Tommie McCracken, who has a great heart for people who are new to the faith, is the New Believer's pastor. His vision is to see people not only brought to Christ, but nurtured and trained up in the ways of Christ.
New Believers now have a cell group that is held in the church on a Monday from 8pm until around 9:30pm. Tommie, his wife Frances, Ivan Martin and Bronagh Herron are all involved with running the cell. In the New Believers cell, we teach the ‘Foundations for Faith' course, in a very relaxed atmosphere. ‘Foundations for Faith' is the title of the material put together by Tommie for new Christians. At the moment we have about six or seven people in the new believers group, but it is an ongoing thing. We have put over 70 people through the course in the past four years. An exerpt from each chapter of the course is below. God has always meant us to fellowship with each other and with Him. A word for ‘fellowship' in the O.T. is ‘chabar' meaning ‘to couple together'. Fellowship means to participate in a partnership, to communicate with others of the same kind. It is important for you to fellowship with other believers, and to find a place to fellowship in. Developing the habit of spending time daily in the Word is essential if we want to grow and mature in our walk with God. There are two primary Greek words for the ‘Word' in the Bible: “Logos” - the written word We need a daily Rhema word from our Father in heaven (the type that jumps out of the page at us). The Rhema word has the power within itself to fulfill itself. Time in Prayer Developing the habit of spending time daily in prayer is also essential if we want to grow and mature in our walk with the Lord. It is impossible to walk with the Lord if we don't talk with Him! Let us daily spend time in prayer at the throne of grace and see the Lord ‘show us great and mighty things,' in answer to our calling out to Him. Tithe to God Developing the habit of giving a tithe to God is essential if we want to see God's Kingdom advanced and if we want to see God's blessing on our lives. God is interested in how we spend our Time, our Energy and our Money. Tithe = Hebrew word for ‘tenth'. All money comes from God as provision, so it belongs to Him anyway. One tenth is thanks for it. Tithing serves as a reminder that all we have comes from and belongs to the Lord. Temptation and Repentance TEMPTATION - This is a tool used by Satan to entice us away from the things of God. Temptation in itself is not a sin, but when we surrender or give in to the temptation we sin. We can overcome temptation by the word of the Lord. REPENTANCE - Repent = to turn back, to be sorry, reversal of decision. To repent is to turn around, like a u-turn, and begin a new life of following the Lord as we come to the cross and repent from our sin. Water Baptism Water baptism is mentioned only in the New Testament, around 100 times. It is a command from God. In being baptized, we are identifying with Christ; it is our next step of commitment to Christ. In this symbolic act we identify with His crucifixion, His burial and resurrection. Water baptism is a must for believers. We know that water baptism alone cannot save us, but only those who believe can be baptized. Holy Spirit Baptism It is the belief of the church that the Baptism in the Holy Spirit happens after salvation. We are baptized into the body of Christ by the new birth - this is done by the Holy Spirit. Baptism in water is done by a person. Holy Spirit baptism is done by the Lord. In an ideal way these three baptisms would happen straight after each other. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is essential for every believer. The Fruit of the Spirit The Fruit if the Spirit is Christian character: Love – ‘Agape' the sacrificial love Joy – the joy of the Lord Peace – a heart that is not troubled Longsuffering - patience Gentleness - moral goodness, integrity Goodness - uprightness of heart and life, kindness Faith - it is ongoing, which is a characteristic of the believer's walk Meekness – a calm temper of mind, not easily provoked Temperance - self control The Gifts of the Holy Spirit There are three places where we find gifts:-
The word used for gifts is ‘charisma'. Healing God made a promise to His people to remove sickness. One key factor that activates the promises of God, including healing, is faith. If you are ministering to the sick, you must follow Jesus' example: teaching God's Word about His willingness to heal; asking the Holy Spirit for wisdom and knowledge, ministering out of love and compassion. Always give God the glory for it is His power, we are only yielded vessels. Sharing Jesus in Acts 1:8 says ‘You shall be witnesses (sharing the good news) of Me.' Who Shares the good news (gospel)? You the Believer!!!! You are not on your own when you share. The Holy Spirit will help you, giving you power to witness. Four principles in sharing Christ with others: God loves the sinner; all are sinful and separated from God; Jesus Christ is the only answer to our sin; we must receive Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour and Lord, then we will know the plan God has for our life. Communion The communion is an essential ordinance of the church, and helps us understand what is available to every believer. Symbols used at Communion: Bread: a symbol of His body which was broken for us in His crucifixion. Cup with the wine: this represents the shedding of Jesus' blood at His crucifixion; it speaks of the New Covenant we have between the Lord and ourselves. Communion is a time of remembrance, unity, self-examination, and thanksgiving. It also speaks of Christ's return. Praise and Worship We ought to always give praise and worship to the Lord. The Bible is full of praise to the Lord, especially the Psalms. Why praise? That we may offer up thanks to Him for all that He has done for us. What does praise do? It brings us into the presence of the Lord. What is worship? It is to pay homage to the royalty of God, to bow down, to reverence. As praise brings us into the presence of the Lord, worship brings us into an intimate relationship with God. Discipleship A disciple is a learner, a pupil, a student of the things of Jesus Christ. Discipleship costs. It means giving up all things to gain Christ, loving Jesus more than anything else. It is a commitment that demands our all. Discipleship also rewards. In losing our lives, we save them. We gain a promise of eternal life. The ultimate reward we as disciples can receive from the Lord is hearing the words, “Well done you good and faithful servant.” |
