ICYMI: It’s about relationship, not religion

In Case You Missed It, we discuss how there are practices that shape and build our relationship with God.

In Case You Missed It: It’s about relationship, not religion | Amy Nicholson | 26 May 2025

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God is always inviting us to more!

Book of ACTS. They radically re-ordered their lives!

Act 2:42-47 They devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching, to

fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Devoted = To be attached to, to dedicate oneself to, to attend to constantly, to

endure, to be steadfast in and my favourite to be fully immersed in! 

Nobody can devote you! You can only devote yourself. 

Mark 12: 30 - 31

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with

all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your

neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

1. The Apostles teaching

Jesus had only just left the earth and the disciples were still grappling with

everything that had happened. They didn’t have the Bible like we have. All they

had was the testimony of Jesus was and what He taught them for the past 3

years.

They simply told the people about the life and teachings of Jesus. 

That was the Apostles' teachings… unpolished and full of faith. Led by the Holy

Spirit.

False Narrative: Some teach that people should obey everything that “the

apostle” “church leader” or “man of God” says. This has led to church abuse,

people doing crazy things like eating snakes or telling untruths. I encourage you

to test everything we say against scripture. 

Truth: You can devote yourself to learning about the life and teachings of Jesus

through the reading of scripture. All scripture is God breathed and is one of the

best ways to get to know God.

2 Timothy 3: 16 - 17 (MSG)

There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to

salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-

breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our

rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through

the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.

Invitation: Get to know God through His word and let the word of God shape

your world. Give yourself permission to radically re-order your life and begin

reading the Bible.

2. To fellowship

We don’t use the word fellowship too often anymore. Fellowship is choosing to

do life with someone else or a group of people. In the case of the Church, it’s

gathering around the name of Jesus.

I know that fellowship or community or even church can be a trigger word for

people… because unfortunately we are all human and sometimes we hurt or get

hurt by the very people that are supposed to love us. 

I am so sorry if this is your story!

Please will you view God through the lens of scripture and not through the lens

of people.

False: To be accepted into a church community you need to change who you

are, or dress a certain way, or pretend that you have it all together. 

Truth: God created us each to be unique, it is not His desire that we all become

carbon copies of each other. There is beauty in our diversity! We are all

imperfect, broken, sinners that are doing our best to walk humbly before God

WHO LOVES US and be changed into HIS LIKENESS. 

1 John 4:7-8 NIV

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone

who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love

does not know God, because God is love.

Invitation: Join a life group. In case you missed it - it’s about relationships, not

religion. We get to experience what God is like through our healthy relationship

with others.

Give yourself permission to radically re-order your life and join a life group.

3. To the breaking of bread

Daily! 

The breaking of bread in this context has two different potential meanings.

Bread was a staple part of the evening meal at the time, and the breaking of

bread also refers to what we now call communion. Where Jesus took the bread

and explained that this was a symbol for His body that was given over to death

on our behalf and the wine which was a symbol of His blood that was shed for

our healing and forgiveness.

Some people believe that this just means that they ate together, while others say

it means they ate the bread and drank the wine in remembrance of what Jesus

had done daily.

I personally think that it’s both, but I encourage you to find your own

conviction. 

I think that they took the ordinary everyday moment (like eating dinner) and

turned them into something significant (communion). Daily. Jesus said” Do this

in remembrance of me” and if you are anything like me, you need to be

reminded of God’s love and Jesus’ sacrifice DAILY, and not only on Sunday.

False: Communion or the breaking of bread is a sombre moment that we only

do occasionally.

Truth: The breaking of bread is a celebration of the victory that Jesus has won

for us and we can do that daily around a meal with people we care about and

with Jesus at the centre.

1 Corinthians 11:23-25 NIV

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus,

on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks,

he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in

remembrance of me.”  In the same way, after supper he took the cup,

saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you

drink it, in remembrance of me.”

It’s a physical reminder of a spiritual reality.

Invitation: We encourage our life groups to share a meal together like we see

here in ACTS. We see our life group times as breaking bread celebration meals.

Join a group, share a meal and celebrate our saviour!

4. And to prayer.

They would have had set prayer, where they prayed through the Psalms for

example and spontaneous prayer, led by the Spirit. The Lord's prayer is an

example of a set prayer we can prayer. Try praying it in a different translation so

that it doesn’t come rote and overly familiar.

Our Heavenly Father,

May the Glory of Your name

Be the center on which our life turns.

May Your Holy Spirit come upon us and cleanse us.

Manifest Your Kingdom on earth.

And give us each day what is needed for that day.

Forgive us our sins as we ourselves

Release forgiveness to those who have wronged us.

And rescue us every time we face tribulations.

                                     Luke 11:2-4 tPt

False: Pray isn’t important. Or the prayers of the Pastor are more powerful. Or

I pray to hand over a to-do list to God.

Truth: Our Father wants to connect with us, He longs to talk to us. That is the

main reason to pray. In case you missed it - It’s about relationships not religion.

AND: Spiritual warfare is real, prayer changes things in the spiritual even if we

don’t always see it or feel it.  

Ephesians 6: 10 - 18 MSG

And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So

take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the

best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to

everything the Devil throws your way. This is no weekend war that we’ll

walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a

life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own.

Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing

warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

Invitation: Start praying. If you already pray, pray more. Join Sunrise prayer on

Thursday mornings or Tuesday morning prayer in Doornkloof. 

Close:

Act 2:42-47 They devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching, to

fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Following Jesus is not about a bunch of rules to follow permission, but an

invitation to relationship. God doesn't love you any more or any less if you

forget to pray or don’t join a life group. But He has a desire to walk with you,

and for you to walk with others as we journey to become more like Jesus. No

matter how long or how short you have been following Jesus for, He always

invites us to more. The invitation today is to add some healthy habits to your

life and in so doing to radically re-order your life!

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• Discussion Questions for Life Groups:

  
  

  • What is one thing you can start doing in order to build your relationship with God?

  • What is one thing you can stop doing in order to build your relationship with God?

  • What stood out to you as a false mindset that you may have had?

  • Has this changed how you view Christianity or Religion vs relationship?