F.A.Q

What are Nairobi Chapel’s Beliefs?
What does Nairobi Chapel believe about holy communion?
What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit?
What does Jesus say about divorce?
Married to an unbeliever
What is Tithing?
Tithe on gross or net?
Can I tithe to another Christian organization?
Should I pay off my debts or tithe?
What does the bible say about drinking alcohol?
Do I have to get baptized again at Nairobi Chapel?
Healing
Where does Nairobi Chapel stand on abortion?

Answers

What are Nairobi Chapel’s Beliefs?

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What does Nairobi Chapel believe about communion?

We celebrate Communion and believe it is one of the two ordinances Christ gave the church. Water baptism is the other.

The Lord's Supper: Communion With God's Family
Jesus never asked his disciples to remember his birth. But He did instruct them to remember his death and resurrection. He gave the church two visible symbols (called "ordinances") as reminders of his death. These two ordinances are: Baptism and The Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper is an object lesson that represents a great spiritual truth for believers.

What Is The Lord's Supper? (1 Cor. 11:23-26)
1. It is a SIMPLE ACT: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread..." (vs. 23)
2. It is a REMINDER: ...and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you; eat it in remembrance of me.'" (vs. 24)
3. It is a SYMBOL: In the same way, He took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood; drink it to remember me.'" (vs. 25)
4. It is a STATEMENT OF FAITH: For whenever you eat the bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes back." (vs. 26)

Who Should Take The Lord's Supper?
1. Only those who are already BELIEVERS (Mark 14:22-26)
2. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment upon himself." 2 Cor. 11:29

How Do I Prepare Myself For The Lord's Supper?
1. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A person ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup." 1 Cor. 11:27-28

By...
Self-Examination
1 Cor. 11:27 Confessing My Sins
1 John 1:9 Recommitment
Rom. 12:1 Restoring Relationships

Matt. 5:23-24 When and How Often Should We Observe the Lord's Supper?
Jesus never said when or how often believers should observe The Lord's Supper. He instituted it on a Thursday night. In the Bible, Christians observed the communion in small groups in homes.

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What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit?

Question: What are your beliefs regarding the Baptism in the Holy Spirit as a second experience? What are your beliefs on the gifts of the Spirit? That is, speaking in tongues, prophecy, healing, miracles etc? Do you believe they are for today?

Answer: The Bible teaches that, at the moment you believe in Jesus, you are baptized and sealed by the Holy Spirit. This one time experience that comes at the moment of salvation is God's powerful way of declaring, "You're in my family and I'm not going to let you go." The baptism of the Spirit happens the moment you are saved, so you do not need a second experience.

Eph. 5:18 teaches us that we must be FILLED with the Spirit on a continual basis as believers... allowing Him, in a fresh and new way, to cleanse and control our lives. Many believers have a number of experiences throughout their lives of trusting the Spirit to fill them in a deeper way than they ever have before. For some, this can FEEL like a second experience of somehow getting "more" of God's Spirit. The truth is, you receive all of God's Spirit the moment you are saved, and throughout your life will learn to trust more and more of yourself to Him.

From the first days of the church, people have always been more impressed with the spiritual gifts that are more spectacular (healing, tongues, etc). God tells us in 1 Corinthians 12-14 that He is more impressed with the less noticeable gifts, and that He is most impressed with love. Those chapters are filled with warnings about using those more spectacular gifts in ways that draw attention to ourselves rather than to the Lord. Paul says that he would rather speak in a few words that people would understand than in thousands of words in tongues.

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 1 Corinthians 13

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What does Jesus say about divorce?

Question: My question is about God. If after legal separation there was no change in my spouse, does God recognize this as an acceptable reason to terminate the marriage? I tend to think that if there is no change then it should be acceptable to leave the marriage.

Answer: The Bible does not say that it is right for us to leave our spouse for any reason. It does tell us to be at peace if they leave us through adultery. God says this not to trap us, but to help us to see the importance of marriage and the great pain that comes when a marriage is broken.

