KGM School of Service Knowing God Missions · Tumenyimana
Course: The Potter’s Wheel (Wheel)
Lesson: 12
Scripture: Acts 2:42–47; Romans 14:19; Hebrews 10:24–25
Language: English

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Lesson Twelve — From Attending to Belonging: The Covenant of the Family

BIG IDEA


The first church was not a crowd. She was a family, and the Lord added to her number daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:47). So the Potter’s pathway leads to a covenant: the move from attending to belonging. Our promise does not join us, for Christ has already joined us. We make four commitments: to protect the unity of the church, to share the responsibility of her growth, to serve her ministry, and to support her testimony. And we stay on the wheel until the wedding supper of the Lamb.

PART 1 — SCRIPTURE READING

Acts 2:42–47 • Romans 14:19 • Hebrews 10:24–25

Open your Bible and read slowly: Acts 2:42–47, Romans 14:19, and Hebrews 10:24–25. In Acts 2, the first believers meet together every day, praising God, and the Lord adds to their number daily those who are being saved. In Romans 14, Paul calls us to make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Mutual edification means that we build one another up. In Hebrews 10, we are called to spur one another on toward love and good deeds, and not to give up meeting together.

In Lessons Eight to Eleven we saw the vision in practice: the five challenges, the Potter’s pathway, the four depths of service, and the five spheres. Now we come to the covenant of the family, the step from attending to belonging. And because this lesson ends the term, we return to the potter’s house, where we began. This lesson follows Chapter 13 and the Conclusion of The Potter’s Wheel.

KEY VERSE — ACTS 2:47


“praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

PART 2 — WALKING THROUGH THE LESSON

A. A Family, Not a Crowd — The Lord Added

The first believers in Jerusalem broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts (Acts 2:46). And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:47).

The first church was not a crowd. She was a family, and she knew that she was a family. When the Lord added to their number, He was not adding names to a list. He was adding brothers and sisters to a household. In Lesson One we saw that Paul calls the church God’s household (1 Timothy 3:15).

So the Potter’s pathway does not end with a graduation. The pathway leads to a covenant: the move from attending to belonging. In Lesson Nine we saw that belonging comes before sending. A person can attend a church for years and never belong to her.

B. Why a Covenant? — The Vows Name the Love

Some people ask why a church should have a covenant. A covenant is a promise made before God and before witnesses. Think of the vows of a wedding. The vows do not create the love. The vows name the love before God and before witnesses, so that the love can be relied on.

The same is true in the church. Christ has already joined us. We are the body of Christ, and each one of us is a part of the body (1 Corinthians 12:27). Our promise does not create this bond. Our promise names the bond. Membership is a covenant, not a card. The covenant confirms in public the bonds that the Holy Spirit has already made real.

The covenant gathers the whole vision of this term into four commitments. Look at the four commitments closely, and you will see the five pillars standing behind them.

C. The First Commitment — I Will Protect the Unity of My Church

“Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification” (Romans 14:19).

In this commitment we promise four things.

  1. We act in love toward the other members of the family. We do what leads to peace, and we build one another up.
  2. We refuse gossip. “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29).
  3. We hold to what our church believes. We also hold to her way of doing ministry.
  4. We cooperate with the leaders God has set among us. “Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you” (Hebrews 13:17).

Understand what unity is, and what unity is not.

Unity is not the absence of disagreement. It is the presence of love through disagreement.

Unity means that love remains when we disagree. A family that never disagrees is not united. That family is only silent. And note this well. Gossip inside the church is more dangerous than false teaching outside the church, because gossip works in secret. Gossip poisons the life of the family, one whispered conversation at a time.

Remember the two men and the heavy log in Lesson Seven. A log that is carried in two directions goes nowhere. The church that guards her unity guards her testimony.

D. The Second Commitment — I Will Share the Responsibility of My Church’s Growth

Paul, Silas and Timothy wrote to the church in Thessalonica, “We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers” (1 Thessalonians 1:2).

Growth is not the work of the pastors alone, while the family only watches. Every member shares the responsibility in three ways.

  1. Every member prays. We pray for the growth of our church, both spiritual growth and growth in number.
  2. Every member invites. We invite those who do not attend any church. Jesus told a parable about a great banquet. In that parable we read, “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full’” (Luke 14:23). In the parable, to compel is to urge strongly. We invite warmly, and we force no one.
  3. Every member welcomes. We welcome the visitor warmly. “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God” (Romans 15:7).

Pray, invite, welcome. We do this, and the Lord adds (Acts 2:47).

E. The Third Commitment — I Will Serve the Ministry of My Church

Peter wrote, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10).

