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BeLonG to cHRISt // WeeK 1

WAtcH StUDY onLIne At noRtHLAnDcHURcH.net

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.

Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

I n t R o D U c t I o n

“Do you think it all meant nothing, all the longing? The longing for home?

For indeed it now feels not like going, but like going back.” -C.S. LEWIS, TILL WE HAVE FACES

be.long, v. To be linked to a particular place or person by relationship such as birth, affection, or membership. To be accepted or made welcome in a place or group.

We all need to belong – somewhere and to someone. Try to remember some times when you were aware of a deep sense of belonging. Where were the places and who were the people who contributed to that feeling?

Remember, too, some times when you felt like an outsider, or an outcast. What were the circumstances that caused you to feel out of place? The need to belong is so strong it would more accurately be called a longing. Have you ever wondered where that longing comes from?

Belong to Christ // Week 1

Belong to Christ // Week 1 // Day 1

“Through redemption, God undertakes to deal with a man’s past, and He does

it in two ways: by forgiving him, and by making the past a wonderful

culture for the future.” -OSWALD CHAMBERS

B e L o n G Our deepest need to belong will only be fi lled when we belong to Christ. We were created for relationship with Him, but sin separates us. We can only belong to Him as we accept Him as our Savior. To belong to Christ, to be His child, means being forgiven. In the Old Testament, God’s children were called Hebrews, meaning ‘wanderers.’ What an apt description. As His children we are on a spiritual journey, and we are not at home in this world.

B e L I e V eGenesis 3:1-8 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’“ 4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fi g leaves


together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

Sin entered the human race in the Garden of Eden. The story of Adam and Eve is one of the best-known stories in all of scripture. It is referred to as the Fall of Man. As a result of Adam’s sin, we inherited a sin nature, meaning that sin is not just what we do. It is our very nature.

In your own words, describe Eve’s struggle (Genesis 3:7) and what exactly •tripped her up. How do you identify with her temptation?How do you relate to the feeling described in Genesis 3:8?•

Romans 3:10-12 10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

As a result of the sinful nature with which we are born, there is nothing in us that would naturally cause us to seek God unless He draws us to Himself.

How do you identify with this verse? •

People are drawn to the good news of Jesus Christ, especially in the lives of believ-ers who live in the reality of His Lordship, and experience a feeling of belonging even before they make a confession of faith.

As you look back over your life, what ways do you see that God was bring-•ing you to Himself?

Ephesians 2:4-5 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved.

Our sinful human condition does not just mean we have a slight problem. It does not mean we are a little out of sync with God. The result of sin is that we are spiritually dead when Christ calls us.

How have you experienced coming to life spiritually? •

Romans 5:6-8 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

While every believer must come to a moment of decision regarding salvation, your spiritual journey began long before that.


When did God plan your salvation? •When did He accomplish it? •What does this say about your importance to God?•

Romans 10:9-10 9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

When and how have you realized your need for a Savior? •When did you begin believing in your heart? •When did you first confess, coming to a life-changing decision? •What is required daily for Jesus to be Lord in your life?•Is this passage describing a one-time event or an ongoing process? •

B e c o m eAt the confession of faith, the Spirit of God begins to work in the life of every believer, making each in the image of Christ. We often think of that process of becoming as a journey, a spiritual journey.

Where would you say you are in your own spiritual journey? (Ex: just beginning, •well on your way, not yet begun, etc.)How has your life changed since your own moment of decision, or confession of faith? •

B e S e n tFind someone in the course of your day with whom to discuss what it means •to belong.Find an opportunity to speak to someone about what Jesus has done for you. •

MemoryBegin to commit Romans 6:18 to memory. •

Romans 6:18 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

How have you experienced His freedom, and how do you identify with being a •life-long servant?

Prayer (by St. Augustine, Confessions)“The house of my soul is too small for you to come to it. May it be enlarged by you. It is in ruins: restore it. In your eyes it has offensive features. I admit it, I know it; but who will clean it up? Or to whom shall I cry other than you? ‘Cleanse me from my secret faults, Lord, and spare your servant from sins to which I am tempted by others.’”


