Keeping It Real

Too often, during a small group meeting, application of God’s Word and prayer time seem to relate more to other people than to us. It is far easier to apply the lesson being discussed to a spouse, a friend, or an enemy than to honestly look at our own heart. During the Bible study portion of your small group meeting, emphasize the need for each person to "put on his or her own spiritual oxygen mask" before attempting to assist others. Try using one or more of the following approaches:

• During discussion, ask the group members, "What is God saying to you right now?"
• Personalize the Scripture you are studying by reprinting the verse(s), inserting a blank every place there is a pronoun. Ask each person to write his or her name in every blank and, sometime during the meeting, read the Scripture out loud. This could be done during discussion or used as a closing prayer time. Encourage each person to hang the personalized verse(s) somewhere where they will see it often during the coming week.
• Encourage each person to journal about the personal impact the lesson has had on him or her personally. This can be done during the meeting or during the coming week.

Christmas Party

Your group and up to 4 others are invited to a Christmas Party on Saturday, December 16, at 6:30 in the annex. Many groups have their own individual parties around the holidays, but perhaps you would like to do something a little different this year. Why not get together with a couple other groups and just have a big bash? We could have great food, festive singing, fun and games, and much, much more. Space is limited to the first 5 groups that respond. Let me know and we will schedule an organizational meeting with all interested parties.

Schedule - Fall 2006

DATE ------------------- TOPIC

Sept. 24 --------------- Deal Or No Deal
Oct. o8 ---------------- Deal Or No Deal
Oct. 22 ---------------- Deal Or No Deal
Nov. 12 ---------------- Move Forward In Faith
Nov. 26 ---------------- Rahab Saved A Nation
Dec.03 ----------------- Crossing Jordan
Dec. 16 ---------------- Party Time
Dec. 17 ---------------- Mark of Distinctiveness

Church Wide Emphasis - "DEAL OR NO DEAL"

The church staff, at the direction of Pastor Dial, are preparing for a church-wide emphasis this fall that will focus on "Stewardship". At the "kick-off" Sunday on September 24, Pastor Dial will encourage our congregation to begin reading the prepared daily devotions for the next 4 weeks and to also join a Small Group for the duration of the ministry focus.

Instead of meeting on consecutive weeks as before, our Small Group sessions are planned for September 24, October 8, and October 22.

Each of the lessons will be e-mailed to you as an attchment and hard copies will be available at the Welcome Center. Many groups have come up with the smart idea of passing the lessons on to their members in advance so that they can use them to make notes during Pastor’s sermon.

Also, please encourage your group members to form dPODs and meet on a weekly basis to discuss the daily devotions. dPOD discussions, along with the Sunday sermons and Small Group meetings, will provide a more thorough coverage of the material.

The emphasis on special topics such as this, are a great time for new people to get involved in Small Groups. So please, invite someone to join your group and encourage your group members to do likewise.