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How To...
Memorize a Verse

• Read the verse several times to get the meaning.
• Start with the topic and reference, "Assurance of Salvation, John 5:24," and say it several times with the first phrase of the verse.
• Then when you can say that by heart, add the next phrase, and say the topic and reference together with both phrases.
• Continue phrase by phrase until you can say the entire verse from memory.
• Then each time you review the verse, state the topic, the reference, the verse, and the reference again at the end.
• By repeating the reference before and after the verse, it helps you remember the location of it in the Bible.

The key to successful Scripture memory is daily review. Review the verse every day until it becomes part of you. Carry cards with you so that they are handy for use during your spare time. Scripture memory can become a lifetime habit that will give you blessing and strength as you learn to apply the verses to your life.

Lesson Four

To Do:

Fellowship

Ephesians 4:11-16 God has appointed some to lead in the church in order to prepare those who follow for works of service. The leaders serve by teaching and training God's people to serve. Pastors make clear the Word of God so that those who hear can understand and apply it accurately to their lives. In fact, God has given every believer different gifts, and we are called to use these gifts to help others grow in their faith and service to God. As we work together, we can build each other up toward unity in faith, knowledge and maturity in Christ, who is the head of us all. This is accomplished through lovingly meeting the needs of brothers and sisters, and lovingly challenging each other in our walk with Christ. We are all called to serve whether we are leaders in the church or not--and our service is to build one another up in our faith, knowledge and understanding of Christ.

Hebrews 10:24-25 tells us to consider how to encourage each other on into more love and more good deeds. This is true fellowship. It is possible to attend church and yet not really fellowship. We are not to discontinue meeting together--fellowshipping together is vital to the healthy development of not only individual Christians, but to the whole body as well. We need one another and one another's gifts so that each one of us can grow together into the unity of maturity in Christ.

Proverbs 27:17 says, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." To grow toward maturity, we need to be challenged by older, mature Christians. We need to learn from their understanding of Christ and the Scriptures; we can learn from their experience of Christ in their daily lives. Even young Christians recently starting out on this journey can encourage those just beginning. The excitement a young Christian has at the newness of this life can help keep fresh an older Christian's relationship with Christ. Young and old mutually benefit from fellowship with one another.

Sacraments

Within the fellowship of the church there are two important sacraments. These are baptism and communion.

Baptism
Baptism is a wonderful celebration of our new relationship with Christ and His people. According to Romans 6, when we believed, we died, were buried and were raised again with Christ. Baptism is the visible picture of this spiritual transaction. It is a declaration to brothers and sisters, as well as to friends and family outside the church, of our faith in Christ. Having entered into the fellowship of believers through faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on our behalf, the new Christian now has the responsibility and privilege to publicly proclaim what Christ has already done in his or her heart. This is accomplished through baptism. Christ commanded that His followers be baptized, and in obeying this command, we reveal our faith in Him. Therefore, every believer should be baptized.

Communion
Jesus himself established Communion, also called the Lord's supper. The Lord told his disciples to keep this celebration in remembrance of Him (1Corinthians 11:24-25). Whenever we drink the cup and eat the bread, we are to remember that the Lord died for us. The death of Christ was God's greatest display of love (John 15:13). For this reason, every Christian should remember the Lord and His death at all times. The communion bread represents His body which was broken for us; the cup His blood which was shed for us. Therefore, Christians should share in communion in order to keep fresh his remembrance of God's grace and his relationship with Christ.

Communion also reminds us that we have been united as brothers and sisters. "Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf" (1Corinthians 10:16-17). Through the bread and cup, the Lord reminds us that we should receive and live in unity with one another. So communion is a very important part of Christian fellowship.

Before we participate in communion, we need to prepare our hearts. "A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup" (1Corinthians 11:28). We should search our hearts for any recent sins or wrong doing toward others, especially our brothers. If we find any, we need to confess it to God, and if possible, reconcile with those brothers beforehand, for "anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself" (1Corinthians 11:29, NIV).

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