COP 2017 BIBLE STUDY & HOME CELL WEEK 34

THE CHURCH OF PENTECOST – 2017 BIBLE STUDY OUTLINE

WEEK 34 – SUNDAY MORNING, AUGUST 20, 2017.

TOPIC: CHRISTIANITY AND CULTURE

Main Text: Acts 15:5-9

Memory Verse: Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” - Acts 15:1

Introduction

The Gospel is always presented to people in a cultural setting. As a result, there are cultural challenges whenever the Gospel is preached from one culture to another. These challenges may be geographical or generational. As read in today’s passage, some of the Jewish believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees insisted that the Gentile believers needed to be circumcised according to the Law of Moses in order to be saved. We will discuss ways by which we can avoid putting cultural yokes on others in our presentation of the gospel.

Questions for Discussion

1. What did the believers from Judea insist the Gentile believers do, and why? Verse 5

2. What was the response of Paul and Barnabas to this cultural imposition? Verse 2

3. What showed that God accepted the Gentile believers without discrimination? Verses 8, 9

4. In what ways do we also put cultural yokes on people’s necks in the church today?

5. How can we refrain from imposing culture on others and allow them to serve God sincerely from a pure heart?

Conclusion

The problem of how Christians should approach cultural issues has been an age long one. The apostles, however, concluded that since God Himself did not discriminate against the Gentiles but gave them the Holy Spirit as He gave to the Jewish believers, there was no need to put such a yoke on the Gentile believers. Sometimes we also expect others to serve God from our cultural perspectives. We should therefore, refrain from putting on others yokes that may not affect their salvation. To avoid this we need to genuinely approach all cultural issues from the scriptural point of view and in the spirit of love.

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THE CHURCH OF PENTECOST – 2017 HOME CELL OUTLINE

WEEK 34 – SUNDAY EVENING, AUGUST 20, 2017.

ACTIVITY: PASTORAL CARE GROUPINGS / FOLLOW UP & VISITATIONS

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READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR GUIDE

Week 34 (Sunday 20^th August to Saturday 26^th August, 2017) 

   

1. Sunday:          Jeremiah 42-45         
2. Monday:         Jeremiah 46-48         
3. Tuesday:        Jeremiah 49
4. Wednesday:   Jeremiah 50
5. Thursday:      Jeremiah 51-52
6. Friday:           Lamentations 1-2
7. Saturday:       Lamentations 3-5

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