Take your gift of support to the next level. Now with the practical companion study guide, Earma personally mentors you and your team to effective service as armorbearers...
In her original book, In the Spirit of Armorbearing, Bible teacher Earma Brown explored "helps" ministry principles. Now with the companion study guide In the Spirit of Armorbearing Small Group Study Edition she has given the Body of Christ an effective training tool for leaders and supporters. Using a simple format this study edition follows a five-step process:
Read a lesson from a biblical character study.
Consider provocative questions used to cement your knowledge of the helps principles.
Ponder explanations of each principle to add further insight.
Discuss questions to prompt discussion in a group setting.
Act with practical assignments designed to put the principles into practice.
The insightful truths shared in In the Spirit of Armorbearing Small Group Study Edition will provide valuable instruction to develop leaders and supporters in the local church.
Excerpt
Armorbearing is an administration of the ministry of helps. Our Father God has provided a divine endowment to serve effectively...
A Lesson from Two Deacons
Stephen and Phillip, two of the first deacons, demonstrated an anointing to serve. They started out waiting tables in the Apostles’ feeding program. The Apostles qualified the first deacons with certain qualities that should be present in all who serve. At first glance, the Scripture only says that Stephen and Phillip were filled with the Spirit, wisdom, and faith. After examination, I discovered that with these qualities alone, these men were fully equipped.1 Look with me in the Book of Acts chapter 6 at what the Scripture says about these servants and their anointing. In doing so, we will know what it requires to operate effectively in the anointing to serve:
• Holy Spirit. God chose Stephen and Phillip to serve, yet they walked in tremendous power and anointing of the Holy Ghost. To walk effectively in the anointing, we must allow the Holy Spirit to fill us; the same Holy Spirit that Jesus promised to send to help us, counsel us, and guide us in truth.2 The Holy Spirit that empowers us to obey Christ will empower us to serve our Lord. An anointing from the Holy Spirit will evidence your service.3
• Wisdom. The apostle James instructed us, if a man were considered wise, it would be evidenced by his good life and by his actions done in humility. As he further explained wisdom, we can know that Stephen and Phillip served with a pure heart. They were peaceful, considerate of others, submitted to authority and merciful. They served wholeheartedly with sincerity and without selfish agendas.4
• Faith. Saul of Tarsus was still breathing out threats to the early Church at the time these servants of God came along. The largest portion of the New Testament Scripture had not yet been written, however Stephen and Phillip were full of faith. They exemplified their faith by what they did. Stephen was noted for his working of miracles among the people. Phillip’s faith exemplified his ability to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised us that we could do the same marvelous acts of faith and even greater, “…anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father…You may ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it.” 5
Just as any other ministry, it takes more than natural ability to effectively fulfill the ministry of serving. It takes an anointing (a supernatural enablement) from the Holy Spirit. We may pattern our service after men full of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, and faith walking in the anointing of the Lord.
This is a book of 229 Old Testament stories written for adults and young adults. The stories in this unique collection are chronological and are without embellishment or fictionalizing. This is the most complete collection of Old Testament stories t
The Christian Church faces many challenges today that threaten to disrupt its life and mission. This book appraises the trinitarian ecclesiology of John Zizioulas and Jurgen Moltmann and proposes that the Church is a creation of the Holy Trinity thr
