Wednesday night Bible study #1

[stilllearning]

From where I stand, I am seeing more and more Churches do away with “Wednesday night prayer meeting & Bible study”.
Well our Church hasn’t given it up yet.
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This last Wednesday, I started a series of lessons;
And I thought that I would share with all of you, what is being taught behind my pulpit on Wednesday nights.

Here are my lesson notes;
Hope you enjoy them...


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June 15, 2011 -THE DOCTRINE OF PRESERVATION- (1)
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-Tonight......we start a series of lessons on ❝the Bible’s preservation❞!
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LETS GO TO....... Genesis 3:1-4
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Genesis 3:1A Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field
which the LORD God had made.
-SATAN’S CHOICE OF BEASTS-
(Choosing an animal that suited his nature
Satan’s are ever-so subtle:
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They don’t even look like attacks!
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Genesis 3:1B And he said unto the woman,
-SATAN’S CHOICE.....FOR HIS FIRST ATTACK-
(The weaker sex
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God’s promise to the strong Christian.....
James 4:7
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
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Genesis 3:1C Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
-A METHOD OF ATTACK.....THAT HE STILL USES TODAY-
(Casting doubt upon it
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If Satan had slithered up and said...“God’s a liar”:
Eve might have turned away!
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Genesis 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent,
We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
-MANKIND’S FIRST MISTAKE-
(Giving an ear to words of doubt
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We should never give our ear to anyone saying....
“Hath God really said?”
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Listening to people cast doubt on God’s Word:
Can be very dangerous!
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Genesis 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden,
God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
-?WAS THIS.....MANKIND’S SECOND MISTAKE?-
i.e. (Not quoting God’s Words exactly?)
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That is a good question.
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God’s instructions in Genesis 2:16-17 seem clear enough;
But here in Eve’s mouth...they got kind of mixed up.
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This is what happens....when we give our ear to DOUBT!
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Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
-PRESERVATION DOESN’T MEAN...GOD’S WORD WON’T BE ATTACKED-
(We just need to be aware of this attack
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Some might say... “See...God didn’t preserve His Word”:
Because Satan was able to change it:
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But God’s word Was still preserved!
It’s just that Eve....was tricked away from it!
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[Salty]

From where I stand, I am seeing more and more Churches do away with “Wednesday night prayer meeting & Bible study”.

Why do you suppose they cancelling Wed Service?

 

[annsni]

We don't have a Wednesday night prayer meeting but we have what many would consider Sunday School on Wednesday night. These are much more in-depth Bible studies on either a topic or book of the Bible. This occurs along with children's and youth programs so the whole family can be out on one night.

 

[ktn4eg]

The reason why my church does not have a corporate service on Wednesday nights is that serveral years ago we decided to use small groups that meet during the week.

Some of them do meet on Wednesday evenings, but others meet on other evenings.

I've been to different ones from time to time, and now that I'm officially retired from AT&T I hope to be able to visit with others.

We're certainly not against churches that have Wednesday evening services.

We just believe that this is a more effective way for us really to get to know each other on a more personal basis as well as a better way to reach non-believers who (for whatever reason) feel less threatened by meeting in a person's home rather than attending a corporate-style meeting.

 

[stilllearning]

Why do you suppose they cancelling Wed Service?

The reason that I have been hearing, is because of a lack of interest:

But.....a few months ago, it was reported to me that the pastor of a small Baptist Church in our area, asked those attending a Sunday Evening service.... “How many plan to be here on Wednesday?”, and when only a few hands went up, he said,.....“well, lets cancel it this week then.”
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I have been told many times, that our mid-week services are needed and are a personal blessing, because people want to be encouraged in the Lord and prayers are being answered!

 

[stilllearning]

The reason why my church does not have a corporate service on Wednesday nights is that serveral years ago we decided to use small groups that meet during the week.

Some of them do meet on Wednesday evenings, but others meet on other evenings.

I've been to different ones from time to time, and now that I'm officially retired from AT&T I hope to be able to visit with others.

We're certainly not against churches that have Wednesday evening services.

We just believe that this is a more effective way for us really to get to know each other on a more personal basis as well as a better way to reach non-believers who (for whatever reason) feel less threatened by meeting in a person's home rather than attending a corporate-style meeting.

Well, we don’t find “mid-week” services in the Bible, but my interpretation of Hebrews 10:25, indicates that as the Lord’s return gets closer, we will need to spend more time with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

And it looks like that you are doing that.

 

[stilllearning]

Salty.....
I tried to send you a personal message, but was unable to.

I wanted to personally “thank you”, for your service in defense of our country.