Service is not a reward for those who have been members for many years. In Lesson Ten we saw that service begins on the first day. Each member does three things.

  1. We discover our gifts and talents. Each of us has received a gift to serve others.
  2. We accept training and equipping. Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip His people for works of service (Ephesians 4:11–12).
  3. We develop a servant’s heart. We are of one mind, and we have the same love (Philippians 2:2). We do not look to our own interests, but each of us looks to the interests of the others (Philippians 2:4). Our pattern is Christ Jesus, who made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant (Philippians 2:5–7).

Here we promise to grow in the four depths of service: participant, helper, co-leader, lead. We begin wherever we are, and we do not stand still.

F. The Fourth Commitment — I Will Support the Testimony of My Church

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24–25).

The testimony of a church before her town is carried by her members in three plain and practical ways.

  1. By faithful attendance. We do not give up meeting together (Hebrews 10:25). Faithfulness is the simplest gift you can give to a church.
  2. By godly living. Whatever happens, we conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ (Philippians 1:27).
  3. By regular giving. Paul told the believers in Corinth to set aside a sum of money on the first day of every week, each one according to their income (1 Corinthians 16:2). Jesus said that where our treasure is, there our heart will be also (Matthew 6:21).

The Four Commitments at a Glance

G. The Step from Attending to Belonging — He Is Still Adding

How does a believer take the step from attending to belonging? The book shows how one church in Canada does this: the covenant is read aloud and signed, and the church prays over those who have signed, with the laying on of hands. The book says of this signing: “We sign because Christ has joined us; we do not become joined by the signing.”

The form of this step may differ from church to church. In every form, let the covenant remain a true promise, and never let the covenant become only a card. Teach the commitments slowly. Do not hurry those who are not ready, because a covenant that is rushed is a covenant that is weakened. Pray over those who are ready.

A church that treats belonging as a small thing will find that she has gained only people who attend. A church that treats belonging as holy will find the Lord adding to her number daily. This is the oldest membership record of the family: the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:47). He is still adding. The covenant simply says: count me among them.

H. We End at the Potter’s House

We began this term at the potter’s house, and we end there. Hear again the key verse of Lesson One: “Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand” (Isaiah 64:8).

The clay does not choose its shape. The Potter does. The clay does not supply the skill, the water, the wheel, or the fire. The Potter does. What the clay supplies is surrender. The clay stays on the wheel through the pressing and the turning, and trusts the hands that hold it.

This is the whole vision of a church on the potter’s wheel. We are a people being formed by God. We are planted by the Father’s self-giving love, founded on the Son’s unchanging truth, and made alive by the Spirit’s power through prayer. We are joined together in a fellowship where every member belongs, and we are poured out into a world that is dying without the water we carry.

I. “Son of man, do you see this?” — The Question Is Now Yours

In Lesson Two the man with the measuring line led Ezekiel into the river. Then we read, “He asked me, ‘Son of man, do you see this?’ Then he led me back to the bank of the river” (Ezekiel 47:6). That question is now yours. The river is flowing from the temple. The river grows deeper in one direction only: outward, toward the dead places. And where the river flows, everything will live (Ezekiel 47:9).

So love God with all your being. Rely on Him completely. Be a church that moves, grows, and reaches the world. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14).

And when the last season ends, a table is already prepared. John wrote, “Then the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ And he added, ‘These are the true words of God’” (Revelation 19:9). Every meal we have shared, every prayer we have prayed, and every neighbour we have loved was a preparation for that day.

Until then, stay on the wheel.

J. The Lesson in One Sentence

The Lord adds us to His family, and we answer by belonging: we protect the unity of the church, share the responsibility of her growth, serve her ministry, and support her testimony (Acts 2:47; Romans 14:19; 1 Thessalonians 1:2; 1 Peter 4:10; Hebrews 10:25).

Now look back over the twelve lessons of this term. We began at the potter’s house, with the mirror of the five loves: heart, knees, head, arms, legs. We followed the river from the temple. We walked through five relationships and five pillars: the Father and Love, the Son and Truth, the Holy Spirit and Prayer, the church and Fellowship, the neighbours and Outreach. Then we saw the vision in practice: five challenges and five dimensions of dependence on God, and the Potter’s pathway from surrender to sending, walked on two tracks. We learned four depths of service and five spheres, and we saw one family that meets in homes and lives by seasons. Today we received four commitments that turn attending into belonging. And over all of this stands one banner: Know the Word. Trust the Spirit.