Love is that liquor sweet and most divineWhich my God feels as blood;

but I, as wine. -GEORGE HERBERT (1593-1633)

B e L o n GBelonging to Christ means belonging to a kingdom of grace. It is a grace that cost Him dearly, but that He offers to us as a gift. That is the Good News that is too good NOT to be true.

When we come to Christ, it is because He has been drawing us. We are saved by His grace and through faith that He gives. His grace is His goodness to us, though we deserve only punishment. Because of His gift of grace, when God looks at our hearts, He sees the righteousness of Christ.

Not only do we receive His forgiveness, but He makes us His sons and heirs to eternal life. When we belong to Christ, we begin to learn a life of grace.

B e L I e V eCatechisms, or doctrinal statements of faith written in question and answer form, have been used by the church for hundreds of years. Originally they were written for the purpose of education. Typically they were learned in order and memorized. Read more from one of the doctrinal standards of the church, written in 1647, the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

Question 60: How are you righteous before God?Answer: Only by true faith in Jesus Christ. In spite of the fact that my conscience accuses me that I have grievously sinned against all the commandments of God, and have not kept any one of them, and that I am still ever prone to all that is evil, neverthe-less, God, without any merit of my own, out of pure grace, grants me the benefi ts of the perfect expiation of Christ, imputing to me his righteousness and holiness as if I had never committed a single sin or had ever been sinful, having fulfi lled myself all the obedi-ence which Christ has carried out for me, if only I accept such favor with a trusting heart.

Question 61: Why do you say that you are righteous by faith alone?Answer: Not because I please God by virtue of the worthiness of my faith, but because the satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ alone are my righteousness before God, and because I can accept it and make it mine in no other way than by faith alone.

Romans 5:15-18 15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justifica-tion. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. 18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.

How have you experienced God’s grace in your life?•

Ephesians 2:8-9 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

Is it possible to work for, or earn, our own salvation? •Whose righteousness does God see when He looks at your heart?•What sense of assurance does it give you to know that God has secured your •salvation?

B e c o m ePhilippians 3:7-11 7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing great-ness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righ-teousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

What did your salvation cost Christ?•What has it cost you to become ‘like Him in His death’? •How has your perspective of the concepts of gain and loss, and life and death, •changed since coming to Christ?


B e S e n tWhat is an adequate response to grace like this? •

Romans 8:1 1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

How can you share the joy of being without guilt or shame?•To whom can you extend grace today? •

Memory: Begin to commit Romans 6:18 to memory.


Prayer: “O Lord, holy Father, show us what kind of man it is who is hanging for our sakes on the cross, whose suffering causes the rocks themselves to crack and crumble with compassion, whose death brings the dead back to life.

“Let my heart crack and crumble at the sight of him. Let my soul break apart with compassion for his suffering. Let it be shattered with grief at my sins for which he dies. And finally let it be softened with devoted love for him.” - BONAVENTURA (1217-1274, SUCCESSOR OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI )



“I cannot, by direct moral effort, give myself new motives. After the fi rst few

steps in the Christian’s life we realize that everything which really needs to be done

in our souls can only be done by God.”- C. S. LEWIS

B e L o n GBelonging to Christ changes who we are, not through any power of our own, but by God’s presence and power. It is not merely because we have faith, but because of the One in Whom we believe. As we walk with Him, growing closer to Him, we become more clearly conformed to His nature.

B e L I e V e 2 Corinthians 5:17-19 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

How do you relate to being an entirely new person following your salvation? •What old things are you thankful to be rid of?•

B e c o m eColossians 3:12-14 12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.


13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

These verses discuss taking off the old and putting on the new.

How have you realized the spiritual makeover Christ has done in your life? •

Galatians 5:22-27 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kind-ness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

This describes the character of Christ which we begin to reflect when we belong •to Him. Which do you most desire? Which do you most reflect? How do you respond when you encounter these in others?•How have you seen these qualities in your own heart and behavior since coming •to Christ?

B e S e n tEphesians 5:1-2 (The Message) 1-2 Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.

How are you learning to be Christ-like in your relationships? •

Memory: Continue to commit Romans 6:18 to memory.