 

[jbh28]

Well, we don’t find “mid-week” services in the Bible, but my interpretation of Hebrews 10:25, indicates that as the Lord’s return gets closer, we will need to spend more time with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

And it looks like that you are doing that.

Looking at the verses before it are important in with what you said. good point, especially the bolded part.

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.(Hebrews 10:23-25)​

The reason the writer of Hebrews says for us to meet together is so that we can be"provoking unto love and to good works" others in the body of Christ. How can we do this if we are not together? That's why it's important to meet together. Do we have to have a Wednesday service? No, we don't have to. It's not commanded. Should we have a Wednesday service just so we look "good" among other "conservatives"? Again, no. Is having a Wednesday (or any other midweek day) a good idea? Sure it is. But let's remember to do it so that we can do what's in verse 24 of Hebrews 10, not so we can claim we have a midweek service.

 

[StefanM]

My church has a Wednesday night service, but I do not usually attend, due to my work schedule. I usually am required to be at work until 6:30 (when the service starts), sometimes later. Even if I am able to get off at 6:30, traffic, distance, and other delays would cause me to miss most of the service anyway.

It would be nice for me if the service started at 7, but I recognize that this is too late for many people.

 

[SBCPreacher]

We have a Wednesday evening prayer service with a BRIEF devotional and then plenty of time to pray. I'm doing something different with the prayer time now. We each take 2 or 3 3x5 cards and write our prayer requests on them. Then we pass them around and each of us pray for every request. At the close of the meeting we each take a few cards with us and pray for them throughout the week. With our 20 people or so, this takes about 20-30 minutes.

This accomplishes a couple things for us:
-We don't have the long, drawn out, over-detailed requests (or gossip, as it often is)
-We actually pray! All of us!

 

[Jerome]

Interesting that the purported old paths institution (the OP's "Wednesday night prayer meeting & Bible study") some so exult in preserving was once considered a lamentable novelty:

Charles Spurgeon, on churches downgrading to a single combined weeknight service:

"I know some places in London where they talk about giving up the prayer-meeting, where instead of two services during the week they have compassion on their poor overworked minister, and only wish him to hold forth for a few minutes at a sort of mongrel service, half prayer-meeting and half lecture. Poor dear things, they cannot manage to get out to worship more than once in the week, they are so much occupied." —"The Special Prayer-Meeting"

Do not be like certain ministers in the suburbs of London, who say that they cannot get the people out to a prayer meeting and a lecture, too, so they have one week night meeting for prayer, at which they give a short address. One lazy man said, the other day, that the week-night address was almost as bad as delivering a sermon, so he has a prayer-meeting and a lecture combined in one, and it is neither a prayer-meeting nor a lecture, it is neither fish, flesh, fowl, nor good red herring; and soon he will give it up because he says it is no good, and I am sure the people think so, too. And after that, why should he not give up one of the Sunday services? The same reasoning might apply to that as to the week-night meeting. —"The Soul Winner"

 

[glfredrick]

It is difficult to make a case that the people of God need to gather in a specialized building on multiple days of the week in order to be considered good Christians.

I am not against a mid-week service, but I also will never start one if it is already gone. I greatly prefer for God's people to be doing things with each other and with their neighbors AT HOME until they gather again for corporate worship.

I have halted the practice in several churches where I have been a leader. We always grew stronger and fuller once we took ministry out of the doors of the church building instead of forcing people to be inside every time the lights were on.

My current church practices community group ministry, where groups of 4-20 meet once per week or so and life is lived out in these groups. We share meals, we teach young parents how to raise Christian kiddos, we deal with marriage issues, we deal with church discipline issues, examine the sermon points from the week before, worship, fellowship, and yes, minister to the neighborhood in any number of ways. CG leaders are at the level of pastoral staff, and they report to a cluster leader team, who watch over about 10 groups. The cluster leaders are then under the care of an elder/pastor. This is the picture given us in Exodus, when Jethro came to Moses and detailed how care of a large group of people could happen expeditiously.

We have had tremendous success with this process, largely because we do not require our people to give up more of their time at church for mid-week services, Sunday school, etc. In fact, most of our members attend 2 services at church on the same day -- they serve during one and worship during the other -- we have a large percentage of our people involved in some aspect of ministry, whether "seed" (our social ministry), medical clinics that we host every quarter, the repair team that goes out and fixes homes and businesses, children's ministry, group ministry, counseling center, etc. Each of the various ministries require specific training and our congregation is growing, both in wisdom and in ability, not to mention righteousness.

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

It is difficult to make a case that the people of God need to gather in a specialized building on multiple days of the week in order to be considered good Christians.

