Small Group Study on This Friday 11-22-2013

This Friday we are having small group. We will be doing Lesson 4 in the Ephesians booklet. Hope you all can make it. I'm thinking about breaking for December. How does everyone feel about that?

No Small Group This Week 11-08-2013

We are canceling small group this Friday because we are having a speaker at our church, Chuck McCoy, during this Friday and weekend.

Small Group This Friday, Oct. 25th

Hi everybody. We still have booklets left over, so please collect your copy while they last. 

Last week we had a great discussion about the prayer of Paul for the Ephesian Christians. It serves as a great model for how we can pray for one-another in the body of Christ. It's good to think about physical needs. But it's also good to think about our spiritual growth like knowing God better, understanding what he truly provides for us, and having depth of insight. This is something Paul seemed to be quite passionate about. 

This week we are doing lesson 3. So come prepared by reading chapter 2 to get the context — especially if you didn't get the booklet yet.

Of course, whether you can make it or not, just reply to this email to let us know. Or give us a call. It is so helpful if you do.

See you all here.

Small Group on for Friday, Oct. 11th

We are on for this Friday. Hope to see everyone here.

For those who haven't received the booklet yet. Here is the reading and a few questions to get prepared for the study.

Lesson 2 "I Keep Asking"

Ephesians 1:15-23

1. How do Paul's prayers for his readers cover the past, the present and the future?

2. In verses 15-16 Paul says, "For this reason ... I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers." Why is Paul so thankful in his prayers for the Ephesians?

3. Describe the qualities that Paul's prayers for the Ephesians focus on. Why do you think he focuses his prayer in this way?

4. What can you learn about praying for others from Paul's prayers?

Small Group Tonight Sept 27, 2013

Small group is on for tonight. Hope to see everyone here. We start at 7 pm and end at 8 pm. 

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Let us know if you can't make it.

Thanks.

Kerry

Small Group News

First I want to say we had a wonderful time this past Friday discussing the introduction to the book of Ephesians. The booklet we are going through is called the LifeGuide Bible Study — Ephesians: Wholeness for a Broken World. I mentioned that I plan to get everyone a copy. I can get it for $6 a piece. Let me know who needs a copy so I can order the correct number. (Just reply to this email.) And you can give your money to me next time on September 27th.

Here's a quick recap of the study:

Paul the Apostle wrote this letter around 60 AD. He wrote this in conjunction with Colossians and Philemon. It's generally understood that Paul probably wanted to address some serious issues in the church at Colossae. So he decided to tack on a personal letter to Philemon, who lived in Colossae — since he was sending his slave, Onesimus, back — and wanted to encourage the nearby churches of Ephesus.

However, Ephesians is a letter pretty much free of the typical turmoil associated with the other New Testament letters of Paul. It lays out a big picture view for the church and christians in general of what they are all about and how to conduct themselves.

We also talked about a good approach to bible study:

It's sometimes called the inductive method. But it typically involves examining the biblical text to see what it says. In the process we minimize bringing our own ideas to the text. It follows the approach of 

1. observing the text (asking the who, what, where, how) and 
   
2. interpreting what we observe (what does it mean, why) then
   
3. seeing how it applied to the original hearers and
   
4. how it may also apply to us
   

These booklets are great for the task. Everyone will be able to prepare on their own and bring their insights to the study.

Attached is the promised outline of Ephesians to see how the letter is constructed. Although the outline is mostly written by me, there are some additional insights from another source that I cite. Also a good timeline of Paul's life and letters can be found here <http://www.blueletterbible.org/study/paul/timeline.cfm>.

Kerry

Small Group Begins Again for the Quarter

Hi everyone. We will be studying the book of Ephesians. So read ahead and let's get started this Friday, September, 13th.

Small Group Reminder (6/14/2013)

We plan to cancel small group this Friday due to the fact that so most everyone will be unable to attend. We also plan to go on summer break since it seems that most folks will be busy during the summer. We can pick up again in the beginning of September depending on everyone's schedule. 

Please let us know what you think. I'll keep you'll posted.

Kerry

Small Group Reminder (5/24/2013)

We plan to meet for small group this Friday!

