WELCOME (15 minutes)
Choose one of the following icebreakers:
(If you have first-time guests, begin with a round of introduction and warmly welcome the new visitors.)
1. Honouring Fathers discussion
- What is your fondest memory that you have with your father?
- What is one valuable lesson that your father has taught you?
- What do you think makes a Godly Father?
2. The way to the Heart, is through the Stomach!
If you were to prepare a home-cooked dish or order a delivery, what is something your father would enjoy eating?
- What would this dish be?
- Make plans to cook this dish or order it.
- Take a picture with your father and share it with the cell.
Transition to Worship:
Let’s all quieten our hearts and reflect on what it means for us to call God our Heavenly Father. Let us put aside everything that hinders us, and greatly anticipate the moment for us to enter into the presence of God! The God we serve is a good God and as we worship Him and declare His goodness, it is His AMAZING GRACE that allows us to praise and worship Him!
WORSHIP (20 minutes)
You may use the following worship songs:
- This is Amazing Grace (D)
- How Great Is Our God (D)
- What a Beautiful Name (D)
Let us pause to wait upon the Lord for the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We would like to encourage everyone to exercise the gifts of the Holy Spirit – if you have a word, a vision, tongues and interpretation of tongues – release it to minister to each other.
Transition to Word:
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the privilege of being able to freely enter into Your presence. You are our perfect Father and Your name is great. Your great love draws us to Your presence and our hearts yearn for You. Teach us what it means to desire and seek Your face. Amen.
WORD (45 minutes)
Memory verse of the week: Exodus 29:46
“They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.”
Sermon Title: Honouring Fathers
By Senior Pastor Daniel Khong on 19-20 Jun 2021
Scripture Passages: Exodus 33:11 (NLT), Exodus 4:10-12 (NLT), Proverbs 4:10-13 (NLT), Psalm 46:1 (NIVUK), Deuteronomy 31:6 (NKJV), John 13:15 (NIVUK)
Exodus 33:11 (NLT)
Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend…
Exodus 4:10-12 (NLT)
But Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”
Then the Lord asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.”
Proverbs 4:10-13 (NLT)
My child, listen to me and do as I say, and you will have a long, good life. I will teach you wisdom’s ways and lead you in straight paths. When you walk, you won’t be held back; when you run, you won’t stumble. Take hold of my instructions; don’t let them go. Guard them, for they are the key to life.
Psalms 46:1 (NIVUK)
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Deuteronomy 31:6 (NKJV)
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.’
John 13:15 (NIVUK)
I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
Introduction
It was Father’s Day last weekend, and together as a church, we want to remember and honour our fathers. It is no surprise that there is perhaps a certain expectation when we refer to a figurehead as father. We have God our Heavenly Father who is always there for us and is someone we can look to at all times.
SP Daniel highlighted a couple of attributes and roles that we can honour our fathers using an acronym. Using FATHER as an acronym, he shares that we can all thank our fathers for being...
FRIEND; ADVOCATE; TEACHER; HELPER; ENCOURAGER; ROLE MODEL.
Discovery and Understanding Questions:
Q1. God is often referred to as our Heavenly Father. Where in the Bible is this mentioned and what does it mean that God is our Heavenly Father?
A1. In Christianity, God is often addressed as God the Father. He is our Creator, and He is the Father over all of Creation. There are several verses in Scripture detailing our relationship with God the Father, but today we will look at one – Romans 8:16-17.
Romans 8:16-17 (NIVUK)
“16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”
As believers, we have a unique position and that is – we are children and heirs of God! God is our perfect Heavenly Father, and He is always loving and approachable. While the roles that a father plays would not be limited to these few, nevertheless, with God as the Heavenly Father, we definitely can see Him in the following roles – our Friend, Advocate, Teacher, Helper, Encourager and Role Model.
And though, our earthly fathers do play out these roles as well, there will be times they disappoint or even fail us. However, God our Heavenly Father is a perfect Father and He wants to make up for whatever lack that you may have in your life. He is long-suffering and will always wait for us to return to Him regardless of the circumstances that we are facing. He chooses to love us, and we do not need to do anything to earn His love. Such is the immense and great love of our God!
