Practicing Christian Leadership, Student Workbook, SW11

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P R A C T I C I N G C H R I S T I A N L E A D E R S H I P

Put away your notes, gather up your thoughts and reflections, and take the quiz for Lesson 1, Effective Worship Leading: Worship, Word, and Sacrament .

Quiz

Scripture Memorization Review

Review with a partner, write out and/or recite the text for last class session’s assigned memory verse: John 4.21-24.

Turn in your summary of the reading assignment for last week, that is, your brief response and explanation of the main points that the authors were seeking to make in the assigned reading (Reading Completion Sheet).

Assignments Due

Hard to Get In

With no advance warning, one of the new members of your church comes to you and says that they will no longer remain in your church. Surprised, you ask why, and they answer. “I have not felt welcomed at all since I came here. You and a few others are warm enough, but I have never been in a church that was harder to get in. The people, it’s like they really don’t want anybody else to come into their church. I tried, too. I went to the Bible studies, the fellowship times, even helped out in some of the outreach activities. But here it is, after two years, I still don’t have a single friend in this church. I give up. I don’t think that God wants me here.” What would you say to such a new Christian who recently decided to leave your fellowship? In a Bible study group discussion on the nature of spiritual parenthood in the New Testament, one member of the group confesses his uneasiness with all the talk of parenthood. “I know it is in the Bible and therefore is a valid idea, but I think we should be careful talking about spiritual parenthood. I thought that only God was my Father? Didn’t Jesus warn us about people taking on this kind of authority over our lives?” With these comments, a heated discussion broke out on whether or not this idea, this metaphor is really valid for us today. While some thought it had great value in describing the Christian life, others felt it was only relevant to the Apostles and their apprentices (i.e., people like Timothy, Titus, and others). What would you have said in the study about the validity of spiritual parenthood, and its meaning for us today? “Only God Is My Father.”

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