Hope to see all of you there.

Let us know!

Thanks,
The Clarks

P.S. The church is having a workday on Saturday, June 8th. They just need some hands to spread some mulch in the playground and around the church building. I need to let the leadership know if any of you would like to help. We can talk more about this on Friday.

April 12 Recap

This Friday, we plan to have small group. And we are looking forward to it, since we haven't met since April 12. This is a great segway into giving a recap of what we discussed on that day.

We are continuing our series of the crucifixion of Christ from 6 different angles. And one thing that is becoming abundantly clear is that each group of people sinned in ways we commonly do. But these sins directly led to Jesus being killed brutally. In a sense, the sins we commit today are the very ones that led to Jesus' death on the cross.

Another observation is that these people had to sin the way they did, so that Jesus would die like it was predicted in Scripture. What a grand design! What a clear picture of evil coming in contact with pure good; of human failing being judged mightily through the frailty of Christ; of the problem of God's righteous judgment and eternal love coming together so perfectly.

Well, not to get too off track, last week, we looked at the problem of the crowds. Crowds are typically fickle. They are easily persuaded by popular opinions or rhetorical tricks. We looked at these passages:

• Luke 4:14-15 and 22-30
• What caused the crowd to move from delight to hatred so quickly?
• John 6:1-2 and 60-66
• Why do you believe the crowd changed their mind about Jesus?
• Luke 19:29-40
• Crowds praise Jesus. (Why are they doing this? See Zechariah 9:9)
• Luke 23:13-25
• Now this same crowd demand his death, because their leaders demand it.
• Why do people do this? Why are crowds so easily swayed?
• How does Exodus 23:1-3 inform us about how to think about crowd behavior. (Remember, crowds are made up of individuals. And individuals will be held accountable, not just leaders.)

The conclusion we came to is that:

• We must think for ourselves, lest we fall into the crowd trap.
• If we think for ourselves, we will often not agree with the crowds.
• It is difficult taking a stand, but each of us will be held accountable to God for our choices.

News: No Small Group April 26, 2013

We will not have small group on April 26, due to conflict with the women's retreat.

Small Group Reminder April 12, 2013

Hello Everyone,

We hope you are well.

Just wanted to remind you that we plan to meet Friday, April 12th.

Let us know if you plan to join us.

Thanks!

Love,
The Clarks

Small Group Recap for March 22, 2013

We had a great discussion last Friday. We continued our discussion on the different groups that contributed to Jesus' death on the cross, by looking at the political rulers. (The study before this one, we had talked about the religious leaders.)

The primary leaders we focused on were Pilate and Herod. These men represented two political factions. One represented the Jewish nation, while the other represented the power of Rome. Although these men were formerly political enemies, they both saw Jesus as a political problem.

For Pilate Jesus was the cause of the emotional Jewish people's threats of sedition and the threat of Pilate's standing with Rome. Although Pilate knew Jesus was innocent, he felt caught. So he does what any good politician would do: he passed the buck. He sent Jesus to another jurisdiction where he thought his case could be handled. And that would be Herod's jurisdiction. (Matthew 27:15-26; Luke 23:3-11)

For Herod, Jesus represented a rival heir to the throne, who was clearly more popular than him. But Herod seemed fascinated by what he had heard about Jesus. Maybe hoping to be entertained, and being in anticipation of meeting him, he was disappointed in an arrogant way. Feeling clearly superior, he mocks the Son of God and sends him back to Pilate.

What's interesting is that Pilate and Herod become friends as a result, even when they are enemies. As we learn from Peter in Acts, this was foretold (Psalm 2) and even applied to his contemporary situation (and for us too). Many in the world — even those that don't normally get along — will come together against God and His Christ, even today. (Acts 4:24-30)

Small Group Reminder (3/22/2013)

We plan to meet for small group tomorrow!

Hope you can join us.

Let us know!

Thanks,

The Clarks

Small Group Reminder

Hello Everyone,

We hope you are well.  Did you enjoy your "Snow Day?"

Just wanted to remind you that we plan to meet
tomorrow.  Friday, March 8th.

