Focus on Reproduction, Mentor's Guide, MG12

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F O C U S O N R E P R O D U C T I O N

This focus on the household is crucial for you to comprehend as you seek to help your students get a grasp on the concept. You may want to obtain a copy of Arn and Arn’s book, The Master’s Plan for Making Disciples, which speaks of evangelism, discipleship, and church growth all with the concept of the oikos in mind . As you go through this lesson, please notice again in the objectives that this focus on oikos highlighted clearly. Since this idea is central to every part of the lesson, you will have to ensure that this concept above all is understood throughout the lesson, and that you help them at every turn when it is clear that they do not fully grasp it. The clearer you can be on this concept, the better the students’ understanding will be of the other sections of the material as well. This devotion focuses on the power of the oikos for understanding the function of ministry. The example of the Philippian jailer provides a nice context for understanding how normal, natural, and personal sharing the Good News along the lines of the oikos can be. Perhaps the greatest challenge here will be the tendency to confuse the biblical term for household with our sense of the nuclear family–mother, father, and children. As you will see the concept of the oikos was a sophisticated network of friendships, kinfolk relationships, patrons, associates, and other parties which were considered a part of the head of the household’s sphere of influence. Be careful to distinguish throughout the lesson between the two. In these questions you will find the focus is upon mastering the data and the facts associated with the claims made in the first video segment. Concentrate on ensuring that the students understand the answers in light of the lesson aims of the first segment. Make certain that you watch the clock here, covering the questions below and those posed by your students, and watch for any tangents which may lead you from rehearsing the critical facts and main points. Notice, too, at the end of these Segue questions is included the record of the various churches which were planted in Acts. One thing that is clear is that many of these

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3 Page 71 Student Questions and Response