This fall at
Solana Beach Presbyterian Church we will be walking through the Believe Series. What are the most important beliefs we hold? What makes our faith different from others? How do we live out our faith in practical ways?
Believe: Living the Story of the Bible to Become Like Jesus
I enjoyed attending our Small Group Leadership training yesterday. Upon entering leadership training each table had a bag of apples as a
centerpiece with a cross of chalkboard paper.
There were “chalkboard” signs throughout the room offering quotes on:
Personal God, Identity in Christ, The Bible, Compassion, Salvation, etc. – providing an
overview of the 10 week study ahead.
The time was opened with some time to celebrate and reflect on last year’s “
The Story”
series. Onew of our members shared his
story and small group experience. We
then reflected on what encouraged us, what word would describe the impact “The Story”
had on us, and what word describes the impact “The Story” had on our group. We wrote our words on the chalkboard paper on
the tables.
Pastor Mike shared the SBPC Vision & Mission
He reflected on the
start of our small group ministry in Fall 2013 and the invitation to 150 people
leading to 50 groups and 500 people in January 2014. He shared that in 1994 he was doing
sermon-based small groups in youth ministry and that his doctoral paper was
basically on sermon-based small groups.
He emphasized the importance of Sunday’s message not being an end in
itself but leading to something – small group discussion and personal
transformation. He shared SBPC’s
strategy (comparable to July 2014 SBPC report and his explanation in worship in
late August as shown in picture to left). He added BELONG as being
defined inside the dashed circle and IMPACT as being outside the dashed
circle. He emphasized the significance
of Small Groups making up the GROW circle and the transformational
relationships that are occurring in Small Groups throughout our community.
He shared the small groups are really what takes the message
Sunday from being inspirational or informational and becoming transformative in
people’s lives as we discuss, believe and live out the message.
Paula led us in the Morning prayer (Psalm 84 and Deuteronomy 6:4-5).
We enjoyed a time
of fellowship over brunch.
Pastor Mike shared the Fall Series Preview: Believe Beta
Church
A video introduction was made to our church by Randy
Frazee. We are one of 20 churches acting
to Beta test these materials this year.
Because of the Beta phase of development not all materials are of the
highest quality (ie the book is only available in softcover)
The three segments of the Believe series will include:
Think –
Beliefs
Act –
Practices
Be –
Virtues
For those concerned that we have already had series on these
topics Pastor Mike referenced the passage 2 Peter 1 to emphasize the need to be
reminded and remember what we already know.
He encouraged us to “Encourage one another to find the new thing God has
for us.”
He also cautioned us not to get caught up on people not
believing all of scripture but to invite them into knowing what scripture says
in a non-forceful way by demonstrating how we live differently because of what
we believe. He declared that God doesn’t
need defending; he needs witnesses.
Paula then Affirmed SBPC Sermon-Based Small Group Identity
She recently attended a small group conference where they proposed that for the future
of the church small groups need to morph – they need to be 1)sermon-based, 2)
include spiritual formation/practices, and 3) be missional- serve together
beyond ourselves. Three things we are
already doing.
She shared the purpose of Small Groups as:
A)
BELIEVE: Building Relationships with God and others
She
shared how Parker Palmer has declared “our soul is shy” and we need to create
sacred space to open our soul
We
think we believe but until we actually act on those beliefs we are on sinking
ground
She
offered 2 practical ideas for making spaces welcoming:
Thia’s
prayer jars – Thia has 2 jars on her dining room table – one for each person
who needs a group and one for each group that needs leaders. This was shared as a practical way to keep
the reminders to pray for our group visible.
B)
BECOME:
Scripture and Spiritual Practice
When it comes to becoming like
Jesus it is never “done and done.”
Paula shared a summer trip
experience to emphasize the points of “Be here now” & “God is never
elsewhere”
Scripture and Spiritual Practices
are the most transforming with suffering coming in 3rd.
Intention vs Practice
Thia then continued the discussion of the purpose of Small
Groups.
C)
BLESS: Inside & Out – Alone & Together
Provided example of how her kids blessed us in helping to prepare for
training by putting chalk and pencils in cups for the table
…To be known as a “do gooder”
Read a poem…
“Do all the good…
….as long as
ever you can”
This week's topic for our sermon series on Believe is Compassion (Chapter 8) Ruth 2:1-4:17 and Luke 10:25-37
What does it mean to put our love into action and show compassion to those around us? As my 5 year old so beautifully captured on her ad-libbed Sunday School drawing it isn't as straight forward as we would like. I love that dilemma she captured when after putting a bandaid on the injured man she continued by x-ing out the man walking away and then labeling him "deed" (5 year old spelling of dead). You can imagine that this has prompted some discussion at our house as killing people isn't something we endorse in any way. This will likely be on-going discussion for many years to come. It is so much easier to show compassion to those who are hurt and "need" us. But how do we show compassion to those who have hurt us, hurt our friends or family or even strangers around us? How do we show compassion to those who could help and choose not to? These aren't easy issues for my 5 year old or for myself.