Prayer:“Dear God,As you draw me ever deeper into your heart, I discover that my companions on the journey are women and menloved by you as fully and as intimately as I am.In your compassionate heart, there is a place for all of them.No one is excluded.Give me a share in your compassion, dear God,so that your unlimited love may become visiblein the way I love brothers and sisters.Amen.” - HENRI NOUWEN


I drank at every vine.The last was like the fi rst.

I came upon no wineSo wonderful as thirst.

I gnawed at every root.I ate of every plant.I came upon no fruit

So wonderful as want.

Feed the grape and beanTo the vintner and monger:

I will lie down leanWith my thirst and my hunger.

-EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY

B e L o n GBelonging to Christ changes our appetites. We become hungry and thirsty for God and for the things of God. And while only He can satisfy that desire, just like physical hunger, it is an ongoing need. We continually have hunger pangs. As we grow closer to Him, we experience growing pains, and just like a child that is maturing, our appetite increases.


He has provided for our spiritual nourishment through His inspired, written Word. Through His Word, He speaks to us personally and profoundly. He is always present with us, His Spirit living in our hearts. We are connected with Him and can communicate with Him through prayer.

We pray because prayer changes our hearts. Through prayer we express our trust in God, and it is through prayer that God has granted us the “dignity of causality.” (BL AISE PASCAL)

B e L I e V eMatthew 5:6 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

When have you experienced the kind of hunger Jesus is referring to in •this passage? How have you experienced this being a good analogy for your spiritual process?•

Psalm 42:1 1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.

If this verse does not describe your longing for God, pray that He would give you •that longing right now and in the days to come.

B e c o m e2 Peter 1:3-9 3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godli-ness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godli-ness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unpro-ductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

In the same way the Christ has secured our salvation, it is He who sustains us •as we grow in relationship with Him. Growing in His image is not about works, but it is about discipline.What spiritual habits do you need/want to put into place in your life? •

Philippians 1:6 …6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.


How does this verse give you security about your spiritual journey? •How does it give you hope for becoming more and more like Christ?•

B e S e n tRomans 12:1-2 1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual[a] act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

What next step could you take to further your spiritual nourishment? •

Example: Select and purchase a Bible•Sign up for daily Scripture readings at Kingdomtide/Twitturgy link•Find someone with whom to pray on an ongoing basis. •



Prayer: “‘O God,’ I said, and that was all. But what are the prayers of the whole universe more than expansions of that one cry? It is not what God can give us, but God that we want.” - GEORGE MACDONALD


“Serve the Jesus in front of you, no matter how distressing the disguise.”

- MOTHER TERESA

B e L o n GBelonging to Christ means becoming life long servants. We were born as slaves to sin (Psalm 51:3-5), and our freedom came with a signifi cant cost. Christ purchased our freedom with His own blood (Ephesians 1:7). After accepting His gift of salvation, we declare our love and loyalty for Christ by endeavoring to give our very lives in service to Him.

B e L I e V eBondservants were a part of Hebrew culture. According to Hebrew law, slaves were not purchased for life, but for six years of service. In the seventh year, they were set free. However, when that time was up, if the slave had come to love his master, he could declare his love and loyalty and become his servant for life (Exodus 21:2-6).“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.

“But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.”

In our culture, most associations with servants are negative. How do you relate •to this passage when applying it to your commitment to Christ?How has your commitment affected your family? •Have your family members made commitments as a result? •


B e c o m ePhilippians 2:5-11 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature[b] of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Who is our model for servanthood and what was His attitude? •Who are the people in your life that are the most difficult to serve? •Pray for them today. •Ask God to transform your attitude toward those people and how to serve them. •

B e S e n tBeing a servant is not something you do. It is something you are. Serve the people God puts in front of you today. You don’t even have to leave your house or office.


Romans 6:18 18You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

Prayer:Dear Lord,teach me to be generous:teach me to serve you as you deserve;to give and not to count the cost;to fight and not to heed the wounds;to toil and not to seek for rest;to labor and not to ask for reward,save that of knowing that I am doing your will.- ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOL A

Belong to Christ // Week 2

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BeLonG to cHRISt// WeeK 1 - Amazon Web Servicesresourcewell.s3.amazonaws.com/adult/Belong Study-Week One.pdf · “Do you think it all meant nothing, all the longing? The longing