God want us to grow in our relationships, and He wants to grow us even through painful relationships. In cases such as you're speaking of here, the most important thing to do is for the couple to get into counseling together. It is not enough for one spouse to go, both must go. This is a problem that can't be dealt with alone, but where we need the help of others. There is nothing wrong with getting help, by the way... God has built us to need other people.

One of the pictures that I often give people to help in understanding this need for outside help is that of being in quicksand. Sometimes an individual or a couple find themselves in a problem, and the harder they fight to get out, the more they feel like they are sinking in quicksand. In those times you won't find the answer by yourself. The harder you work the faster you seem to sink! You need someone outside of the situation (a good Christian counselor) to give you a hand to help to lift you out of the quicksand. But you will need to both trust this counselor to help you, knowing that they have your best interests at heart.

As I said earlier, the Bible does allow divorce when the other person leaves us through adultery. There is a second condition which I feel a need to talk about, that of physical abuse. Although the Bible does not tell you to divorce if this is the case, my advice would STRONGLY be to separate from your spouse for your protection. It is not God's will for you to allow your spouse (or anyone else) to continue to physically abuse you. Hopefully, that separation will be the wake up call that causes them to get counseling to rid their lives of this terrible sin. If this is the situation, please get in touch with us and let us help you.

Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?" "Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." "Why then," they asked, "did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?" Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery." Matthew 19:3-9

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Married to an unbeliever

Question: I’ve become a believer but my spouse is still an unbeliever. We seem to constantly argue about my new faith, and I’m wondering if it just wouldn’t be better for us to get a divorce. Does God have anything to say about this?

Answer: This is one of the relationship issues about which God speaks most clearly in the Bible. In 1 Corinthians 7 He talks very directly about the circumstance of a believer being married to an unbeliever. You can see the answer to your question yourself, straight out of the Bible. Look at what verses 12-15 of that chapter say:

"If a Christian has a wife who is not a Christian, but she wants to stay with him anyway, he must not leave her or divorce her. And if a Christian woman has a husband who isn't a Christian, and he wants her to stay with him, she must not leave him."

For perhaps the husband who isn't a Christian may become a Christian with the help of his Christian wife. And the wife who isn't a Christian may become a Christian with the help of her Christian husband. Otherwise, if the family separates, the children might never come to know the Lord; whereas a united family may, in God's plan, result in the children's salvation.

"But if the husband or wife who isn't a Christian is eager to leave, it is permitted. In such cases the Christian husband or wife should not insist that the other stay, for God wants his children to live in peace and harmony." 1 Corinthians 7:12-15 (TLB)

When this sort of separation or divorce takes place, the bible then instructs in I Cor 7:10, 11 “A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.”

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Tithing

Question: What is tithing?

Answer: The Bible is very clear about believers giving the first 10% to the Lord. In fact, the word tithe" literally means 10%. It is a sign of our faith and trust that He uses to bless others. We are not limited to that amount. However, the Bible often talks about giving an offering above 10% to the Lord.

We also tithe" as a church. We give 10% of what the Lord has given to us to organizations and ministries outside of our church. Every year we give to support benevolence ministries like TULIP and Tumaini Kwa Watoto. When you give to Nairobi Chapel a portion of what you give is going to all of these ministries.

At that time men were appointed to be in charge of the storerooms for the contributions, firstfruits and tithes. From the fields around the towns they were to bring into the storerooms the portions required by the Law for the priests and the Levites, for Judah was pleased with the ministering priests and Levites." Neh. 12:44

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Tithe on gross or net?

Question: I know that tithing is supposed to be giving 10% to the Lord. Is that 10% of the gross or of the net after taxes? I don’t know that I could afford to give 10% of what I earn before taxes!

Answer: Thanks for your well thought out question about tithing. The practice that Christians have always carried out is the giving of 10% back to the Lord of ALL that the Lord has given to you - your gross. It's not really a tithe to subtract out our largest payments and then give 10% out of the remainder.

I know that this is a tremendous challenge. That's the idea! The Lord could have asked us to give 50% to Him, but He chose 10%. I believe that this is because that is an amount large enough that it takes a real act of faith and trust to give it to him. God is not interested in our money so much as He is interested in what it represents: our heart and priorities. The beauty is that, when we give out of a good heart, God then uses it to bless not only us, but many others.

