So last week was a horrible day followed by a great service. This week I was exhausted all day and felt I had a mountain of work to do but it was much better than last week. The service went great tonight. I did the second part in the “Power of Christ” series that follows what Jesus did in Matthew chapters 8 and 9. Last week was about the broken and diseased and this week was about the hopeless.
We did small groups for the first time tonight. That went over very well. We had 5 groups with right about 10 students per group. I am planning a series on Sex and Relationships next month and the small groups are an important part of that series. I wanted to get it started now so my leaders would feel comfortable and the group dynamics would be well formed.
I was able to walk around and listen in. I only had to help a couple of times by asking one group to settle down and focus and getting one student to move into the group. The leaders did a great job. I listened in as one shared a story from his life and students were asking questions. In another the group was really getting involved and talking through the subjects so much they didn’t make it to the sermon. All in all I would say it was a success.
One more thing. Don’t miss tomorrow’s post. I am doing a book giveaway and the details on what book, the twist I am applying and how to enter will all be there.
Bears, Sex, prat falls and smashing crap with a baseball bat
Game Night
Broken People Helping Broken People
Changes
The Darker Side
Sounds like a cool study and will hopefully continue to be well received. A group I’m in is about to start Crazy Love and I’m excited because of the reviews you gave of it a while back. I can’t wait.
Good post, Nick!
Crazy Love is great but you gotta be warned, some parts make you feel pretty miserable. If you don’t use the first chapters to interpret the following chapters then you will misunderstand the intent. Keep that in mind as you read. I didn’t catch it till my second time through.
Good for you! We did a series two years ago, called “naked” – same content. Lots of good small group time. Kids need to hear about this stuff from the right people and feel comfortable to ask questions. Thanks for being brave!
I do a sex and relationship series every year or less.
……hmmmmm, If nothing is too hard for God — then why did he send his son( Jesus ), to clean up his mess.
Interesting question. I think it missing the concept of the Trinity and the whole point of redemption. Based on your response I assume that you don’t want to buy into the Bible, but if it’s ok with you I’d like to start there. It says that Christ was sacrificed from the foundations of the Earth. In other words, the plan was, from the beginning, to clean up the mess through Christ. Could God have done things differently, sure, but He didn’t. In Romans 9 Paul tells us that God gets to decide the best purpose because He is the Potter and we are the clay.
Of course, that is all coming from the Bible, so lets looks at real world examples. Lets say a billionaire has a wayward son. He certainly doesn’t want his son to get into trouble constantly, but his son is free to do what he wished. Now, lets say his son gets arrested and the father sends an advocate (lawyer) to plead the case for his son, and pays the fines. If the advocate is sent by the father and does his will, does that lessen the power of the father? Does being able to send others make someone less powerful? While we might second guess the father, saying that he should be the one to go, it doesn’t address the actual abilities of the father in this case by sending someone to resolve the issue.
Of course, I can go further into this, but I think the point is clear, this is an argument against the sovereignty and power of God that doesn’t actually stand up to even the most basic of scrutiny.