There’s A Small Group For You

How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver! Proverbs 16:16

This summer has brought one challenge after another to us as Christians. The political situation pulls us one direction and then another motivating us to point fingers at each other. Where are the wise voices? Does Jesus have anything to offer in these situations or is our Lord part of the problem?

The Gloria Dei leadership wants to open every opportunity for you to know what it means for follow Christ in every situation. That is why we are offering to you RightNow Media, allowing you to explore a library of video presentations from short to long, Bible studies on specific topics and whole books, and children’s programing. All that is necessary is to answer the invitation sent to you in your e-mail box. Here are a few other examples of what you will find:

The “How to Read the Bible” section has great Bible overviews – Giving the big picture of a book of the Bible in 5-7 minutes.

Want to enrich or re-fire your marriage? There are videos from many well-known teachers.

Kids programing – a huge selection!

If you’re a business leader or an employee, the “Work” library offers guidance on all kinds of issues from God’s call for us to work and management to best practices, conflict management and work habits.

Finances? Aging? Take a look!

Small groups will be forming that use RightNow media. Join in a small group to engage it. In fact, I ask that you would invite a friend, neighbor or co-worker to join with you.

The goal is this: to truly become Spirit-led disciples of Jesus Christ.

Renowned sociologist, Rodney Stark, in his book, The Rise of Christianity, expressed how amazed he was by how Christianity grew from one man, Jesus, to a movement that by A.D. 350 had reached 56.5 percent of the western world. Stark commented on the transformation of such a large segment of humanity – their behavior illustrated by their radical response to care for those suffering the ravages of epidemics and take great risk to confront social issues. This led him to comment that these people actually believed the teachings of Jesus. They believed them in such a way that they took on flesh, and they literally changed their world.
Where did it start? They gathered together and prayerfully wrestled through the Scriptures. They listened to God’s voice and chose to live in God’s wisdom.
Solomon was so right when he wrote, “How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver!” Our country needs wise disciples of Jesus – not people who are easily thrown from one side of the political spectrum to another. In this effort, the leadership of Gloria Dei is here to help you by providing you a tool that is free for you to use: RightNow media. Take advantage of the opportunities this tool will open to you. Don’t let questions linger. Chase them down, and in so doing, you will be better equipped to walk the wise road of following Jesus.

 

Let us all Keep and Live the Faith!
Pr. Dave Dahl

If you haven’t gotten your member access to Right Now Media for your home, pleace contact our office and we will connect you.

Currently, we have the following small groups underway:

Dan & Kelly Smithburg’s Small Group meets at 6:30 p.m. Thursday evenings at their home, beginning September 6th. Please talk to Dan or Kelly, or call the church office if you’d like more information about this weekly Small Group.
The Jesus Style is a book written by Gayle Erwin on the nature of Jesus as revealed through his “Greatest in the Kingdom” teachings and other related passages. Fourteen traits are provided that all support an overall theme of being “others-centered”. The book is easy to understand and thought-provoking. The author helps us to see Jesus the way his disciples would have seen him.

The book comes with a study guide that is well suited to small group study. There is also a DVD series with four 45-50 minute videos presented by the author covering the same topic.

Pastor John Stake’s Adult Education Class will study the book of Luke this upcoming year. Plan to make it part of your weekly routine beginning at 9:15 a.m. Sunday, September 9th in the East Room on the lower level.

Bill & Deb Rice’s Small Group meets at 6:00 p.m. Monday evenings at their home. They are currently studying the book of Ephesians.

Explorer’s Bible Study will meet on Tuesdays (change day of the week from previous years) with a 9:30 a.m. group or a 7:00 p.m. group. They are meeting in the East Room beginning Sept. 11th.