PART 3 — KNOW THE WORD: TEACHING FOCUS

1. The Lord Adds, and We Answer

Read the key verse again (Acts 2:47). Luke does not say that the believers added themselves. Luke says that the Lord added. And the Lord added them to a family that was devoted to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (Acts 2:42). So belonging begins with the Lord, and our covenant is an answer.

2. Unity Is Kept with Our Words

The Word gives us a measure for our words: only what is helpful for building others up, so that our words benefit those who listen (Ephesians 4:29). This is why the first commitment refuses gossip. Unity means that love remains when we disagree. So when we disagree, we still make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification (Romans 14:19).

3. The Church Is on Her Way to a Table

Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9). The Lord is still adding to His church, and His church is on her way to that table. Until that day we stay on the wheel. We are the clay, and He is the Potter (Isaiah 64:8).

PART 4 — TRUST THE SPIRIT: TEACHING FOCUS

1. The Spirit Makes Us One Before We Promise

The covenant confirms in public the bonds that the Holy Spirit has already made real. We were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body (1 Corinthians 12:13). Our promise did not make us one body. The Holy Spirit did. And what the Spirit gives to each one is given for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:7). He distributes the gifts to each one, just as He determines (1 Corinthians 12:11). So when we promise to serve, we promise to use what He has given.

2. The Spirit Gives the Unity That We Keep

Paul tells us to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3). Notice whose unity this is. We are not told to make this unity. We are told to keep the unity that is His. In the same chapter, the command about unwholesome talk is followed at once by another command: do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God (Ephesians 4:29–30). So we guard our words, because we do not want to grieve Him.

3. The Spirit Says, “Come!”

Near the end of the Bible we read, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life” (Revelation 22:17). The Spirit and the bride say one word together. The bride is the church (Revelation 19:7–8), and she does not speak alone. The Holy Spirit speaks with her. Revelation 22:17 also calls the one who is thirsty to come. So we pray, we invite, and we welcome, and we rely on Him.

Word and Spirit in Lesson Twelve — Side by Side

PART 5 — FORMING CHRIST IN THE BELIEVER

This lesson forms Christ in us in three ways:

  1. Christ is formed in us when we move from attending to belonging. Take your place among those whom the Lord has added, and say to Him: count me among them.
  2. Christ is formed in us when we develop a servant’s heart. Paul tells us to have the same mindset as Christ Jesus, who took the very nature of a servant (Philippians 2:5–7).
  3. Christ is formed in us when we stay on the wheel. What the clay supplies is surrender. Stay under the Potter’s hands through the pressing and the turning, until the vessel He intended from the beginning stands finished.

PART 6 — DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Come prepared to answer. Come prepared to listen.

  1. What is the difference between attending a church and belonging to her? How did you come to belong to your own church?
  2. Ask yourself the four covenant questions. Do I protect the unity of this family? Do I pray, invite, and welcome? Do I serve somewhere? Do my attendance, my conduct, and my giving strengthen the testimony of this church? Which commitment is strongest in you, and which one needs to grow?
  3. Unity means that love remains when we disagree. Think of a time when you did not agree with a brother or a sister. What helped love to remain? And what do you do when gossip comes to you?
  4. One church in Canada takes the step from attending to belonging with a covenant that is read aloud and signed. What would this step look like in your church? How would your church teach the four commitments slowly, so that no one is hurried?
  5. Look back across the twelve lessons of Term Three. “Son of man, do you see this?” What do you now see for your church? What is the one truth you most want to carry into your life and your ministry, and why?

PART 7 — WEEKLY ASSIGNMENT

As Term Three ends, take time with the following:

CLOSING PRAYER

A PRAYER TO PRAY OUT LOUD AS TERM THREE ENDS


Father, You add to Your family those who are being saved, and You have counted us among them. Christ has joined us, and by one Spirit You have made us one body. Thank You that we belong.


Help us to keep the promises we make to this family. Teach us to do what leads to peace, and let our words build others up. Teach us to pray, to invite, and to accept one another as Christ accepted us. Give us the heart of a servant. Keep us faithful in meeting together, in the way we live, and in our giving.


You are the Potter, and we are the clay. Thank You for all that You have taught us in this term. Plant us in Your love, build us on the truth of Your Son, and make us alive by the power of Your Spirit. Join us together in fellowship, and pour us out for the world. Let Your river flow through us to the dead places, in our town and across Tanzania.


And when the last season ends, bring us to the wedding supper of the Lamb. Until that day, keep us on the wheel by Your Holy Spirit. Help us to know Your Word and to trust Your Spirit. Blessed be Your Name. In the Name of Jesus, amen.

END OF TERM THREE — The Potter’s Wheel — Five Pillars of a Church Formed by God. Know the Word | Trust the Spirit

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