Season's end?

The Lifegroups have officially or technically ended for the summer.  We typically have small groups from the Sunday after Labor day, till the Sunday before Memorial day.   So, here we are.

I know there are some groups that are grieving the conclusion of Lifegroups, esp after an abbreviated season.  Some folks, even in our group, are eager to continue through the summer.  I personally wouldn't want to take a break from meeting in homes, fellowshipping and studying together...   The reality is, like fish, after a while company begins to stink :-)   As a practice, we've taken summer breaks to keep the host homes and the lifegroup leaders refreshed and ready for a new season.

So... if your group does continue to meet over the summer, keep in consideration how to help your host family out.  Rotate your location.  Meet at the park.  Shake it up.  Also, don't feel like you'll have to meet weekly.  Go every other week, or monthly through the summer.

It is greatly encouraging to hear that sooooo many people don't want to stop for the summer.  That says something wonderful is happening.

Peace,

Craig

Click here for a printer-frinedly version of the 5/17/09 outline

Lifegroup map 5/17/09 “You are what you eat” John 6:35-59

Please choose any One of the following Ice breakers:

(Everyone doesn’t have to answer the same one… pick the one you like!)

• What is your response when you are being tailgated?

• Does looking out your window generate creativity or distraction?

• How do you try to talk your way out of speeding tickets?

• If you are superstitious, which superstitions influence you the most?

• Do you really read the Church bulletin???

Life exploration time: Read out-loud John 6:35-59

~ What are the indications here that Jesus is actually referring to what we commonly call “The Lord’s Supper”?

~ According to Jesus in this passage, how often do we need to eat & drink His body & blood?

~ What term (Ritual, rite, ceremony, ect.) best describes the Lord’s Supper in your opinion?

~ Why is the eating of Jesus’ body and the drinking of His blood a requirement for our salvation?

~ Read Jn 6:51-54. How do you distinguish yourself by observing this?

~ How many people need to be gathered together in one place to be able to properly take Communion?

~ Read Jn 6:42. How do you personally avoid the same type of pitfall; i.e., what you already know about Jesus interfering with what you need to know?

~ Read Jn 6:47. How is taking the Lord’ Supper an act of faith?

~ What should we think about when we take Communion?

Mother's day:

Lifegroup leaders, there's no outline planned for this week.  I assumed most groups would not meet this week with it being Mother's day and all.

Peace,

Craig

When Bibles make headlines... look out!

I'm cutting/pasting an article I read on a US soldier's stash of Bibles being destroyed, apparently by the orders of the US chaplains...  I really can't believe that we can send our troops to a nation that commits them to a temporary battle, and not expect our outstanding young people to share a life giving message???  Really.  If they are willing to fight an earthy battle and willingly pay the ultimate price, it only makes sense that these soldiers should have the right to share their core beliefs.  It seems a little one-sided for the Afghans to have us fight for them to have a better future, and yes to help protect the entire world from terrorism, and yet not allow us to share the reason we think the world can even achieve peace... Terrorism is ultimately about a fight between good and evil, and the way we overcome this battle, is in winning the hearts of people to the Prince of Peace.  So I commend the congregation that sent the Bibles, and the young people who were willing to distribute the Bibles.

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KABUL (Reuters) - Bibles in Afghan languages sent to a U.S. soldier at a base in Afghanistan were confiscated and destroyed to ensure that troops did not breach regulations which forbid proselytizing, a military spokeswoman said.

The U.S. military has denied its soldiers tried to convert Afghans to Christianity, after Qatar-based Al Jazeera television showed soldiers at a bible class on a base with a stack of bibles translated into the local Pashto and Dari languages.

U.S. Central Command's General Order Number 1 forbids troops on active duty -- including all those based in Iraq and Afghanistan -- from trying to convert people to another religion.

"I can now confirm that the Bibles shown on Al Jazeera's clip were, in fact, collected by the chaplains and later destroyed. They were never distributed," spokeswoman Major Jennifer Willis said at Bagram air base, north of Kabul.

Military officials have said the bibles were sent through private mail to an evangelical Christian soldier by his church back home. The soldier brought them to the bible study class where they were filmed.

Trying to convert Muslims to another faith is a crime in Afghanistan. An Afghan man who converted to Christianity was sentenced to death for apostasy in 2006 but was allowed to leave the country after an international uproar.

"It certainly is, from the United States military's perspective, not our position to ever push any specific kind of religion, period," chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen told a Pentagon briefing Monday.

(Reporting by Peter Graff)