Soul Care notes 2/22

Because of the unique nature of this weekend’s sermons, two different sermons from two different men, we are adding one more week to our discipleship study.

Each weekday of this week one myth of a small group will be on the church blog and facebook page.  Check these out to see if any have crept into your thinking of our Soul Care ministry.  Many of these myths are similar to myths about the church.

Why do you think the New Testament places such a priority on Christians being committed members (or parts) of local churches? How can this priority best be reflected in your life?  (check out the blog to find out more about how the NT places a priority on committed membership.

Read Ephesians 4:1–16. 
What are pastors’ responsibilities? 

• From the passage:  to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ.
• From MacArthur's Commentary on Ephesians:  Proper equipping by the evangelists and pastor/teachers leading to proper service by the congregation results inevitably in the building up of the body of Christ.

What are each members responsibilities?

• serve one another so the church is built up.
• grow, mature and help others do the same. 

What steps can you take right away to help your church function more like God intended?

• Think specific.

Check out this video from Faith Church in Lafayette, IN.

Why is someone serving @ Emmanuel Baptist Church?
Hopefully it is because they love the Gospel and chosen to be equipped.

Soul Care is about Sincere Love (02.18)

If you didn't know it, soulcare-disciplemaking.blogspot.com

Don't forget to enter your attendance this week.  If you cannot remember go to soulcare-disciplemaking.blogspot.com

In this Sunday's sermon Pastor Duke asked the question "who are you about to give up on?"

This week's Soul Care questions begin with "why do you want to make disciples? Do you struggle with wanting your actions to be noticed by others?"

Both of these questions deal with the idea of motivation.
Why do you want to make disciples?
Because of love for God and others or because it gets me what I want from other people.

Use this week's meeting time to challenge group members to think about LOVE being our motivation.  Not INFORMATION TRANSFER

And remember how Soul Care relates to our mission, to glorify God by making disciples who are submitted to His lordship, grounded in His teaching and sincere in His love,
Soul Care is designed to help us grow as disciples who are sincere in His love.

This week's missionaries are other missionaries which means we cannot post their requests online.

Soul Care notes (02.15)

We want to take the Word to the World because we love God & want to see Him glorified and because we love people & want to see them in a growing relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Take a moment to examine your heart. In all honesty, why do you want to make disciples? Do you struggle with wanting your actions to be noticed by others?

What does 1 John 4:7—12 say about God’s love and our love?

Love comes from God.

Our love shows that we are God's.

God's love is made known to us in Jesus Christ.  Through Jesus Christ we have life. 

God showed us love first.

God provides the greatest example of love and the only true source of real love.

When we love it shows God is in us.

Our desire to make disciple must be motivated by love. 

- Why make disciples of those who don’t know Jesus?  How can this love grow?

Love for God and compassion for those who desperately need Jesus.  These people need Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.   

Remember who you were before Christ and what God saved you from.  

 - Why make disciples of those who are part of EBC?  How can this love grow?

Love for God and a love for fellow believers in Jesus Christ and a love for the church.  These people are part of the body of Christ and need to be encouraged to grow closer to God. 

Remember that we are in this together for the glory of God.

-  Why make disciples of those who claim to be believers but are not part of a local church?  How can this happen?

Love for God, a love for the church which is the Bride of Christ and a love for those who have been deceived into thinking they can live the Christian life in their own strength without the church.  These people have been deceived.

Remember how you have been blessed by God through the church.

In addition to praying fervently, what practical steps can you take to increase your love for people?

Reviewing your testimony and remembering what God did and is doing for you.  

Serving in a way that stretches your beyond what is "easy" for you. 

What we are doing with kids this week in Soul Care...

Read the previous post for information about adults and Soul Care

This Sunday's EKIDZ lesson was the Triumphal Entry so in Soul Care 

we are going to be celebrating the KING OF KINGS!!!

We worship the one who is King of Everything.

That is why we can persevere.

I am going to show some praise posters like the ones below.

With the 1st through 3rd graders this week, we made praise posters.

These were ideas we showed the kids.

You can see more at wiki.logos.com/Biblia_Verse_of_the_Day_images

The Image of a Gate

The Image of a Lighthouse

We are then going to sing "My Lighthouse"

which we sang this past Sunday in class.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSn9HW5P-sA

For weekly reviews of the EKIDZ lessons and kid ideas during your Soul Care group

check ekidzministry.blogspot.com

Soul Care Notes (02.08)

February Soul Care groups have a Disciple making emphasis.
If you didn’t do Week 1 of our discipleship study, go to blog.emmanuelbaptist.com/category/soul-care/ 

From this weekend’s message “How do I persevere?”
- single minded purpose—the glory of God, the making of disciples. Acts 20:24
- close, godly relationships

This week's Soul Care questions:

How is Emmanuel Baptist Church on a single minded purpose of glorifying God by making disciples?
Challenge your group members to think about how EBC is working out this single minded purpose.
A SINGLE MINDED PURPOSE:  
How is this SINGLE MINDED PURPOSE evidenced in our worship services, our programs and our people who are the church?
Check the blog for some specific things to talk about.

CLOSE, GODLY RELATIONSHIPS
What are the marks of a godly relationship?  Good connection to next question.  

Here is a quote from the Gospel Primer to consider.
"Hence, the more I comprehend the full scope of the gospel, the more I value the church for which Christ died, the more I value the role that I play in the lives of my fellow-Christians, and the more I appreciate the role that they must be allowed to play in mine."

What are you doing to make disciples? Think about what God did through and with Paul.
Spending time in prayer (21:5)
Meditating on the Word of God
Speaking boldly (21:13)
Being Aware of the culture he was in (21:26)
Knew that he was part of something so much bigger than his circumstances.  See Gospel Primer quote above.

Would you say that you’re committed to studying the Word so you can live it out and share the Word with others? Why or why not? (see Monday’s post)


What excuses tend to keep you from following Jesus’s command to make disciples? What do you need to do in order to move past these excuses?
Ask people to share

Whom has God placed in your life right now that you can begin making into a disciple of Jesus Christ?
Ask people to share.  
Be share to pray for these people.

Whom has God placed in your life for you to partner with in making disciples?
Ask people share.
If they don't have people to partner with, think about how you can help one another.

February 4th email: The Mayos, The blog, UPWARD

This week's missionaries are the Mayos in Australia.  On the notes I forgot the delete the Kimmels and move the Mayos in.  I am sure both families would appreciate your prayers.
If you go to http://blog.emmanuelbaptist.com/category/missions/, there are some specific things you can be praying for the Mayos.

If you haven't checked out http://soulcare-disciplemaking.blogspot.com/ please be sure to do so.
This site explains why the questions are a little different this week.
There is also information on this site on doing online attendance.  Remember when you take attendance through arena, your attendance list will include everyone who has been in your group.

Thanks to those groups who are helping with concessions at UPWARD.  Contact Carrie Carr if your group is interested in serving.