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Showing posts from March, 2016

The Resurrection and Discipleship (FFPP church-wide teaching. 20/3/16)

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The resurrection and discipleship Introduction A basic tenet of our faith For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.  (1 Co 15:1-8) “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.  Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne,  he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Ha

Cell on 18/3/16 "Failure" (Study 44)

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We first talked about "success" and whether we regarded ourselves as successful people. There was a general reluctance to call ourselves "successful". But Eugene made the excellent point that success would be achieved if we could hear the "Well done, good and faithful servant" of Christ at the end. We know that there are some aspects of our lives that are more successful than others, whether spiritual or secular. I shared that I thought success could be defined in terms of discipleship - in FFMC we have defined a disciple as " one who is in the process of becoming all that Christ has called him or her to be and do. There is a longing to follow Christ (Lk 14:27 ), know Him (Jn 10:14 ) and become increasingly like Him (Mt 10:25 , Lk 6:40 , 2 Cor 3:18 ). We are successful when we are faithful disciples. We do fail morally as well as in terms of not achieving task-oriented goals, although the distinction between these categories of failure can be blurre

QC and accountability (4/3/16)

Shaun and Wen Ai celebrated 8 years of their knowing one another and 4 years of marriage recently with a nice wagyu dinner! They shared how they still found marriage fun. Despite arguments they maintain their happy state by guarding mutual dignity even in the midst of arguments, not directing attacks personally, and learning how to love one another not to hurt each other even when hurting. They try to set out their personal opinions and hurts in the correct framework and context. We had a short discussion on relationships and submission in the context of a Christian marriage. Wen Ai said that we needed to teach our girls what to look for in a husband - they need not just to find someone whom they can love, but respect as well. We said that the submission that Ephesian 5 calls wives to give is not a sign of inferiority, but of role. The husband cannot demand submission in such a way that wives sin. The wife must render submission to Christ above submission to the husband, although th