Ministry to New Christians

My particular ministry has always been to new Christians. I have been concerned that many of those who make a decision for Christ, have been left to their own devices and sad to say, many have fallen by the wayside. Because of this, while working in India, where many in villages cannot read, I made a decision that I would write some notes that would be simple, easily translated and suitable for those who had some training, to pass on verbally, in village and home conditions.

Having completed the notes, the next step was to find out how we could put these notes into the hands of those potential workers. I had been working in a Discipleship Training Centre in Maharashtra (India) and appointed a graduate of that establishment to oversee this work. However, this plan did not work for various reasons and we lost our money. Later we were approached by two more graduates of the Training Centre who asked for help in establishing a training centre (in another area), for those wanting to enter the ministry. These two people were a married couple that I had known for a year or two and who were well versed in the running of such an establishment. We agreed to help them, and the Bethesda Training Centre was born in the year 2002. Now, today in 2008, some of the graduates of Bethesda are fully engaged in various ministries, and each one is committed to the use of the notes for new Christians (which we have called 'Weeding and Feeding') The aim is that every person who accepts Christ will be taught a series of 10 lessons on the basics of Christianity. It is my intention now to show you these notes so that (if you wish) you can use them in your own work. There are no restrictions on the use of these notes or how you use them. Change the format if you wish, in my ministry we have printed sheets for each lesson in question form with a space for answers. I'm quite sure that there will be some readers of these articles who could improve on what I have written, and please feel free to offer useful criticism.

God bless you as you read these notes

Weeding and Feeding

All noted Scripture is written as follows:- Luke Chapter two and verse 11 is written as Luke 2:11

Lesson 1 The Lordship of Jesus,

We need to know what the Lordship of Jesus means to each one of us personally. In Luke 2:11. We read "For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour which is Christ the Lord"

In the Bible Jesus is always referred to as Lord and we have chosen Luke 2:11 which tells us that the angels that appeared to the shepherds, called Jesus SAVIOUR, CHRIST and LORD, and they said He was born for US.

So, when we hear the gospel and accept Salvation through the Name of Jesus Christ, He should automatically take the position of Lord in our lives. What does that mean?

The Oxford dictionary definition of Lord is "One who is master, owner and ruler. So then, by definition, Jesus has become our master, ruler and owner, because we have voluntarily put Him in that position. As our Lord He is now in a position where He can direct us in our lives, tell us how to live. One of the Bible titles of Jesus Christ is "The Word of God" (John 1:1-14, Revelation 19:13), so , if we read the Word of God, then we will have an understanding of what Jesus is telling us. Let me give you an example. The Word tells us in places that we should "Fear not" meaning don't be afraid. When we become Christians we receive the most perfect love ever known to mankind, because Jesus died so that we could live, and in 1 John 4:18 we are told that "......perfect love casts out all fear". We can read again and again that we need not live in fear because God is looking after us (read Joshua 8:1).

Now let's read Luke 6: 46-49

Then ask ourselves these question. Not only should we call Jesus our Lord, but what else should we do? (Vs.46) *

In this scripture Jesus compares our Christian life with the building of a house. A house has to be designed and a plan drawn to certain specifications. God is the designer and the Word of God is our house plan. Why did one succeed (Vs.47) and why did one fail (Vs.49)

In James 1:22 we are told that we must be doers of the Word and not hearers only. Common sense tells us that if Jesus is our Lord then we should do what He says. It goes on further in Vs. 25 to tell us that when we hear the Word of God and do what it says - we will be blessed.

Living the way our Lord wants us to live will usually involve us putting away some our old ways. If Christ lives in us then we can no longer live in our old ways. We read in Galatians 2:20 that as new Christians then we now have to live by faith in our Lord, and that faith will be strengthened as we read and think about the Word of God. There is a Scripture in the Old Testament in Joshua 1:8 that that tells us about this. Read Joshua 1:8 and think about what it says to you. Going back to James Ch.2 we can see again that it says we must do what we are told. It's no use having money in the bank if we don't spend it when there is a need. It's the same with our knowledge of the Word. We have to do what it says to have success in our lives, both physical and spiritual

Let's ask ourselves another few questions:- 1 Corinthians 6:20 says Jesus paid a price for us -so, what should we do? * Looking at the same Scripture, how should we act? * What price did Jesus pay for us (Romans 5:8, Acts 20:28, John 10:11)

Jesus died so that we could have eternal life, so shouldn't we who believe that, act as though we belong to God? Those who have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and are now led by the Spirit of God, are given the authority to become children of God. (Romans 8:13 - 17) and so we should act accordingly. This needs thinking about and we will take time in a moment to do that, but first let me ask you, do you think you can serve more than one master - the answer is NO, we can have only one master. To try to serve more than one master in any situation is a recipe for disaster (Luke 6:13).

In India sometimes people will try to worship Jesus as just another god in a land full of gods and of course this will not work, it's like trying to get a heavily laden camel through a very narrow gate. First the camel has to be unloaded, and those who receive Christ as Saviour must not try to worship more than the one true God. Anything that keeps us from worshipping the one true God can be termed an 'idol' in our lives and must be unloaded so that it will not prevent us from entering the kingdom of heaven. Read Joshua 24: 14 -16 and then take time to think about what it means to make Jesus your Lord.

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. God is Love (1 John 4:8 and 4:16) God loves you (John 3:16)

God bless you as you continue this study