I am not against a mid-week service, but I also will never start one if it is already gone. I greatly prefer for God's people to be doing things with each other and with their neighbors AT HOME until they gather again for corporate worship.

I have halted the practice in several churches where I have been a leader. We always grew stronger and fuller once we took ministry out of the doors of the church building instead of forcing people to be inside every time the lights were on.

My current church practices community group ministry, where groups of 4-20 meet once per week or so and life is lived out in these groups. We share meals, we teach young parents how to raise Christian kiddos, we deal with marriage issues, we deal with church discipline issues, examine the sermon points from the week before, worship, fellowship, and yes, minister to the neighborhood in any number of ways. CG leaders are at the level of pastoral staff, and they report to a cluster leader team, who watch over about 10 groups. The cluster leaders are then under the care of an elder/pastor. This is the picture given us in Exodus, when Jethro came to Moses and detailed how care of a large group of people could happen expeditiously.

We have had tremendous success with this process, largely because we do not require our people to give up more of their time at church for mid-week services, Sunday school, etc. In fact, most of our members attend 2 services at church on the same day -- they serve during one and worship during the other -- we have a large percentage of our people involved in some aspect of ministry, whether "seed" (our social ministry), medical clinics that we host every quarter, the repair team that goes out and fixes homes and businesses, children's ministry, group ministry, counseling center, etc. Each of the various ministries require specific training and our congregation is growing, both in wisdom and in ability, not to mention righteousness.

And we Old Schoolers don't feel the need for SS so you can whittle that church bldg time down further. :thumbs:

 

[glfredrick]

And we Old Schoolers don't feel the need for SS so you can whittle that church bldg time down further. :thumbs:

We have dispensed with SS all together. We do all of that in CG time, and at a depth not typically encountered in SS. We actually "teach" and "expect." What is taught is expected to become a part of life, and if not (realizing that each individual or family will have their own unique and distinct flavor) then questions are raised about why not? There is much grace, but there are also high expectations, bound by mutual covenant agreement as a part of membership. We have found that "raising the bar" is a plus not a negative regarding church membership and congregational growth, both in numbers and in spiritual condition.

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

We have dispensed with SS all together. We do all of that in CG time, and at a depth not typically encountered in SS. We actually "teach" and "expect." What is taught is expected to become a part of life, and if not (realizing that each individual or family will have their own unique and distinct flavor) then questions are raised about why not? There is much grace, but there are also high expectations, bound by mutual covenant agreement as a part of membership. We have found that "raising the bar" is a plus not a negative regarding church membership and congregational growth, both in numbers and in spiritual condition.

Really cool.... I could probably benefit from a church like that but you'd have to tone down your music (Im an old fart)

 

[stilllearning]

We have a Wednesday evening prayer service with a BRIEF devotional and then plenty of time to pray. I'm doing something different with the prayer time now. We each take 2 or 3 3x5 cards and write our prayer requests on them. Then we pass them around and each of us pray for every request. At the close of the meeting we each take a few cards with us and pray for them throughout the week. With our 20 people or so, this takes about 20-30 minutes.

This accomplishes a couple things for us:
-We don't have the long, drawn out, over-detailed requests (or gossip, as it often is)
-We actually pray! All of us!

Years ago(c.19 years), our Church decided to separate the women and the men, after everyone has shared there prayer requests;

The women go to one part of the building, while the men go to another.

One of the Scriptures we site to support this decision is........
Titus 2:3-4
V.3 The aged women likewise, that [they be] in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
V.4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
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Older women are to teach younger women, while older men are to teach younger men.

 

[Jerome]

Years ago(c.19 years), our Church decided to separate the women and the men. . . .One of the Scriptures we site to support this decision is........
Titus 2:3-4

Here's another:

Acts 1:14
[The apostles] all met together continually for prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus.

 

[stilllearning]

Here's another:

Acts 1:14
[The apostles] all met together continually for prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus.

This was technically, before the Church had come into existence!

And certainly...before the LORD had given Paul His letter to Titus.

 

[mcdirector]

We have a Wednesday evening prayer service with a BRIEF devotional and then plenty of time to pray. I'm doing something different with the prayer time now. We each take 2 or 3 3x5 cards and write our prayer requests on them. Then we pass them around and each of us pray for every request. At the close of the meeting we each take a few cards with us and pray for them throughout the week. With our 20 people or so, this takes about 20-30 minutes.

This accomplishes a couple things for us:
-We don't have the long, drawn out, over-detailed requests (or gossip, as it often is)
-We actually pray! All of us!

I love that!