New Believer’s Path · Lesson 4: Fellowship and the Lord’s Day · Not Forsaking Our Assembling
This lesson in one sentence: Faith has never been a solo matter; we need to care for one another.
Timing (about 60 minutes)
- Opening5 min
- Read Together10 min
- A true story5 min
- Discussion25 min
- This Week10 min
- Pray for One Another5 min
Opening
How did you feel the first time you walked into a church or small group?
Read Together
Let’s consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:24-25 · WEB
A true story (ask a group member to read it aloud)
More than a hundred years ago, in a village near Huozhou in Shanxi, a few believers wanted a place to meet, so they asked a well-to-do family to lend them a cave room in their courtyard, promising to repair it for the owner. The lady of the house was a widow who at first would not even speak to the missionaries; she simply thought that repairing it could do no harm, and agreed.
Every evening the believers read the Bible and prayed together in the cave room. Out of curiosity she sat within earshot with her spinning. She did not understand much, but the words ‘Heavenly Father’ kept coming up, which puzzled and intrigued her: if it was really the Father in heaven they worshiped, they ought to be in the best room. In the end her own guest hall became the village chapel, and she herself put down her spinning and joined them.
Source: Mildred Cable, The Fulfilment of a Dream of Pastor Hsi's (1917), chapter 16 (retold)
Discussion
- The widow in the story heard the words ‘Heavenly Father’ outside the cave room. What first moved you about church?
- “Let’s consider how to provoke one another to love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24-25)—why can’t these be done alone at home?
- What is your biggest obstacle to going to church or a small group? (Time, unfamiliarity, past hurts…)
This Week
This Lord’s Day, go to a church or join a small group once.
Each person says which church or small group they plan to go to this Lord’s Day; for anyone who hasn’t found one yet, the group helps them think it through.
Closing
In pairs, pray one sentence for each other’s Lord’s Day.
Tips for the leader
- If someone has been hurt in a church, listen first and don’t rush to defend the church.
- When helping a newcomer find a church, recommend ones you know and trust; if unsure, you can write to IntoOne.
- If everyone in the group already attends the same church, This Week can become: this Lord’s Day, get to know a brother or sister you don’t know yet.
General principles for leaders
- The leader is not a teacher but someone who walks alongside everyone.
- Give everyone a chance to speak; with someone who talks a lot, you can gently say, ‘Let’s also hear from friends who haven’t spoken yet.’
- Don’t rush to give answers. If someone is silent, wait a few more seconds.
- For a question you can’t answer, you can say, ‘I don’t know either; let’s look it up together,’ and note it down for next time.
- What is said in the group stays in the group.
- At the opening, the leader can give their own answer first, showing that it can be simple and honest.