WITNESS ~ INSTRUCT ~ NURTURE / Volume 2 Issue 3
Feb 1, 2006
Hi !
In this issue, you'll read:
THE BOOK OF 1st CORINTHIANS - PART TEN
RENEWING OUR VISION FOR WORSHIP
A WORD FROM THE EDITOR - THIRTY FIFTH EDITION Pastor Bobby, a lifetime minister in the service of the Lord, together with Pastor David Lathrop [now the Western Regional Bishop for FCGM], graciously stood with me to conduct that very first service. Two years later, in 2001, Pastor Bobby [together with Bishop Lathrop] became an Ordained Minister with Freedom Covenant Global Ministries and has become one of its most faithful supporters. Pastor Bobby, together with his Lovely First Lady, Sister Barbara, is the founder and Senior Pastor of Whitestone Christian Fellowship located in Tucson Arizona. On October 30, 2002, Whitestone became the third Local Church chartered through the Western Region of FCGM. We would like to thank both Pastor Bobby and Sister Barbara for their faithfulness to the work of our Lord Jesus Christ as well as their faithful support of FCGM. It is our prayer that God will richly bless them and the entire Whitestone family with all blessings from on high. We love you Pastor Bobby and Sister Barbara. Until next time...God bless each of you in all that you undertake! In Jesus Name, All editions of The W.I.N. E-Mail Newsletter are available on the Internet. To find them, navigate to Each morning, read a Scripture passage of your choice. Talk with the Lord as you read His Word. When you are finished, go back and select one or two verses that you believe the Lord is using to speak to your heart. Meditate thoughtfully and prayerfully on what He is saying to you. II. Bible Study In this edition, we will take a closer look at 1 Corinthians 12. In this chapter, which is divided into three subsections, Paul teaches on a basic understanding of spiritual gifts. Read each subsection and answer for yourself the questions associated with them. Type out your answers (or jot them down on a piece of paper) and place in your Bible for further meditation and study. Read 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 1. In 12:1, what does Paul say he does not want the Corinthian Christians to be ignorant of? (note also 1:7) Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 1. List the different things that every Christian has in common - the words that have "one" in front of them. (12:13) Read 1 Corinthians 12:27-31 1. In 12:27, how does Paul describe the Church? (note also 12:12) III. Memory Verse 1. Ask the Lord to help you remember his Word (see John 14:26). 2. Use the version of the Bible you are most familiar with. What you normally read in your Bible is what you need to be memorizing. 3. Don't just memorize the contents of the verse; memorize its "address" (the verse reference) as well. You can do this by following this pattern: Step 1: reference; Step 2: verse content; Step 3: reference. Then repeat steps 1-3. Note that you are quoting the reference twice as many times as you quote the actual verse content. This gives the verse a clear "reference tag." 4. After you have read your memory verse out aloud several times, try going through your memory verse without reading your computer screen. 5. Look up your memory verse in your Bible. Look at its immediate context and read the verses that come before and after your memory verse. 6. Print out your memory verse or jot it down on a piece of paper. Take this paper with you when you go to work or do other daily activities. Meditate on the meaning of the verse throughout the day. 7. During your noon appointment with the Lord, take out your memory verse and go over it again. Talk to the Lord about what this verse means to you personally. 8. In the evening (at either your evening study or your evening devotions), see if you can quote your memory verse from memory. Then, without looking at the memory verse itself, see if you can find it in your Bible. 9. The next day, before you begin committing a new verse to memory, rehearse your previous day's memory verse and see if you can remember it (without cheating!). 10. Finally, at the end of the week (possibly on Sunday), collect all your week's memory verses, rehearse them and see if you can recall them without reading them. Spend a little extra time on any verses you have difficulty recalling. 11. Remember: Don't just memorize a verse. Put it into practice (James 1:22). It is not being able to quote a verse from memory that counts. It is His Word abiding in your heart that counts (John 15:7). When you actually apply a verse consistently to your daily life; that is when you truly know that verse! This article is Copyright © 1999, The Online Bible College. It is used by permission and formatted for presentation in this newsletter. In looking back, Paul views his entire life since coming to faith in Christ as an act of worship directed to God. For him, worship was a lifestyle of devotion to God, not just a Sunday morning tradition. As a church, worship should always be focused on celebrating Jesus Christ and His presence among us. He is with us whenever we gather as a congregation for worship, and we need to celebrate this reality each time we meet together. While the church worship services should be relevant to the non-Christian, the church should never compromise its commitment to the Bible. Since worship and outreach belong together, the church should attempt to translate the timeless truths of the Christian faith into language and concepts that make sense to all people in our culture today. However, this should be done with an uncompromising commitment to the absolute authority of the Word of God. When worship and outreach are joined together in a relevant way, non-Christian people will discover a relationship with Jesus Christ in the midst of a worshipping church. In addition, the church should use systematic Bible teaching to connect both Christians and non-Christians with God and give them hope for their lives, always being careful to explain what the Bible means and how it applies to their lives. Many who discover a relationship with Christ through the church will tell you that long before they responded to Christ they experienced the presence of God through worship in the church. Maybe it is time for us to renew our vision for worship as a church. Blessings to all, Unless otherwise noted: All Scripture is taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Welcome to this week's edition of the W.I.N. E-Mail Newsletter. God is truly wonderful and His blessings are wondrous to behold. NKJ Job 37:16, "Do you know the balance of clouds, those wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge?"
This week we would like to take a moment to "spotlight" Pastor Bobby and Sister Barbara Laster of Whitestone Christian Fellowship in Tucson Arizona. In 1999, when Freedom Covenant Global Ministries held its first Licensing Service, there was only one Ordained Minister [myself] within our organization.
Rev. Sam T. Leigh
Presiding Bishop
Freedom Covenant Global Ministries
E-mail:
Website: www.fcgm.org
Back to top
THE BOOK OF 1st CORINTHIANS - PART TEN
I. Devotional Reading
2. Although there are many different kinds of gifts, service and working, what does Paul say is the common denominator amid such great variety? (12:4-6)
3. To whom does the Holy Spirit give gifts? (12:11)
2. In 12:14-24, Paul says that one part of the body can't say to another part of the body, "I don't need you." Why is this so? (note 12:22)
3. What is the result of God's way of giving honor to the parts that lack it? (12:25-26)
2. What does Paul instruct the Corinthians to "eagerly desire"? (12:31)
1 Corinthians 12:13; "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free and have all been made to drink into one Spirit."
Back to top
RENEWING OUR VISION FOR WORSHIP
Developing a lifestyle of devotion to God is the only way to renew our vision for worship. We see this happening in 2 Timothy 1:1-3; "1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, 2To Timothy, my beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day..."
The emphasis on worship in verse 3 is centered on the word "serve." If you mark in your Bible, underline or circle that word, because it is very important. This is not the usual New Testament Greek word for "serve," but rather is the Greek word latreuo [lat-ryoo'o], which is used around 20 times in the New Testament, always referring to service offered to God as an act of worship. The English word liturgy [order and structure of a Christian worship service] comes from the Greek word latreuo. We call our corporate worship a "worship service" because of this word.
Bishop Sam T. Leigh
Back to top
This newsletter Copyright © 2005, 2006 Freedom Covenant Global Ministries. All Rights Reserved. Individual articles displaying copyrights from other ministries are used by permission, have been formatted for use in this publication, and remain the property of respective ministry. Permission is granted to copy, print, and distribute this newsletter for ministry purposes, whether whole or in part, so long as ALL copyrights remain in place and no copies are printed or distributed for sale or commercial purposes.
Back to top