OUMC Breaking Free: April 2010

Some of us are interested in keeping our fellowship going and doing another study before the formal summer study starts (some time in June).

I found a book/study that Beth Moore did a few summers ago on her blog. I think it is a nice extension to our Breaking Free study. It is called No Other Gods, by Kelly Minter. We would be using the Living Room Series version (it is designed for small groups). Here's a description:

Your life revolves around your deepest needs and greatest treasures. Relationships. Family. Financial security. Private hopes and dreams. Most of these desires are healthy. Yet these longings can become passions we not only pursue, but also worship. And while idol worship may seem like ancient history, we still face the modern-day equivalent, as natural needs slowly consumer our hearts and minds, competing with God’s rightful place in our lives. No Other Gods offers a revealing look at the heart of a woman. Author Kelly Minter explores what happens when good desires become false gods, robbing us of an intimate relationship with our heavenly Father. Discover the freedom in surrender. The healing in worship. And the joy found in exchanging everyday gods for the one true God.

We could do it in five sessions and use the discussion questions Beth Moore posted on her blog (I've included below). The schedule could look something like:

April 22 (the week after our last BF session) - Introduction
April 29 - discuss chapters 1 & 2
May 6- discuss chapters 3 & 4
May 13- discuss chapters 5 & 6
May 20- discuss chapters 7 & 8

Leave a comment or send me an email if you are interested, or even if you have another suggestion for us to consider (we could pick a book of the bible to read and follow a similar schedule). I'll order all of the books for us and have them ready for the introduction session (the No Other Gods book we be around $15 if we pick that one).

Here's a run down of how the schedule / discussion would flow if we did No Other Gods together (there are also links to videos Beth Moore did for each, but I didn't find them very good so we might skip these)...

Meeting 1 (Introduction) – April 22

Video: http://blog.lproof.org/2008/06/siesta-summer-bible-study-introduction.html

Discussion Questions:
You have only two assignments for your first meeting:

A. Please share what you perceive to be your biggest challenge toward walking victoriously with God this summer. House full of children? Heavy work load? Difficult season emotionally? Just had your heart broken? Just feel far from God? Whatever it may be, share it with your small group and take some time to pray for one another in your meeting today. Also, intercede accordingly toward your sister’s need for the duration of the study.

B. Turn to Jude 1:24,25 and read your summer Bible study memory verse-segment. (Oh, yes, you can memorize!!! You just have to learn how to make fun associations that make it memorable!) This is our only memory segment all summer so it’s very doable. Spend most of your gathering time thinking of ways as a small group to memorize it. Get creative! You can make up hand motions or actions to go with it – anything fun, clever, or meaningful to make it easier to memorize.

Jude 1:24-25
To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Homework: Read chapters 1 & 2

Meeting 2 (discuss week 1 & 2) – April 29

Video: http://blog.lproof.org/2008/06

Discussion Questions:

1. Based on Week One, discuss what a functional god is and how an idol has functioned for you. In other words, what made it work?

The remaining three are based on Week Two:2. Turn to p.39 of your workbook. Kelly had us read 1 Peter 2:9-12 and reminded us that we were meant to be peculiar people. Reread her words.
Now, in class today do an acrostic of the word “peculiar” based on various ways Christ has set us apart. In other words, come up with one word that begins with a “p,” then another that begins with an “e,” “c,” and so on.

3. Turn to p. 41. Recall our reading out of Genesis 21:1-6. Listen to verse 6. I especially love the New English Translation: “God has made me laugh.” Share something today with the group that God has done for you that brought you such joy or such a turnaround that it was laughable.

4. Lastly, turn to p. 49 for what I thought was one of the most powerful moments of the entire second week. Kelly said “Fear protects our idols”! How? Discuss that!

Homework: Read chapters 3 & 4

Meeting 3 (discuss week 3 & 4) – May 6

Video: http://blog.lproof.org/2008/07/summer-bible-study-gathering-iii.html

Questions:
The first two are from Week 3.

1. On p.62, Kelly quoted Michael Wells: “Satan will tell us what’s true, but he never tells us the truth.” Let’s have some examples of that. How has Satan ever told you something that was true but wasn’t the truth?

2. Kelly’s discussion about King Hezekiah and the attack on his faith on p.66 reminded me of a quote that I’d recently seen in the devotional classic, Streams in the Desert. “Genuine faith puts its letter in the mailbox and lets go. Distrust, however, holds on to a corner of the envelope and then wonders why the answer never arrives.” (p.168) What envelope have you been most prone to hold the edge of?

