Posts Tagged Small Groups
The Do Hard Things Tour-July 11
Posted by Randall W. Ross in Conferences, Curriculum, Events, Leadership Issues, Parenting, Resources, Student Ministry, Teaching, Theology, Thoughts and Reflections, Youth Culture on June 17, 2009
Coming To Chicago
Saturday, July 11
9am-5pm, Cost $30/person
Parents and Students Come See Our Summer Study In Action!!
We will be taking a group down to the Moody Church for the conference so sign up soon to reserve your seat!
Sign Up before July 2 for a savings of $5 per person (price goes up to $35 after July 2)
Download the Flier HERE
Register by e-mail or call the Church Office
Fight the Fight: Part 1
Posted by Randall W. Ross in Curriculum, Resources, Teaching, Thoughts and Reflections on May 7, 2009
As Paul brings his last letter to a close, he gives Timothy (and us as well) a great summary of what he has been driving at. We find this summary in 2 Timothy 4:5:
As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
I‘d like to look at this summary in three parts.
Part One: Always Be Sober Minded
The word used here for sober-minded literally means to “be steady” or “clear-headed”. When we think of someone who is drunk from the misuse of alcohol, we think of someone who can’t stand up well or walk in a straight line. Someone who is drunk usually isn’t clear headed or capable of self-control in words or actions. Their judgement is impaired and can be a danger (especially in driving) to themselves and to others.
To be sober is to be the opposite of all of that. Someone who is sober has self-control, they can think straight, they are aware of their surroundings and of themselves. A sober person can help if not even protect the people around him from harm (perhaps from drunk people).
So, is Paul asking Timothy here to stay away from drinking alcohol? No. The New Testament writers often use this kind of imagery to communicate the idea of being watchful and alert. We can see this in 1 Thes. 5:6, 1 Peter 4:7 and 1 Peter 5:8. We can see another helpful parallel in a passage from the first letter to Timothy:
Watch your life and doctrine closely. 1 Timothy 4:16
Paul is challenging Timothy to be alert, to be watchful, to be aware of what is going on in his mind, what he is thinking and believing.
This is a dominant theme in the whole book of 2 Timothy.
I think it is clear throughout the book that Paul is concerned about Timothy being sober-minded. He doesn’t want distractions, sin, foolishness, unnecessary guilt and the wickedness and worries of the world to come in and throw Timothy off course. Rather, Timothy needs to remain steady, clear-minded, unhindered, self-controlled and encouraged by God’s grace. We will see in the next few posts what this sober-mindedness will help us to accomplish, but for now let’s consider these questions:
What in your life is distracting you?
What is causing you to be unsteady in your walk with Christ?
If you would examine your life closely, your thoughts and actions, what would be quickly visible as sinful and destructive?
We are challenged here to always be sober-minded. We need to be aware of what we think and do. We need to be living lives that are surrendered to Christ at all times. This isn’t just on Sundays or when others are watching. If we are true Christians, we have been given life in Jesus. He has granted us a free gift of His grace. We can do nothing to earn our salvation.
The idea of being watchful and alert is not to gain something new, rather it is the means to protect what we already have. The world, our flesh and Satan will try whatever, whenever and however necessary to throw us off course. If we stay alert, we can stay away from sinful thoughts and behaviors. We can discern and dismantle the foolish and ignorant doctrine or beliefs that we come across. In short, if we are sober we can Fight the Fight.
Stay Tuned for a short series of posts dealing with being “sober” in thought and action.
Introducing the Gather Media Podcast
Posted by Randall W. Ross in Curriculum, Podcasts, Resources, Teaching on March 20, 2009
This idea hit me a few weeks ago. I had a question on my mind…Would there be a way to get audio versions of our teaching and curriculum into the hands and ears of our students and parents? I though through a number of options. The one that made the most sense to me was creating a podcast.
Podcasts are automatically updated audio content and are able to be played on computers, cell phones and iPods. It seemed like the best way to provide this resource in a common form and method.
