more mature Christians. This he/she finds at church as well as elsewhere. The
church is actually all Christians everywhere (living or dead) as opposed to a building we
call “a church.” However, today the word means both and the meaning is best found in
the context of the usage.

At creation God made the world and all living things in six days and on the seventh day He rested. At the
giving of the Law in the Old Testament God set aside the seventh day of the week as a day of rest for His
people. This was Saturday, the seventh day of the week. However, Christ arose from the dead after His
crucifixion on the first day of the week and the early church began meeting together in Christian
fellowship on Sunday…. “The Lord’s day”. That has been the pattern since the resurrection.

Being faithful in attending a Bible-believing, Bible preaching church is one of the best habits a young
Christian can practice. There he/she will find other Christians who have been walking with the Lord
longer than they. There they can observe the ways they walk with the Lord and listen to how they talk
and what they talk about. This is a great environment in which to learn to grow as a Christian.

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