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Suggestions for leading Session #2: CULTURE

First of all, be sure to let me know
anything that would be helpful for other leaders (post in the comment section or email me)
any blessing that would be an encouragement (post in the comment section or email me)
any suggestions/critiques that will help this specific ministry grow (email me)


For our Kid’s Devotional part

We talked about promises and the fact that God is faithful.

Clarification of the 2 Chronicles 7:14 section…

Moore states that often we read passages of scripture thinking the Bible is addressing America like 2 Chronicles 7:14 

Here is an expansion/clarification of what Moore said about how we should read this passage and other passages. 

This was originally written stating that a specific nation (Israel) would receive a specific blessing (the healing of their land).

“Their land” refers to the specific land that God promised Abraham. 

If we think of the church as God’s people, we need to remember that the church has no land, the way Israel had a land.  

We are aliens and exiles (1 Peter 2:11). 

A proper way to think about this verse is that God is faithful to his promises.  Does this sound familiar?  Hint:  Sunday’s sermon. 

We need to be living with God’s glory and will in mind.   This Future Kingdom mindset doesn’t mean we live anyway we want.  We realize that God wants us to proclaim the life changing truth of the Gospel in the self-seeking, fallen world.

More from the video, the concept of Engaging the Culture provides a great talking point for Session #2.

Replicating the culture  

Raging against the culture

We need to start with the Gospel which should sound alarming and distinctive to the world.

Values, morals and principles are not the starting points.  JESUS IS!

As I watched and prepared for the lesson, I realized I want to help myself and others in my group understand GROW IN COMPASSION FOR OTHERS!

Another way to think of ENGAGING THE CULTURE is LOVE OTHERS!

A STRIKING EXAMPLE:  the hotel maid discipling the corporate CEO.  In this example what is valued?

Here is a point I am going to be making on the church blog.

We are doing a Bible Teaching Hour class entitled "I Will."  The subtitle is Nine Traits of the Outwardly Focused Christian.
We are doing a small group study entitled Onward.  There is a question on page 35 that asks "Why is it important for us to first focus on the culture inside our churches before we engage the culture of the world outside it.  

So what is it?

Being an outwardly focused Christian
or
First focus on the culture inside our churches... 

These two foci are not different they are the same.

The "first focus on the culture inside our churches" is not a command to be selfish.
It is a self-awareness.  We need to understand and address the issues within the church, not merely rage against the culture around us.  Pay careful attention to Russell Moore's example around 13 minutes in the video.
The question to consider is "How am I kicking against the scriptures?  How am I evading the Gospel?"

This self-examination reminds us that we all are sinners in desperate need of a savior, the Savior, Jesus.

Here are some quotes I have shared before from the book Compelling Community.  
These quotes help us see that what the church ultimately has in common is not a demographic or a set of morals.  What we have in common is our sin nature and our salvation through Jesus.

“When Christians unite around something other than the gospel, they create community that would likely exist even if God didn’t. As a modern-day tower of Babel, that community glorifies their strength instead of God’s.” (23)  

“To follow Christ is to love other Christians. . . . Love between believers isn’t a sign of maturity; it’s a sign of saving faith.” (52)

For more quotes from this great book, click HERE

Suggestions for leading Week 1: Kingdom!

Here are a couple of suggestions based on my Soul Care Group last week...

Starting tomorrow there is s going to be a blog post on the church page about each of the ONWARD topics.  These are scheduled for the next six weeks.
I want to encourage you to check them out and tell your group to check them out.

Also, over the next week or two we are going to be tweaking the DVD schedule.
I would really appreciate your help and flexibility as we work through some of those details.

Thanks!

DVD sharing schedule

In an effort to reduce the number of DVDs we have to purchase, I have set up this DVD sharing schedule.  I think I have included every group.  

If for some reason your group is not on this list please let me know.

Here is the DVD sharing schedule.  

I have sent out the the additional Wednesday schedule to the groups that will be sharing on Wednesday. 

Please let me know if you see any corrections that need to be made.

	Sunday	Wednesday	Thursday
Disk 1	Paul	Casey & Warren
Disk 2	Aaron	Kerry
Disk 3	Andy	Andy & Kurt
Disk 4	Dave	Dave and College	Dave
Disk 5	Duke	Shane	Bobby
Disk 6	Adrian	Dave Regnier
Disk 7		Everett
Disk 8		Burt
Disk 9	Bruce	Flamm
Disk 10	Mitch		Kim

* Pastor Dan's Tuesday group will be sharing with Pastor Dave.

You should receive an email on Friday with the names of individuals who want to get into a group.

Soul Care Start Up Info

TRAINING TIME:

I have spoken with almost every leader who has not gone to the live training.  If I haven't spoken with you, we are going to get together Sunday morning at 9:45 am.  Remember there are no 9:00 am classes this Sunday.

BOOK DISTRIBUTION:

The books will not be in this Sunday.  However, there will be a limited number of copies for Soul Care groups that will start with the first session.  There will be a post on the church blog (www.emmanuelbaptist.com/blog) letting everyone in the church know about this.

Lord willing the study guides will be in before September 11th.  

GROUP START UPS:  

I know some groups are starting up this upcoming week with kick-offs and social.
If you are planning to start watching the videos this upcoming week, please let me know.

DVD SHARING:

In order to save the church over $1000 we are going to have some groups sharing DVD sets.  

I have been working on a DVD sharing schedule where we will only need 9 DVD sets instead of 22 sets.  

Wednesday night has proven to be the biggest challenge because there are so many groups meeting that night.  I am glad a number of groups are going to be meeting or doing the videos every other week.
I was hoping to have that finalized today but it is not done yet and should be done tomorrow (09.02).

INVITES:

With this DVD sharing schedule, I am going to include a list of those who asked about being in a group.  I would love for you to see who you can invite on that list.


PRAYER:
I would really appreciate your prayers as I work through many different details and challenges.  Thanks!