Bible-study Fellowships God provided Adam with an abundance of food in the Garden, then gave him a helpmate and instructed them what His will was for them; but they disobeyed—what a tragedy! But God found favor with a few of their offspring; instructed them, and they obeyed, as in the case of Noah. Then, as recorded in Genesis 12:1-3, God spoke to Abram, later called Abraham, saying: "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation … and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." That ushered in a new day. God said that not only would Abraham be a blessing to those to whom he ministered in his day; but that he and his offspring would be a blessing to “all peoples on earth.” What a promise!—and it has happened! God did just that by using Abraham’s offspring as Messengers/Prophets for centuries, climaxing with His Messenger/Son, our Lord Jesus! Along the way, God added another dimension to His revelation pattern—speaking through groups of prophets [see I Samuel 10;5, 10-12]. Jesus followed this pattern in selecting and sending out His twelve Apostles; and Paul used it even more extensively by forming small groups across cultures; which became the bases from which churches and denominations developed. In doing this he put into practice the promise that our Lord had given in Matthew 18:20: “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” God continued using small groups down through the years since Bible times; with a marked upsurge in them following the Oxford Holy Club, founded and expanded by Charles and John Wesley. These days there is another tremendous upsurge in the number of small groups. They form to meet every human interest conceivable—sports teams and boosters, business promotions, religious activities, service projects, etc.; and they meet at differing times of the day and night in sports arenas, store buildings, factories, churches, homes, tents, open fields, etc. Many of these groups are persons seeking a closer walk with the Lord than they have found in public church services; with some of these groups remaining in their churches; but others forming outside any church structure. One researcher reported that multiplied millions of persons are now involved in such groups; with their number increasing rapidly. Our In Christ Fellowship ministry encourages the formation of Bible-study Fellowships—small groups of those “in Christ,” and those desiring to be, for fellowship, worship, prayer, discipleship, witness, evangelism, and service to others. This seven-fold pattern is designed to help each participant become more Christ-like, and provide a way to draw others into the fellowship so they too might come to know Christ and begin to become more like Him. Some groups start small—two or three—and remain small; others start and grow rapidly, which begins to compromise any sense of comradeship the smaller group may have had. So when the number in a fellowship nears or passes 12, the number of our Lord’s Apostles, we recommend that ways be sought to divide into smaller groups. with an occasional get-together of several such groups. This will help maintain the closeness possible only in small groups, while continuing to “go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” as Jesus commanded His eleven apostles in Mark 16:15. We believe that the current tremendous upsurge of small groups, is a sign that we are going through a God-directed fellowship cycle, in anticipation of the decline of denominations; since it is highly unlikely that church organizations will be able to function openly as we approach, and certainly during, the Tribulation. Their properties will no doubt be confiscated for purposes other than the spread of the Gospel. As the anti-Christian life-styles so apparent today increase, small group fellowships may be God’s way for His people to continue getting together. Vast numbers of church members no longer keep their word to God and their church that they would faithfully attention their public services; so will be stunned when they realize that they have missed the Lord’s return. When the foolish virgins realized that they were not ready for the Lord’s coming, they were able to buy oil, a type of the Holy Spirit, and be fully restored to their relationship with God; though the door was shut by the time they got back. Whether these foolish church members today will be able to seek and find restoration if they miss our Lord’s return we don’t know: but we certainly hope so; though they will have to suffer; possibly even be martyred for their delay. With these somber views in mind, our In Christ Fellowship hopes to help many to be ready for the Lord’s Second Coming, and help those who miss it to still not miss heaven. In this we are seeking the fulfillment of Jesus' prayer in the Upper Room when he prayed for those “who believe in me” to reach such agreement on “their message” that “the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21-22 NIV). Paul, in Ephesians 4:11-13, spoke of this message, and predicted the God’s children would come to agreement on it, calling it “unity in the faith,” We firmly believe that God has opened-up the insights into God’s Salvation Plan that are unique, balanced, sound doctrine; which, if accepted and proclaimed, will be an effective soul-saving instrument. We also believe that they can be agreed upon without having to alter one biblically-based tenet of our many conflicting Christian traditions. These insights are outlined in two articles available free on our website: www.InChristFellowship.org. One is a summarized version entitled, “Good News!—Final Edition!” and the larger one, which inserts the Bible passages supporting each insight, is entitled “God’s Salvation Plan.” There are a large number of other websites on the Internet dealing with small groups; some free, others requiring membership and small fees. If you would like to research this subject further, we found two of them to be helpful. The Barna Group (http://www.barna.org/) provides statistics, resources, seminars and custom research on current cultural and spiritual trends. Maranatha Chapel (http://www.maranathachapel.org/) provides an abundance of detailed information on this subject. It lists resources available for forming and conducting groups; provides help for deciding whether you should get involved in a group or not; and if so, what kind of group, meeting how often, and at what level of participation—convener, worship leader, teacher, host or hostess, or just an active member. It also lists Bible studies; but we recommend ours!!! If you are now in a small group, we hope you will continue in it, and if not, but one is available, that you will join it if you feel it will meet your need. In either such case we would hope you might be able to get that group to use our study-guides. Should no such fellowship be available, or you sense the “calling” to form one, we hope the following suggestions will help you to get started.
“In Christ,” Brother Jim Founder, In Christ Fellowship
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Notes: Most of our articles are also available free in PDF format (pdf). All of these may be downloaded for personal use or for distribution; provided this is not done for profit and the source of the article is clearly and visibly identified as www.InChristFellowship.org.
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Produced by In Christ Fellowship 1/1/08. All rights reserved. Website: www.InChristFellowship.org Email: Support@InChristFellowship.org
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