In this advent of Father’s Day, let us once again look to God and be reminded that He alone is our perfect Father.
Application Questions
Break into smaller groups, share, pray and minister to one another.
Q1. Which are your less strong points among the roles of a father according to the acronym FATHER? How can you strengthen them?
Q2. Do you struggle to accept the notion of God as the perfect Heavenly Father? If this is true, share what may be the cause(s) of this?
Q3. Do you find yourself running away from God or running towards Him to find restoration when you have done wrong? Our Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to take a step towards Him.
Transition to Works:
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You for loving us. Despite our imperfections, You are always there to pick us up. Lord, we know that there are a great number of people who have yet to come to know You. We pray that You will use us to be Your hands and feet to share Your great love to those in need.
WORKS (15 minutes)
1. Focus on CG Outreach
The focus of CG meetings is edification, equipping and evangelism.
In each CG meeting, spend some time to encourage your Members to do personal outreach right where they are. Give sometime each week during the WORKS portion for them to share their outreach efforts.
Plan regular (monthly or quarterly CG outreach, either as a whole CG or in separate groups) into your CG roster, using the existing covid19 guidelines to plan your activities/programmes.
The next XFXZ will be in September. Use the CG time to prepare your Members and get their buy-in to conducting a XFXZ cell the next round.
2. Prayer over Covid19 Situation
Consecrate some time each CG meeting to be praying for the situation; and to remain connected with one another.
4. Continue to Connect
a) With cell group members
- Hold your cell members accountable to watch the Livestream Service.
- Seek ways and means to stay connected with each other. For example:
- Synchronize prayer times
- Share devotional thoughts through WhatsApp. Encourage your members to share their Quiet Time Reflections in your cell group chat.
- Create a cell group hashtag - Post uplifting messages, sermon videos and notes, or even bookmark pretty verse images by leaving these in your cell group hashtag as a comment.
- Video call each other
- Continue with your cell group meetings online. Ensure that none of your members fall through the cracks. Continue to monitor the attendance of your online meetings.
b) With Potential BESTs / Pre-Believers
- Evangelism need not take a back seat with livestreaming. Invite pre-believing friends/Bests/3x3 contacts (depending on their comfort level) to join you in watching our livestream service. Connect online with them and spur other members to do so.
- When the salvation altar call is made during livestreaming, a Response Form link will be screened over the livestream for those who have responded or want to respond, to fill in. The livestream links are:
- For English -- www.fcbc.org.sg/connectwithus
- For Chinese -- www.fcbc.org.sg/zh/connectwithus
Get your pre-believing contacts to fill up the Response Form or you can help them fill it up. When filling up the Form, try to provide as much of the information needed as possible, and do so immediately after the livestream service.
5. 3x3 Prayer
Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the strongholds that bind the people in captivity. Ask Him to set up divine appointments for us to minister His power over them (words of knowledge, healing, helps, etc.). Pray for one another to have boldness, courage and obedience to follow through.
Announcements
a. TIGHTER MEASURES FOR IN-PERSON CHURCH GATHERINGSWith the return to Phase Three (Heightened Alert), from 14 June, in-person cell meetings and gatherings may resume for up to 5 persons (an increase from 2). The tightening of measures reflects the seriousness of the current COVID-19 situation. Let’s remain vigilant at all times!
In line with the government’s measures: -
- In-person cell meetings and gatherings may resume for up to 5 persons.
- All English, Chinese and Hokkien Services will only be held online.
- English, Chinese, and Hokkien Services will continue to be streamed at their regular service timings on our YouTube channel.
- There will be no live-streamed Youth Service until further notice.
- Online GKidz and Youth programmes will continue to run.
- LifeClass will be conducted online only.
For more announcements, please visit www.fcbc.org.sg/announcements or our social media platforms – we can be found on Facebook and Instagram @fcbcsg.