Several weeks ago Austin and I had a good small group meeting. People were open and honest. We had a good discussion about the message. We have a guy who attends our group who is not a believer. He mostly listened. He felt welcomed and enjoyed being a part of the group. After our group meeting that night Austin said something to me that was very insightful and helpful. He said, “That was a good group but did it feel…
Q: Why do you believe in and trust the Bible? -what are the intellectual, emotional, “spiritual” reasons? Q: What reasons have you had or heard that people have had, who struggle to trust the Bible? Francis Schaeffer wrote, “The God who is there” “He is there and he is not silent.” He had a ministry in Switzerland where students from all over the world, in a pre-internet time (1955-1984)found their way to his house, L’bri (shelter). Many people, came to…
Terry recasts the vision for the reality that our Beliefs shape our values which in turn inform our behaviors. He gave us an overview of group life and then the staff led the time through the different components of group life: Meetings, Mission, Member Care, and Mentoring.
As a church we just finished going through the book of 2 Timothy. Terry took a few minutes to highlight a few key lesson from group life from our time in 2 Timothy.
First Saturday in February, 7:45 in the morning…I had left home about 5 to drive to Topeka. I wasn’t feeling exceptionally encouraged…I wasn’t feeling much of anything except tired. The person running the meeting looked at me and asked, “Chaplain, have anything for us?” I looked around the room of about 30 people…wearing masks…hard to discern what was on their minds. My mind quickly scrolled through some thoughts: -First of course… I’m tired and don’t really feel like saying…
Jim encourages leaders to think about the different components of their meetings. Meetings are important. They are the squeaky wheel of group life which means they get lots of attention and rightfully so because if you don’t meet you don’t have a group. The tension that is important is learning to get meetings the appropriate attention but not let them dominate group life. Possible Goals for Meetings Manage Time (Start / End & Pray / Share) Delegate responsibility Get members…
Terry talks about leading through times of crisis and the importance of being well-differentiated. Hand – Out Related to the teaching.
These questions include various levels of topics – from introductory questions for visitors to group or church, to non-threatening conversation starters, to family, to spiritual questions. Preparation is helpful. Before meeting with someone – even someone you know – it can help your time together before more meaningful if you’ll think through what to talk about before you meet. It takes situational awareness to know which question(s) to ask and how – timing and tone. Just pick a few. Try…
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Terry discussed how to talk about and help people handle issues of Marriage, Remarriage and Divorce in your groups from a biblical perspective.
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At this Leadership Community, Terry discusses how to understand the Theology of the OT to help group members in their understanding of the Bible and how the Bible applies to their lives.
