Fight the Good Fight of Faith, English Edition

Lesson : The Edification We Seek • 

deserve it, didn’t ask for it, and couldn’t earn it. Why do you think it is so hard for people to get this basic message of the Scriptures? What might be hindering them from understanding the “grace of God,” his royal love and mercy for all people, regardless of who they are, what they’ve done, and where they are? 3. “How can our pastor lead all these people? I’ll never get to know him!” One of the things God says over and over in his Word is that we grow as we follow the teaching and the example of godly pastors and leaders he provides for us. In some churches, however, the pastor is leading a large group of believers, perhaps hundreds or thousands. With so many believers in the church, and with the pastors having so much responsi bility, many complain that it becomes difficult if not impossible for every believer and every married couple and family to get to know the pastor intimately. “If getting to know your pastor well is a sign of being pastored, then I probably will never have a pastor,” says one new believer. “How can our pastor lead all these people. I’ll never get to know him!” What would you say to encourage this young believer in his under standing of what it means to be under pastoral care – how can it be done in today’s church? In the last session ( The Excellence We Show ) you learned that we are to represent Christ as dearly loved children, to live both as saints of God and as Christ’s ambassadors to a fallen world. Now you will explore how God intends for us to grow in our faith in the local church, under the authority of pastoral leadership, and in loving submission to one another so we can fight the good fight of faith. Jesus wants his people to be unified and committed to one another as we live in community together. We gather weekly for worship, and meet together in Bible studies or small groups to build one another up. We must get to know other believers, and have them get to know us as well. We must learn to welcome one another in our homes, relax and play together, and do all we can to encourage one another as we follow Christ. As believers, we are called to live the Christian life, building up each other through the use of our gifts, our love, our friendships, and our conduct. Moreover, we must be careful to challenge one another to love and good deeds, and to reject those evil things that we were formerly associated with before we became one of God’s people by faith in Christ. While all of us are constantly tempted to do evil, no place exists in the spiritual life or the Christian community for things that are associated with

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