The Gather Media Podcast will feature our curriculum….The Gather Cafe Podcast (Part of our sister site www.gathercafe.wordpress.com) will capture the more casual side of what we do…the reviews, interviews and thoughts and reflections. The Cafe is something I am just getting going…so be patient it will be developing into a worthy site and podcast soon.
If you would like to explore and subscribe to these podcasts, go to the “Podcast” tab at the top of this page. Click on the images to subscribe using iTunes. (You can also just click on the image in this post)
If you don’t have iTunes yet, you can download it for free by clicking THIS LINK.
You can access right now the Small Group lessons that we have been going through during Gather Round the past three weeks.
Gathering Together- Part 2
Posted by Randall W. Ross in Teaching on March 20, 2009
Gather Round is just about complete. This second part of our March structure has been focussed on pursuing the relational guiding principle that we have recognized. This has been accomplished by making these nights all about meeting together in small groups.
In review, the theme of this month has been Bring Out the Book. We have explored this in three parts (The Word Was, The Word Is and The Word Will Be) as seen in three sections of the book we are studying this year: 2 Timothy.
Week One: 3:16-17
The Word Was: The small groups began this time by creating a collage out of a random assortment of magazines. They were instructed to cut out pictures and words that have something to do with themselves. When they were finished, the rest of their group had to try and guess what they had meant by the different images and words. Once others had a chance to interpret, the creator of the collage provided their explanation.
During the lesson they were challenged to see that we often approach God’s Word in a similar way. We try to figure out what God has meant in His collage of His Word, without getting to know Him and hearing His explanation.
The goal of the night was to see that all of Scripture is valuable to us because God has written all of it. We need to see the beautiful picture He has created and listen to His voice as He explains it.
Week Two: 2:15
The Word Is: We began this Gather Round with a game that I simply call K.A.G. (Kelly’s Aunt’s Game) I have a friend (named Kelly) who first learned this game from her aunt….hence the name. The game is a sort of pictionary meets telephone. The students write down an adjective…pass their papers…write down a noun…pass them again…and then begin a series of drawings and decipherings that lead to a humorous and creative chain. Almost every time, the ending drawing looks nothing like the first two words that were written at the beginning. If it sounds confusing…it is just because it is hard to understand unless you just play it. The game is a lot of fun and brings many laughs.
Again during the lesson, the game was used to illustrate how we may view Scripture. We often see the many books, stories, styles, etc. found in the Bible as if they are a random and confusing chain that makes little sense to us. We discussed that, on the contrary, the Bible is actually a very cohesive book that is all about one thing…well actually about one person…Jesus Christ and God’s plan to save His people through Him.
The goal of the night was to see that we need to do our best to rightly handle God’s Word. We are God’s workers, called to know and understand what He has given us in the Bible. When we do this, we will be able to carefully and accurately explain the Word of truth to others. As we are faithful in this, we may even have the privilege of seeing others become born again through His Word.
Week Three: 4:1-4
The Word Will Be: This last week focussed on what we are challenged to do moving forward: Preach the Word. We have seen the value of all of Scripture, we have discovered the consistent and clear story about Jesus that is evident through the Bible, and now we are given something to do with it….we are to preach it. We are not called to come up with our own ideas based on what we learn through God’s Word….We are simply called to proclaim the Bible itself.
We spent some time in another activity to display this point. We blindfolded everyone in the small group and asked them to make a right triangle in 60 seconds or less…First Round: blindfolded but able to talk to eachother. Second Round: blindfolded with the leader giving direction. Third Round: one person seeing, leader giving direction to the seeing person. Fourth Round: All Seeing with the leader giving direction.
The point of the activity was to illustrate how the only think that makes the goal of the right triangle possible was the word of the leader instructing them and allowing them to see. This is exactly what God does with us through His Word. Only when our eyes are opened through His Word are we able to know and obey Him.
All in all, Gather Round was a good time of connection and study with the small groups. Times like these show us that we are really here to know and support each other as we study God’s Word. We hope that more opportunities like this will become a regular part of the student ministry here at Faith Church.
Remember: Gather UP is March 29th
Gather UP is our end of the series night of music, prayer and Q & A with our panel of maturing believers.
