One of the keys to life-giving community is the ability to cultivate community in a natural sense.

We do this by building the rhythms of our Community Group around the natural rhythms of life and, in some ways, relax the formality of what it means to be a community. This means there are times when we gather to simply enjoy one another’s company, times when we gather to serve our neighbors, or times we focus on study of the Bible.  

STUDY SCRIPTURE, NOT A SCHEDULE

Rigidity can suck the life out of a group fairly quickly. Instead, the goal is to develop community that is restorative and life-giving. The challenge is to not throw the structure out with the bathwater.

The natural rhythms of our lives as Christians should be saturated with the Bible, prayer, and worship.  Acts 2:42–47 gives us an example of the natural rhythms of a community transformed by Jesus: 

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 natural rhythms included fellowship, the study of Scripture, meals, worship, prayer, and mission. When we are a community that is smitten with the love of Jesus, these become second nature in our life together. As leaders, we want to cultivate the love of Scripture in our community in ways that draw out our dependence on the Bible and prayer. The key to such cultivation is to nurture that dependence in your own heart.

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When the love of Jesus, Scripture, and prayer overflow from your heart, you will lead your group to these same great gifts.

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This will get you much further than developing a concise Bible study because it establishes the Bible as a source of life rather than content to be mastered.

LET THE SPIRIT LEAD YOU

This means that when you have a group that is following a sermon series, you lead out of what the Holy Spirit is doing in your life through the sermon and text, using provided material as a guide. Your passion, however, will come from your own experience wrestling with the text. When we are naturally steeped in Scripture, we won’t need to wait for a formal “Bible study” time to discuss the Bible, it will be overflowing over dinner, during football games, while fixing someone’s sink, and every other opportunity of life.  

This is natural community that never loses its tether to the source of life, Jesus, and his Word.

Perry Noble

1. Repentance

Where there is no repentance, there may be an emotional experience, but it’s not worship!  Worship does not become worship until it changes the way we live!

2. Intellectual

We are called to worship the Lord with our minds by renewing them and fixing them on him. (Colossians 3:1–2)

3. Intentional

No one accidentally follows Christ. If we are going to worship him, it will be done purposefully!

4. Relational

Worship affects every relationship we have. It is impossible to be a fully devoted worshiper of Christ while being a jerk to your wife or trying to take advantage of the opposite sex.

5. Financial

Until following Christ has affected our finances in a sacrificial way, chances are, we are not followers of Christ with our whole heart. Would you like to see the primary object of your worship? Look at how you spend your money, “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).

6. Unconditional

Worship is consistent, 24/7, not situational or just when I feel good or God is giving me all that I want. If we worship only when things are good then we do not worship God, we worship a genie!

7. Emotional

Worship is overwhelming when we realize that Jesus has rescued us while we were deeply entrenched in sin, when we realize how helpless we are and how incredible he is. (The reality of Romans 5:8 blows me away!)

What is water Baptism?

Our Lord Jesus Christ commanded us to be baptised with water (Matthew 28:19-20). Jesus Himself was baptised with water at the beginning of his ministry (Mark 3:13-15, Luke 3:21)

Being baptised with water is a demonstration of our obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Further more, water baptism is a practical demonstration of a spiritual reality that has already taken place.

“having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” (Colossians 2:12 ESV)

A personal knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only requirement for water baptism. When you received the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, you took part in his death, burial and resurrection. In other words, you became alive to God and a child of God (John 1:10 - 12).

Water baptism simply signifies what has already taken place in your life (Romans 6: 1-5).

When to get baptised

Philip the evangelist baptised the Ethiopian eunuch immediately after he received the gospel and Cornelius and his household were baptised with water after God poured out the Holy Spirit on them (read Acts 8: 26-40 and Acts 10:24-48).

Jesus however, was baptised with water at the very beginning of his early ministry (Matthew 3: 3-15).

In other words, there is no fixed order to follow to being baptised with water. It is an act of obedience we should fulfil as soon as time and opportunity permit.

How to get baptised

Water baptism in the bible involves total immersion (or dipping) in water (Matthew 3:16, Acts 8: 38-39). A river, stream, bath or even a tub of water can all be suitable . Many churches these days even have built in tanks for water baptism.

When going for baptism it is important to bring a towel and fresh pair of cloths to change into afterwards.

It is also wise to come along prepared to share your testimony of how you became a Christian. Invite friends and family along to the event if possible. This is an excellent opportunity to share the gospel.

Your Pastor or even a mature Christian can perform the baptism as long as they know what they are doing. It should be a public affair. If you are part of a church, which you should be, then allow the church to organise it.

The Bible says nothing about the ‘baptism classes’ prior to baptism. However, it would be good to talk with the person baptising you before the day so that you can know what to expect.

Sample of a confession during water baptism
Come to your water baptism prepared to answer these questions in the affirmative.

1. Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour?
2. Have you repented of your sins?
3. Have you decided to live your life for Jesus?

The person baptising you then says: upon the confession of your faith, in the name of Jesus I baptise you in the name of the Father, of the Son and the Holy Spirit.-Acts 10:46-48, Matthew 28:19 (Dips you in water).