I've talked to many people who felt exactly like you've expressed in this note before they began giving, "There's no way I could give like that, even though I might want to!" Yet when they've started to give they have seen God bless them in a way that was life changing. And it's not always that He gives us more money, sometimes He stretches what we have in miraculous ways.

You wouldn't have written this note if you weren't serious about wanting to follow the Lord. I'd encourage you to start now and make the sacrifice to tithe beginning this next month. Read Malachi chapter 3 (its the last book in the Old Testament.) You'll find a verse where God encourages us to "test me in this" by tithing. As you step out in faith, you will begin to see God work in a great way in your heart and in your finances. Remember the law of sowing and reaping. We will always reap what we sow, but there is always a time period between sowing and reaping. Although it probably will not come with the timing or in the way that you expect, you can trust God to be faithful to bless your giving.

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. Malachi 3:10

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Can I tithe to another Christian organization?

Question: I know of another ministry that has a great need. I know that my giving would make a difference to this ministry, more so than I can make a difference to Nairobi Chapel. Since the effectiveness of my tithe to Nairobi Chapel is small compared to all that are giving to this church, I’m not sure if I should begin to give a part or all of my tithe to this other ministry. I appreciate whatever advice you can give me.

Answer: First and foremost, your gifts to Nairobi Chapel are NOT insignificant. People often make the mistake of thinking that their part of a large church is somehow lessened because the church is large. Just as every individual ministry is important, every amount of money given is important. Many times the fact that people give just a little bit more helps us to begin a new ministry that makes a tremendous impact on the church. Also, when you give out of a faithful heart, God takes your gift and stretches it beyond what you would add up with just numbers. Your giving is FAR more important than you will ever imagine!

If you would ask this other ministry, or any other Para-church organization, they would give you the same advice that I would. First give your tithe to the church, and then give any gifts beyond that to meet other needs. The reason for giving to the church first is because it is the Christ ordained body for doing His work in the world today. Also, just to think practically, the more healthy the church gets and the more people the church reaches and teaches, the more people there will be to give to ministries such as this one you are talking about.

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." Malachi 3:10

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Should I pay off my debts or tithe?

Question: Should I pay off all of my debts before I begin to tithe?

Answer: The Bible encourages us to do both, not one or the other. In fact, I've found again and again that one of the keys to paying off debts is beginning to tithe. It not only brings God's blessing to a person's finances, it also helps them to begin to think more sacrificially, to plan more carefully and to see God's direction more clearly.

The Lord answered, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. Luke 12:42-44

If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Matthew 7:11

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What does the bible say about drinking alcohol?

Question: What does the Bible say about drinking alcohol?

Answer: l Here are three things to remember:
• The Bible does not say that it is wrong to drink
• The Bible does say that it is wrong to get drunk
• The Bible commands us to remember the influence we have on an unbeliever

In Bible times everyone drank a watered down wine. Without refrigeration, there was no way to keep fruit juice without it fermenting. There is nothing biblically wrong with drinking wine with a meal, as long as it's not as a means of escape or your don't struggle with becoming drunk. The best way however, is to abstain from alcohol altogether. This is because we must be very mindful and concerned about our impact on others. We live in a society where alcohol is the chosen drug of escape" for many people. We are in a church where many have seen Jesus free them from their alcohol addiction. We must be glad to willing give up our freedom to drink alcohol and wine, knowing that it might save someone who struggles with alcohol from seeing us drink and thinking, If it's OK for them, I should be able to handle it also." Paul talks of his willingness to give up his freedom because of his love for the people for whom Jesus died.

"But be careful that your freedom does not cause those who are weak in the faith to fall" Corinthians 8:9 

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Do I have to get baptized again at Nairobi Chapel?

Question: If I want to be a member of Nairobi Chapel, do I have to get baptized again?

