On Sunday, February 11 we launched our first church discipleship group using "The Journey" series from LifeWay! INTRODUCTION: The KEY TRUTH from this lesson was this: You were created by a passionate God who relentlessly pursued you to bring you into His family. We took a close look at 2 Corinthians 5:17:
Take a moment and really ponder what this verse says:
If anyone is in Christ...
The Story Every lesson in this series has a "story" segment. The story from this lesson came from Luke 5:4-11. Some of the questions we asked and discussed as a group included:
We also paid close attention to these statements from the book:
Unpacking the Story Every lesson also has an "unpack the story" segment. In this lesson, we looked at the Creation and how God created everything with perfection. We looked at how God created human beings for the purpose of being in relationship with Him and to be stewards of His creation. One of the questions we discussed from the book was this: Why do you think it's important to know God as Creator? Next, we looked at "the Fall" – the introduction of sin and all of its destructive elements into the creation. Next, we looked at "the Redemption" – God's plan to redeem what was lost in "the Fall." We looked at the importance of Jesus being fully God and fully human:
Lastly, we discussed RE-Creation – God is not finished with His creation! The great story of God is still being written. Our lives as "new creations" in Christ Jesus are vital elements in the ever unfolding story of God! ENGAGE As we wrapped up our group time, we read Philippians 2:5-11 together:
We as a group discussed how we might "do what Jesus did the way that He did it." What attributes of Jesus do we find in this passage that we as His followers should imitate? WEEKLY ACTIVITIES Our "homework" for this lesson included the following Bible reading assignments:
Along with each reading assignment, we are supposed to write down at least one thought that occurs to us. For example, when I read Mark 1:1-15, I might write down how it stood out to me that repentance is the beginning of the Gospel. There are also 3 interactive devotionals that each of us as participants are to complete before our next meeting. These assignments are found on pages 15-19 of the workbook. NEXT GROUP MEETING We decided on meeting every two weeks. Our next meeting will be on Sunday, February 25 from 6:00-7:30pm.
I'm so happy to be on this journey with you all! -Pastor Joel |
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