The last two are based on Week 4.
3. Reread the first couple of paragraphs from Kelly’s intro to Week Four on p.76 concerning people-gods. Then, look up Phil. 1:9-10 and read it together. How can these two Scriptures become a huge help to us in finding the balance between loving people and idolizing them? This came after I did the video: We did something in our small group that I found very encouraging. We shared some examples from our personal lives of idolatrous relationships that, with God’s intervention, actually transitioned into healthy relationships. These transitions are often rare because the relationship was fed by the idolatry and often can’t exist without it. Have any of you experienced one of those wonderful occasions when a relationship endured that positive transition? If so, share it!

4. Lastly, review p.87 and reflect on the whole Leah and Rachel madness. Reread the bold-print section at the top of the page. What are a few costs of desperation that you yourself have paid? And what is the solution?

Homework: Read chapters 5 & 6

Meeting 4 (discuss week 5 & 6) – May 13

Video: http://blog.lproof.org/2008/07/summer-bible-study-iv.html

Questions:

From Week Five:1. Take a look at the bottom of p.103, starting with the question, “What word in Numbers 11:4 (NIV) is used to describe their desire for meat?” Discuss a number of specific ways craving something is different from wanting it. While you’re at it, continue a discussion Melissa and I started on a walk a few nights ago. We were talking about how you can tell you’re getting out of control with something when you start trying to be secretive about it. What do you think?

2. Take a look at the top of p.108 under “Personal Reflection.” I loved this line of discussion starting with this question: “Have you ever tasted or brought back fruit from a future promise that had not been fully realized?” Discuss that whole first paragraph.

From Week Six:3. Turn to p.125 and reread (one of you aloud to the group) the excerpt Kelly included by Charles Spurgeon. What are a few things we often try to do rather than refer our doubts straight to God? Then, read John 2:1-5 and note how Mary approached the pressing problem. As you conclude today’s gathering, have a brief time of prayer, letting those that feel comfortable praying out loud simply state their need or problem to God in one statement, something like this: “Lord, there is no more _____________________.” Or, “Lord, I am ____________________________.” Then simply tell Him that you’re trusting Him to do something about it. Try to resist fretting over it this week but keep watching for Him to turn some water into wine.

Homework: Read chapters 7 & 8

Meeting 5 (last meeting – discuss week 7 & 8) – May 20

Video: http://blog.lproof.org/2008/08/our-last-nog-session.html

Questions:

One from Week Seven:1. On the bottom of p.148 and in the context of promised blessing, Kelly writes, “Sometimes the Lord immediately replaces what we have left [as in, said good-bye to], and other times we are left feeling empty for a time.” At several very important seasons of my own life I believe God deliberately let me feel that empty space for a while before He filled it…even with Himself. If you’ve had a similar experience, share it and discuss what purpose God might have had in it.
This line of discussion also brings to mind the segment of Jeremiah 15:17 that Kelly shares on p.167 in Week Eight: “I sat alone because Your hand was on me.” Keep in mind that God created each of us to be a very plugged-in part of the Body of Christ. We were created for relationship but sometimes God draws us into a time of aloneness with Him so that He can work something IN US that He desires to later work THROUGH US. If you’ve had a season like I just described that had a pretty profound effect on you, share it briefly with your group.

The next three from Week Eight:2. The intro to Session Eight was so powerful and dead on. Revisit the testimony about the married friend realizing she needed to get rid of the cards, letters and emails from the first guy she ever loved. Another friend shared a similar story with Kelly that she references on p.178. We can hang on to all sorts of things from the past besides old boyfriends and, often, until we really say goodbye, we can’t say hello to something wonderful God has for us. As Kelly’s been telling us for weeks, we’ve got to make ROOM. Discuss a time you came to a similar conclusion and acted on it. OR, if you haven’t let go of something but you know you need to, ask your group members to hold you accountable and pray for you to have courage to follow through.

3. I loved Day Three! Revisit Kelly’s first paragraph on p.173. What is the “bridge between the old and the new”? THEN, take a good look at Deuteronomy 6:23 in the margin of that same page and note Kelly’s abbreviation of it in the second paragraph: “He brought us out…to bring us in.” Girlfriend, that statement deserves an index card! Why is it so critical to keep that concept (not the index card but the abbreviation!) in mind?

4. The last two days of study out of the Book of Ruth were so good. Didn’t you love the last line of Ruth 1 (V.22) where we learn that Ruth and Naomi, devastated and grieved, entered Jerusalem, just “as the barley harvest was beginning”? Read John 15:8. As we draw our journey to a close, having moved out some idols to make room for Christ, encourage one another to believe God to move in powerfully and purposefully. Speak these words over one another, emphatically and with authority: “Your harvest is just beginning!”

Friday, April 9, 2010

Session 11 Viewer Guilde Answers

What to do next?????

Last Session - April 15

Session 10 Viewer Guide Answers

Welcome!

Links

Search This Blog

Blog Archive

Followers