Scriptural examples of water baptism

Now take time to read through the accounts of the following people who were baptised with water. Can you detect anything they all had in common.

1. The baptism of Israel unto Moses
1 Corinthians 10:2

2. The baptism of John the Baptist for repentance
Mark 1:4; Acts 13:24

3. The baptism of Jesus 
Matt. 3:15-16

4. At Pentecost - when 3,000 were baptized by Peter and the apostles
Acts 2:41

5. At Samaria - many were baptized by Philip the evangelist
Acts 8:12

6. At Gaza - the Ethiopian eunuch was baptized by Philip
Acts 8:38

7. At Damascus - Paul was baptized by Ananias
Acts 9:18

8. At Caesarea - Peter baptized Cornelius and his friends
Acts 10:48

9. At Philippi - Paul baptized Lydia and the Philippian jailor
Acts 16:15, 33

10. At Corinth - Paul baptized Crispus, Gaius, Stephanas, and others
Acts 18:8; 1 Corinthians. 1:14, 16

11. At Ephesus - Paul baptized some followers of John the Baptist
Acts 19:3-5

Questions for reflection

Read the following questions and attempt to answer them. They will help prepare you for the day. Please ask your Pastor if you have difficulty in answering any of them.

1. What is water baptism?
Matthew 28: 19-20, Mark 3:13-15, Luke 3:21

2. When is the best time to get baptised?
Acts 8:26-40, Acts 10: 24-48, Matthew 3:3-15

3. What things would you take along when getting baptised?

4. How did you become a Christian?
Prepare how you would share your testimony with a few friends?

5. Can you give four examples of people who became Christians?

Answer: Unlike Baptism, which is a one time event, Communion is a practice that is meant to be observed over and over throughout the life of a Christian. It is a holy time of worship when we corporately come together as one body to remember and celebrate what Christ did for us.

Why do we observe Communion?

• We observe Communion because the Lord told us to. We are to obey His commands: 
  And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 1 Cor 11:24
• In observing Communion we are remembering Christ and all that He has done for us in his life, death and resurrection: 
  And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 1 Corinthians 11:24
• When observing Communion we take time to examine ourselves: 
  A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 1 Corinthians 11:28
• In observing Communion we are proclaiming His death until He comes. It is, then, a statement of faith: 
  For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 1 Corinthians 11:26 

• When we observe Communion we show our participation in the body of Christ. His life becomes our life and we become members of each other: 
  Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 

Practically speaking, Communion is to be considered as participation in a family around a table rather than as a sacrifice upon an altar. Furthermore, it should be an occasion when God’s loving grace impacts us deeply so that the gospel takes deeper and deeper root in our lives. Understood biblically, grace is the unmerited favor or God’s goodwill, his helpful enablement for life and service, and a transformational power from the Spirit that brings blessing to us. Each of these aspects of God’s grace is inextricably connected to the partaking of Communion.

Driscoll, Mark; Breshears, Gerry (2009-01-31). Vintage Church: Timeless Truths and Timely Methods (p. 122). Good News Publishers/Crossway Books. Kindle Edition. 

Maybe you attended a missions conference. Or read a book or article. Or heard a life-altering message. Or perhaps best of all, you were turned upside down by personal interaction with a fellow Christian. For the first time, you’re seeing that we are all “sent.” Every Christian is called to live on gospel mission. Whether God is lighting a new fire in you for “living sent” where you already are, or he’s calling you to cross a culture in missions, what’t next? Where do you go from here?

Here’s the guidance David Platt has for us in his book Radical:

I am concerned about a general vagueness that has existed in contemporary Christianity regarding the next step. We have seen that God blesses us so that his glory might be made known in all nations. But an all-important questions remains. How do we make God’s glory known in all nations? If God has given us his grace so that we might take his gospel to the ends of the earth, then how do we do that? Do we walk out into the streets and just start proclaiming the glory of God somehow? Should we all go to other nations? If we go, what do we do when we get there? What does all this look like in our day-to-day lives?

Jesus has much to teach us here. If we were left to ourselves with the task of taking the gospel to the world, we would immediately begin planning innovative strategies and plotting elaborate schemes. We would organize conventions, develop programs, and create foundations. We would get the biggest names to draw the biggest crowds to the biggest events. We would start megachurches and host megaconferences. We would do … well, we would do what we are doing today.

But Jesus is so different from us. With the task of taking the gospel to the world, he wandered through the streets and byways of Israel looking for a few men. Don’t misunderstand me — Jesus was anything but casual about his mission. He was initiating a revolution, but his revolution would not revolve around the masses or the multitudes. Instead it would revolve around a few men. It would not revolving around garnering a certain position. Instead it would revolve around choosing a few people. He would intentionally shun titles, labels, plaudits, and popularity in his plan to turn the course of history upside down. All he wanted was a few men who would think as he did, love as he did, see as he did, teach as he did, and serve as he did. All he needed was to revolutionize the hearts of a few, and they would impact the world.

(Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, [Colorado Springs: Multnomah, 2010], 87-88)