Recently Sophie, Grace, Ji young and myself took part in the Life of Assurance Bible Study course, ran by Pastor Min from Sydney. The course was run over 7 weeks with members from different churches across Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
The purpose of this study is to build a relationship with God. Shepherds learn more about the grace of God through scripture and prayer, as well as how we can share these messages with our house church members and VIPS. This helps the shepherd's own spiritual growth and also builds a spiritual relationship between the shepherd and member.
Studies like this remind us to work on the fundamentals. Prayer and QT. Take some time out to read the bible and pray, just to communicate with God. Personally, I have never spent much time reading the bible. Spending this time each week reading certain chapters and understanding their message has given me a greater understanding of God’s grace and the gifts given to us. This has helped me to build a better relationship with God. Each week we would have homework to complete, chapters to read and scripture to memorise. We also had a workbook to complete, reflecting on the chapters we read and how this relates to us or could be used in our daily lives. Then we came together on Monday nights and shared our prayer and learnings from the week.
A large component of the study is sharing. Building that relationship with your house church members and with God through these discussions. A very important part of the house church to me is being able to serve and help our members. Sophie and I serve the Single’s house church and that can be a difficult time for many people in their life. Sharing and hearing about what’s going on in their life’s and issues they face, we can then offer some guidance and prayer to help keep them on the right path.
I hope to continue the QT time and focus on prayer as we have learnt from this study. Using some of the messages and understanding we have, sharing it with our House church members to help them build a spiritual relationship with us and God. I urge everyone to take a bit of time each day to reflect on God’s message and take some time to yourself for prayer. Communication is extremely important and we communicate with God through Prayer. I hope all the Shepherds can take the time to listen and guide their house church members, share with them and bring them closer to the church and God.
Thank you. | 
