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. Praise Train
One thing that all of us have in common is that we love receiving praises. Start a praise train where each member compliments another in succession and observe how they react to praises. For example, leader starts by praising a member for being punctual, and that member praises another on having successfully shared Christ with a friend, and the member who was complimented continues to praise another for their diligence in keeping others informed on cell matters and so on.
2. Virtual Ambassadors
Virtual Ambassadors is a virtual activity where each cell member acts as an Ambassador for a place or travel destination. During each round, a member must describe a place without saying the name of the place. Then others in the cell will guess the place that is described. At the end of the game, the member with the most correct guesses wins!
Transition to Worship:
As we enter into worship, let’s put aside all distractions and come expectantly to meet God. Let us worship Him and declare His goodness. Let praise arise and allow His presence to fill us. Lord, You are the Amazing Grace, the King of Glory; the King above all kings!
WORSHIP (20 minutes)
You may use the following worship songs:
- This Is Amazing Grace (D)
- How Great Is Our God (D)
- Shout to The Lord (E)
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:
Dear Lord, we thank You for Your presence here with us today. We bless Your Name - You are Mighty God, the Risen King, the Bright Morning Star! Let us never stop praising You and worshiping You. Lord, we love You and we want to know You more. Lord, we open up our hearts to You and as we study Your word, reveal Yourself to us, teach us and work in us. In Jesus name! Amen
WORD (45 minutes)
Memory verse of the week: Matthew 28:19-20a
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
Sermon Title: Intense Passion
By Senior Pastor Daniel Khong on 3-4 April 2021
Scripture Passages:
Romans 3:23-24, Romans 6:23, John 3:16, Matthew 26-27
Romans 3:23-24 (NLT)
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.
Romans 6:23 (NKJV)
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 3:16 (NKJV)
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Introduction
Good Friday and Easter Sunday have great significance to us because they are fundamental reasons why we are Christians. The week leading to Easter Sunday is commonly known as “Holy Week” or “Passion Week”. It begins on the Sunday before Easter and continues all the way to Easter Sunday. It marks Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and then all the way to His resurrection on Easter Sunday. One might wonder why it is also called Passion Week. In order to understand that, we need to look into the word “Passion”.
“Passion” means having a powerful desire or enthusiasm for something. But passion is not just for enjoyment. There’s another aspect to the word “passion”. The root word of the word “Passion” is actually a Latin word, which is the word “pati” – which means to suffer.
Passion Week, therefore, refers to both God’s powerful desire for us to be saved, and Jesus’ suffering for our sin. Jesus endured great stress, anxiety, abandonment, blasphemous accusations, ridicule, humiliation, rejection, physical torture and spiritual isolation in order to accomplish the plan of salvation for us. The passion of Christ is really a demonstration of God’s passion for us.
What does God’s passion show us?
- God is For Us
- God is With US
Discovery and Understanding Questions:
Q1. How does God show that He is for us?
A1. We can see clearly that God is for us when we look at the multiple ways Jesus had to endure and suffer – mentally, physically and spiritually. Jesus pressed in and pushed through because he knew what was on the line – our lives and our souls. If it is not for us, Jesus would have given up.
John 3:16-17 (NKJV)
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIVUK)
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV)
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
Q2. How can we be sure that God is with us?
A2. Consider the following:
Jesus was given to live among us. He was God’s fulfillment of His promise to His people.
John 3:16-17 (NKJV)
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Matthew 1:23 (NKJV)
23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Deuteronomy 31:6 (NKJV)
6 Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”
Sin separates us from God and Jesus became the propitiation (atonement sacrifice) for our sin so that we are no longer separated from God. Jesus was tempted in every way, yet he did not sin, he is the great High Priest.
Matthew 27:46 (NKJV)
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
1 John 2:2 (NKJV)
2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
Hebrews 4:15 (NIVUK)
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin.
Application Questions
Break into smaller groups, share, pray and minister to one another.
Q1. “Hope is not found through the exemption of troubles. Hope is found when you know Christ is with you through your troubles.” Share your thoughts on this.
Q2. Knowing the intense passion of Christ for each one of us, how does that help you when you go through challenges?
Transition to Works:
We want to thank God for His love for us. Let us bring the Good News to our pre-believing friends. Let’s seek to reach out to them by connecting with them.
Works (15 minutes)
1. Welcome Home!
Praise God we are going onsite for Service! Remind members to practice Phil 2:3-4 – 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
- Reserve seats only for yourselves and your family members. Don’t mass book. Don’t double book to secure more chances of getting a seat.
- Turn up for service after getting your seats. Don’t cancel last minute – every last minute cancellation deprives one person of an opportunity to come to onsite service.
- Obey covid19 safety procedures to safeguard yourself and others – e.g., stay in your zones; don’t turn up if you are sick, etc.
- Be patient and calm if there are delays in admitting you because of covid19 safe entry processes. Don’t abuse the Staff or volunteers on duty.
- Honour God – have a worshipful attitude even though you cannot sing aloud.
- Be punctual – build in extra time so that you will be seated already when Service starts.
- Dress appropriately.
- Recognise that there are many others also worshipping with you online.
- Continue to invite your pre-believer friends.
- Etc…
For more information on our resumption of on-site services at Touch Centre starting 27 March 2021, please visit www.fcbc.org.sg/welcomehome.
2. Consolidation of Visitors/New Converts from your outreach
Assimilate them! Let them experience a sense of belonging to our faith community! Connect with them via phone calls; introduce them to cell members via WhatsApp and invite them to join in our livestream services and your online cell group meetings. Start inviting them to onsite services and do the seats reservation on their behalf.
3. Continue to Connect
a) With cell group members
- Hold your cell members accountable to watch the Livestream Service. Suggest CG Members to meet in different homes to view the online service together or for CG gatherings. Adhere to 8 guests per group. You could also meet in one group of 8 (not counting the host/s) in one household, and get the rest to Zoom in. CG Members should limit visits to households to 2 per day.
- 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
- Arrange get-togethers of no more than 8 people.
- 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
Encourage 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.
- Organise activities for your CG members to connect face-to-face with their contacts, e.g. go for a nature walk, meet together for meals, etc. Keep to safe distancing guidelines and limit to no more than 8 per group and do not intermingle between groups.
- Organise outreach activities for Good Friday (2 April).
4. 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.
For more announcements, please visit www.fcbc.org.sg/announcements or our social media platforms – we can be found on Facebook and Instagram @fcbcsg.