This time it's harder (or in my head it is), as it's not a sermon but a group discussion.
A sermon you can just talk for 15-20min present your arguments well, and then relate whatever points you are making to the real world. Well ok so it's not that easy/like I described, but in comparison...
With a group discussion you are not 'the expert' and whilst you may wish to guide people down certain avenues, ultimately you need to be able to providing questions that fulfil a number of criteria:
1-people feel able to contribute - don't ask them something 'too technical'
2-they don't feel belittled by contributing - i.e. don't ask something you would only do in a kids-bible-study i.e. in the passage: I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain. [Gal 4:11] don't ask "what did Paul fear?" (annoyingly most internet resources seem to be pitched at this level meaning I can't just copy stuff)
3-something that is relevant to them, there lives/life experience - it helps build community, and will also help people ground this into something that affects their lives.
4-helps move the discussion along to central points you wish to make - well normally you have a point you'd like to leave people with
5-isn't too restrictive and allows people to move onto other areas they would like to talk about if its more relevant to them - well it is a discussion after all, maybe it will lead elsewhere, if it's productive that's still good
6-doesn't allow it to move to unproductive tangents too easily - you'll obviously have some that you need to manage as it happens, but you don't want to make your job any more difficult than it has to be.
7-that with all of this structure you remember it's actually God via the Holy Spirit who's meant to be teaching, so stop trying to impress people with your knowledge of some obscure monk in southern Russia who had something interesting to say about the passage.. stop it [yes I'm talking to myself] just leave it alone.
Instead make sure God has as much room as possible during the prep stage, and at the actual event to mess everything up
hmm
perhaps I should goto sleep rather than try to achieve all this at 1 in the morning..
I probably am over-thinking it, but I haven't had to write one of these things in over 6 months!
And that I got away with by saying "I'm not going to stick to a passage, I'm going to use the question "am I my brothers keeper" asked by Cain. Then I'm just going to keep asking questions about the implications of this question and where that might lead and through in bible verses every so often for people to reflect on along with a little church history and see what happens"
(I might try and put the notes for that online sometime) - That worked surprisingly well, but was a topic I had already been putting much thought into and easily linked with that terms theme of 'community'. This time I have no simple question to hang everything on, and have instead resorted to the 'bible passage' approach (because I know what the theme is for the next month and a bit) and so I need some kind of introduction to it (which also satisfies a number of other requirements for our cell) leaving me with wanting to study being sons/daughters of God.
You know I really have over thought all of this, it won't surprise me at all if by lunch tomorrow I decide actually there is a much simpler way round this...
Never mind,
Night All
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