Answer: The reason we would ask someone to be "baptized again" is if they had been baptized as a child or an infant before they actually came to know Christ. This was something that a parent did for a child and not a personal declaration of a commitment to Christ. We would also, in some cases, ask someone to be baptized again if they came from a church in which the teaching about salvation and baptism differed greatly from what the Bible has to say. For instance, there are some churches that teach you can be baptized for someone else in order to secure their salvation or there are other churches that teach that you must be baptized again and again in order to keep your own salvation. In those cases, even though someone may have been baptized as an adult, we would encourage them to be baptized again to make a fresh declaration of their belief and trust in God's word at this point. We would not ask someone to be baptized again if they were recommitting their lives after they had fallen away, even for sometime. There are some people who choose to do this, but we do not believe that the Bible teaches that this is a necessity.

"When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened" Luke 3:21

"All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus' words, acknowledged that God's way was right, because they had been baptized by John." Luke 7:21

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Salvation - Can We Feel It?

Question: My friend has asked Christ into his life, but he tells me that he doesn’t feel any different. How do we know that Christ has come into your life, after you have asked Him in?

Answer: You ask a great question. I know many people who, once they ask Christ into their lives, don't feel different immediately; for them the fact that God is real is still a matter of faith and trust. I know many who expect to feel a certain way when they ask Christ into their life and, when they do not, they wonder if He really is there. The problem is, the Bible doesn't tell us how we should expect to feel. It does tell us that we are saved from our sins. It does tell us that we will be with Him for eternity. It does tell us that the Holy Spirit comes to live in our lives to direct us. It does tell us that we have a new spiritual sensitivity about life that we've never had before. If your friend made a genuine commitment to Christ, these things are true about him whether he feels that they are true or not. So for him, God is trusting him at the beginning in saying, I want you to follow your faith and not just your feelings.

"God our Savior ... wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2:3-4

"If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heat that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9

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Healing

Question: How do you feel about healing at Nairobi Chapel?

Answer: We do believe in God's power to heal. We practice, as a church, what the Bible teaches in James chapter 5. James talks about those who need healing in their lives and believe that it should be prayed for; that they should call upon the elders of the church and the elders will come and pray for that person laying hands on them and anointing them with oil. That is exactly what we do and have done hundreds of times here at Nairobi Chapel. We do not make a public show of our praying for healing. It is a private time, usually of prayer and faith, with those who are facing the struggle and suffering in their lives. The laying on of hands and the anointing with oil is no sign of special power that we have as leaders in the church, we all have the same power and authority to talk to God about our needs. It is simply a way the Bible reaffirms the presence of the Spirit in each of our lives and the power of God to work in our lives. We believe that, when it comes to healing, there are times when God says yes" and there are times when God says no" to a physical healing on this earth. Obviously, even death is something Christ has already overcome and we will spend eternity with Him in heaven. There will come a day for all of us when there will be something that He won't heal us of and we will go to spend eternity with Him (that is unless the Lord comes again first). We need to have the humility to realize that we do not always know what God's answer is going to be on the question of healing. So He has told us to put faith in Him and to trust Him for our heart's desires. We, as leaders in the church and as a church, strongly encourage prayers for God to be at work in healing those physical, emotional, and spiritual hurts that we have in our lives. In these prayers for healing, we will generally gather as five or six pastors with a person, and maybe their family, in a room and just circle around them as they are seated in a chair. One by one, we pray for them that God would be at work in their life. We believe in this simple time of talking together with the Lord, that God, many times, has brought about a healing. It is His way of blessing the faith of those who have asked for prayer. This prayer for healing also reaffirms in a person's life that they are not alone; that we, together as a church, are standing with them and praying for them and their family.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness by his wounds you have been healed." 1 Peter 2:24

Heal me, O Lord and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise." Psalm 30:2

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Where does Nairobi Chapel stand on abortion?

Answer: The Bible clearly teaches that life begins at conception.  With that clear teaching from God, abortion is murder and so is obviously wrong.

“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit them together in my mother’s womb.  Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!  It is amazing to think about.  Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it.  You were there while I was being formed in utter seclusion!  You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe.  Every day was recorded in your book!.” Psalm 139:13-16 TLB

If you are a woman who has had an abortion, and are feeling far from God due to fear or guilt, our Heavenly Father offers both grace and forgiveness. 

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