Study+Ideas

January 9 we listened to a clip of John Eldridge, designed to accompany [|his book on listening to God] - then spent some time, well, listening to God. Lisa also shared from Psalm 32:8 ( I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you) and we also read and prayed Psalm 34(?). A couple of things that came up that we could study. Correct me, guys, if I get this wrong or leave things out. Thanks! - MS


 * 1) More of the [|Dutch Sheets] book (or, some closure on it)
 * 2) Go back to the "Streams" thing and give it another try; Marti brought Renovare's [|Devotional Classics] "reader," which might be better for a no-homework group like ours, instead of their actual small group materials, which seemed too overwhelming.
 * 3) Go through some of the good material from that workshop that was at church recently; Troye went and ended up buying the book: [|Building Bridges Not Walls - Learning to Dialogue in the Spirit of Christ]

Well, what do you think God wants to lead us and grow us in, individually and as a group?

MS: I think there may be a common theme here - we want to hear from God what he wants us to do, we want to be people who are doing what he's calling us to and not messing around not seeking his guidance and perspective. We want to grow in our intimacy with him. We also want to grow in our ability to appreciate and respect other people. Are those two things connected, perhaps?

What do you think? Leave your answer here.

Sue Muckley: I think the Building Bridges would really cover many of the desires that are listed above....growing in our intimacy with God....by dialoging like Christ we would actually be intentional about how Jesus would want us to dialogue with others and it would also overflow in our dialogue with him or maybe the other way around. Dialoging like Christ really would cover growth individually and as a group and even help as we study other books later on.

Bob S: One thing Pete mentioned was a desire to continue to be challenged to grow in our faith and be stretched to encounter things that aren't in our normal comfort zones - something I appreciate about our group. The devotional book on the streams would certainly do this and offer flexibility for people who would like to dig deeper on particular topics by choosing to read more of the devotionals on their own. At the same time we could still maintain the no homework policy and officially study a couple of the passages each session. This study would also challenge us to understand the variety of emphases in the church and then could lead to greater understanding - a possible foundation to dialogging like Christ.