Let us know if you plan to join us.

Thanks!

Love,
The Clarks

Small Group Recap for Feb. 22, 2013

We had a very lively and sobering discussion last time. We are starting discussions around the crucifixion of Christ from six different perspectives. Each of these perspectives represent the sins that people commit which got Jesus on the cross.

1. The disciples
2. Religious leaders
3. Witnesses
4. Political leaders
5. The crowds
6. Soldiers

In our first discussion we started with the disciples. We talked about how they all believed up to a certain point—except one. They all seem to agree that Jesus is the Messiah. They all witnessed his miracles that confirmed his claims. They all followed and learned from him. They all exercised the power he conferred onto them. Yet they had a very hard time letting go of their ideas about what a Messiah is suppose to do and be. And they didn't believe Jesus when he defined what they should expect.

Then we focused on two followers in particular: Judas and Peter. They both represent the disciples struggle to believe. And they represent how the disciples all abandoned the Lord in his greatest time of need. But these two also denied the Lord for different reasons.

Judas

• Judas just didn't believe. Jesus knew this the whole time. (John 6:60-64 and 70-71.)
• Judas was dishonest. (John 12:1-6; Mark 14:3-10; Matthew 26:14)
• He deliberately betrayed Jesus. He proactively sought out the religious leaders and desired a bribe. (Exodus 23:8; Luke 22:47-48)

What were the sins that Judas committed that led to Jesus crucifixion? List as many as you can determine. Why do you suppose Judas was like this? What motivated him?

Peter

• Peter struggled to accept Jesus' words. (Matthew 16: 21-23)
• He didn't believe Jesus' assessment of him. (Matthew 26:31-35)
• But when Peter gets confronted after Jesus' arrest, he openly denies even knowing Jesus—fulfilling what Jesus said would happen. (Luke 22:54-62)

What were the sins that Peter committed that allowed Jesus crucifixion? List as many as you can determine. Why do you suppose Peter caved so easily when confronted about his association with Jesus?

The rest of the disciples abandon Jesus. (Mark 14:46-52) Why do you think they did this?

How do these close disciples reflect struggles today? And in what ways can we see the sins that caused Jesus death reflected in ourselves.

Friday, Feb. 22 Sm Group Reminder

Hello Everyone,

I am sorry for the late reminder.  We are having Small Group tonight!
I hope you all see this email.

Please come join us! Either way,
please give a quick response to this email to let us know
if you plan to attend.

Gratefully,

The Clarks

Small Group Recap for Feb. 8, 2013

Hey everyone. We had an encouraging and sobering meeting yesterday. To follow what's happening, we continued our discussion on the Sin Dilemma.

Last week we begin the discussion by looking at God's holiness. In Isaiah 6:1-5, Psalms 99, and Revelation 4:6b-11 we get a sense of just how holy God really is. He's beyond our understanding — even angels fear to gaze at Him in his glory.

We also became aware of what that holiness demands of those who desire to be near God. We get a sense of this in Leviticus 11:45, Hebrews 12:14, Isaiah 59:1-4, and Revelation 21:7-8 and v.27.

Then we looked at man's holiness — or lack thereof. In Romans 3:10-20 we come to understand that no one is remotely holy. In fact, people are sinners. So, this brings us to the dilemma. If God is utterly holy, whereas nothing can stand in his presence that is not holy, and live. Yet, we are sinners. Therefore, we cannot hope to live in God's presence. We have no hope but an expectation of eternal punishment.

Yesterday, we spent time looking at the problem presented by the Law, and the solution in Christ.

The question we need to answer is Why can't following the 10 Commandments or obeying the Law help us be right with God? Read Hebrews 10:-14, Romans 3:19-20, and Galatians 3:10-12. How do these passages answer the question?

What's our only true hope, and why? Read Hebrews 10:3-18 and Romans 3:21-26. How do these passages answer the question?

Next meeting will be February 22.

Welcome to New Site. And the Study Cancelled

Welcome to our new website! The study had to be cancelled yesterday, Friday night, due to inclement weather. We hope everyone managed well. More updates to this site are coming.