Queen's Road Cell

Knowing we are saved by faith 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— 3  among 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. 4  But   God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5  even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6  and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7  so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result ...

To recap the lessons of Paradigm 20 we covered 2 weeks ago: Success is fulfilling one's purpose. The purpose of a disciple is fruit bearing. Fruit bearing comprises inner transformation and outer multiplication. In this chapter Edmund Chan emphasizes that the strategy of God is multiplication rather than addition. He quotes OT scripture to back up this point, then says that transformation must precede multiplication. Discipleship must not be head knowledge alone, but 'complete transformation'. Transformation of personal and public life is God's goal. What is the difference between spiritual addition and spiritual multiplication? In the latter, teaching and modelling of life is imparted to others who impart to others also (2 Ti 2:2) - an exponential growth, rather than having one person teach and model Why must there by multiplication with transformation? Both are inseparable parts of fruitfulness. Because we reproduce only after our own kind (Gal 6:7, M...

Winnie shared about Francis Chan's book (Letters to the Church) in which he wrote about his hopes for the church he founded, his leaving it to go to Asia, then his return to the USA. This invited questions about the topics of division and leadership in church. 1 Cor 1:10, 12:25 encourage the church not to have divisions. Paul rebukes the Corinthians for their factionalism and tendency to idolize human figures (1 Cor 1:12; 3:4) and yet he speaks approvingly about divisions in 11:18-19. How do we recognize 'good' and 'bad' division? My thinking is that division in church is good rather like church discipline is good - in other words, the need for it is a reflection of impurity in the church that must be addressed, so that those who are genuine/tested in the faith might be separated from those that are not. It is God's general will that t4he church not be divided. We also spoke about the importance of plural leadership in church (see here ). There is the negat...

Edmund Chan asks us to radically redefine success. Success is not related to largeness, but greatness. We are all called to the latter, but not the former. We are not called only to grow in numbers. While Scripture is clear that numbers are not everything, it also teaches us that barrenness is not desired by God - we are to be fruitful. We are not to lose heart because our ministry is not growing, and we must not lose the courage to do what it takes to make it grow. Numbers are there to help us assess our effectiveness, not to boost our egos. Chan says that success is about fulfilling purpose. When we redefine success, we must relook at our purpose. We are successful when we accomplish what God has called us to do. What comes to mind when we say that someone we know is successful? Many times our idea of success aligns with material prosperity. We could also say that the successful are able to fulfill their dreams. They accomplish the purpose that they set out to do. Jesus was suc...

Two weeks ago we learned from Joseph that students in class were categorized into high medium and low achieving groups ("Hippos", "Manatees" and "Lions") I said then that it was possible to categorize churchgoers into categories as well: e.g. those who are mature spiritually, self-driven to learn and committed, those who were content to attend church faithfully, and those who attended church occasionally. How should the leader of a church, small group or ministry approportion his or her time with these different groups? On one hand, it is right to pay every member attention. 1 Thes 5:14 says, "And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.". We know that we should be spending time with individuals as the Lord leads us. Jesus definitely had time for individuals, but although he spoke to crowds, He also spent special time with the 70/72, the 12, the 3 and the 1. However, as a m...

Here Edmund Chan speaks about how effective teams are formed. He says, "selection is the key". Team members must be wisely and intentionally selected to accomplish tasks. He speaks about five 'C's: 1. Calling to a particular ministry with accompanying conviction that leads to long-term commitment. 2. Character is a non-negotiable requirement - wholeness and basic commitment to integrity are paramount. 3. Competence can be reduced if there is mismatch of gifts and role. Abilities must match the role given, or we risk mediocrity. 4. Chemistry between team members should be optimized at the point of selection rather than after the group is formed. We should aim for unity in diversity. 5. Capacity is the inner strength and reserves that allows a person to function effectively even when under pressure. This can be developed. A. Let's consider how well Jesus met these selection criteria when he chose his disciples! 13  Jesus went up on a mountainside and calle...

Some pics from our Christmas party. Thanks to the carollers!