Looking for digital teaching plans and helps? Check out Lifeway’s Church Assistance Package.
NEW: Online Group Plan for Session 1
Date: July 26, 2020
We Are Joined Together
The Point: When we come to Christ, we also become a part of the body of Christ.
Get Into the Study
Use the following information to introduce Question #1.
Shawn Dromgoole, a 29-year-old black man, lives in a mostly white neighborhood in Nashville, TN. With the racial unrest across the country in recent weeks, Dromgoole has felt more and more fearful of going out for walks in his neighborhood, to the point where the fear overwhelmed him and he just stayed at home. Finally Dromgoole decided to post a message on Facebook and Nextdoor (an app that connects neighbors) telling people how afraid he felt. People in his neighborhood, who he did not know, began to reach out to him, asking if they could come and walk with him. So Dromgoole let his neighbors know what time he planned to walk. He was stunned to find 75 people who showed up to walk with him. “I was so overwhelmed, I still can’t find the words,” said Dromgoole. “I never wrote that post thinking people would want to walk with me.” Since that first walk, Dromgoole has held four more neighborhood walks with about 300 people joining him for the walks. Dromgoole has plans for more walks in the future. “I finally feel seen,” said Dromgoole. “I feel like I’m a part of something.”
Say: Dromgoole went from being fearful and alone at home to being part of a supportive group. Then call attention to Question #1 (When have you felt most at home with a group?) and invite volunteers to respond.
Information for this post was gleaned from:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/28/us/walk-with-shawn-black-neighborhood-walk-trnd/index.html
Study the Bible
Use the following information to supplement Question #2.
Churches are among the many groups working to provide help in New York City during the COVID-19 shutdown. These churches believe that their work to support their neighbors might open other doors for ministry in the future. In a two-month period this spring, Southern Baptist volunteers delivered more than 124,000 prepared meals and handed out over 410,000 pounds of food. This work reaches into all five boroughs of New York City, where the local churches are helping families with the food and resources they need. Edwin Pacheco, who launched Redemption Church in Brooklyn two years ago, is part of this effort in the city. “Something that looked like chaos in COVID has provided a platform to meet needs in our community,” Pacheco said. “We have been able to disciple our neighbors and our neighborhood through these tangible means. We have built relationships with people week after week. We have been able to meet them online or pray for them in person while they’ve waited in line for food.”
Say: Edwin Pacheco and many other Christians in New York City have met people’s physical needs, and while doing that, they also ministered to spiritual needs. Then call attention to Question #2 (How is being a part of a church different from being a part of any other organization?) and invite volunteers to respond.
Information for this post was gleaned from:
— Donna McKinney wrote these Leader Extras. Donna is retired from a career with the federal government of the United States. She is a veteran Bible study group leader living in North Carolina.
Additional Questions
Icebreakers
- What is your favorite thing about your own family?
- What group have you enjoyed being a part of?
- What do you most appreciate about your church?
Ephesians 1:20-23
- Why is the body, with Christ as the head, an apt metaphor for the church?
- What can we learn about Jesus from these verses?
- How do these verses influence your understanding of what it means to be part of the church?
Ephesians 2:8-10
- What do these verses teach us about God’s grace?
- What are some ways you have experienced grace in your life?
- How do these verses spur us to both action and rest?
Ephesians 2:19-22
- Why do you think Paul uses language that emphasizes the idea that we are in the process of being built together?
- How do our differences display God’s grace?
- How is the church both similar to and different from a family?
For Those in Your Group
Send the following link to your group members as either a teaser before the group meets or as a follow-up thought:
Christian: Church Involvement is Not an Option
Podcast
Click here for a 20-minute podcast for both the group member and the leader.
Magazine Articles
This article complements the study. Share this link with your group members.
- Mature Living – Bringing Heaven to Earth
- ParentLife – Part of Something Bigger
Podcast (adultsleadertraining): Play in new window | Download
I occasionally notice comments posted in response to various parts of the weekly lesson plans here online. I sometimes speculate about how many people use these online aids, and wonder whether you (Lynn, Chris, others supporting this ministry) gague the impact of your service in this capacity by the feedback you receive. I use the LifeWay Bible Studies for Life published materials for teaching and participating in Sunday School. Every week – without fail – I encounter at least one additional vital element of the lesson from your online supplements that I add to my outline for teaching. I can only attribute this to an accurately exercised Spiritual Gift. Whether there are 5, or 5,000 people listening to your podcasts, or reading the supplemental articles for each lesson, please know that the impact of your service extends well beyond the number of people you reach directly. Every part of what you communicate here is multiplied by other servants of Christ who take that knowledge and wisdom and pass it along to their Sunday School classes; whether as a a teacher, or a participant in the class who shares during the instruction. Your lesson plans, and discussions, and aids, and questions, and examples, and parsing of God’s Word, draw me deeper into the message that God has for me and my class. And as I am convicted, and excited about the Word God has for us – that excitement and truth is passed along in my classes to everyone else. Please, please, please as you hold onto Christ and His Holy Spirit in preparing these aids, know that God is using you in ways that you cannot possibly see, and in ways that He SURELY blesses. I pray that God extends His blessings to each ot you as you are faithful in serving Him thorugh this ministry.
Thank you for your gracious and encouraging words. I love the team I’m privileged to work with because every one of them is passionate for God’s Word and for helping others discover the truths within it. Lynn Pryor