Bethany Community Church

Teacher: Pastor Richard Dahlstrom, September 27, 2009.

Paul had plans. He thought his ministry would unfold a certain way, but his ambitions were thwarted–not by demons, but by God. We don’t know details, but Paul hints that it was wretched (see II Corinthians).

Discussion Questions:
Nancy Eckardt

This week we consider both the danger and necessity of vision, and how to grow in deeper intimacy with God through changed plans.

1. What did you want to be when you grew up?

2. How has your vision for your life changed over the years? What caused reality to be different than your vision?

3. How have you seen God used your desire to shape his future for you? How have your desire changed over the years?

4. How has your heritage impacted your present? Can you think of a relative or an adult friend that influenced you positively as you were growing up?

5. What does cultural relevance look like for the church today in Seattle? What about in your own cultural context?

6. When have your plans been thwarted by events or situations? How did you respond? What role did you see God playing in this?

7. Is there a time in your life when plans changed, and in retrospect you saw that it was an act of the Holy Spirit.

8. Do you have plans now? How easy would it be for you to give them up? How do you discern what God might be calling you to?

9. Acts 16:11 – 13. Where God is at work, the powers of evil are there as well, seeking to thwart the work that God is doing. Can you think of an example when you have seen this happen? Can you think of a time when obedience has led to more difficult times? How did you respond to that?

10. Do you have a sense of what God might be calling you to? Whether you have a sense or not, what is the next step for you?

11. What are barriers for you as you consider walking into your calling? What will help you overcome those barriers?

12. What happens when things don’t work out the way you expect? How easy or difficult is it for you to trust that “God is behind the curtain”? How does it impact your relationship with him?

13. What can you do this week, to come closer to discovering the call God has on your life? What can you do this week to grow in deeper intimacy with him?

Teacher: Pastor Richard Dahlstrom, September 20, 2009.

How is a person saved? Do we say a prayer? Do we just cry out to God in some fashion? Do we simply receive salvation as a gift, or do we need to receive the gift and then actually do certain things? In Acts 15, we look at how the church came together to answer these questions so that they could knock down dividing walls.

Discussion Questions:
Nancy Eckardt

1. What is a recurring theme or question in your life? What brings it to the surface?

2. How have questions of salvation been raised in your experiences? What events have caused you to question your beliefs?

3. What Christian faith practices do you have that seem to be culturally influenced? What practices seem to transcend culture?

4. What practices in our church reflect cultural norms, and what transcends culture?

5. In what ways are you growing in your understanding of the Christian faith?

6. How do you keep your faith fresh and dynamic, rather than static and stale?

7. What kind of room is there in your Christian experience for differences of opinion among believers, in areas such as expressions of worship?

8. Do you find yourself leaning more toward the sense that you have the final answer, or that there is no answer? Can you think of an experience that reflects this?

9. How do you handle conflict? How has your ability to handle conflict changed over time? What has caused the change?

10. Note the difference between the character of the debate in vs. 2 and the debate in vs. 6. Are there people you are more comfortable debating than others? What might have made debate in one context less contentious than in the other?

Read I Timothy 1:3-5.

11. How does this relate to the church in Antioch?

12. How about at Bethany? What are some issues that may distract us?

13. What is the hopeful end result of the teaching we receive in the word?

14. What happens when those are not our goals in instruction?

15. How have you been distracted in your own study, that perhaps led you astray from the main thing?

16. What is your response to those in authority? What have you learned about authority over the last few years in your life?

17. How do you respond to our showing restraint for the sake of our brothers and sisters? Can you think of an example where you have shown constraint?

18. Why do you think sexual sin gets singled out as something to refrain from?

Read I Corinthians 6:15 – 19.

19. How does Paul cast light on this?

20. Read Acts 15:8,9. How does God relate to the Gentiles who surrender to him? What does this say about our acceptance of those who are different than we are? How do we make space for them?

Bringing Baby Home is going to be on Nov. 13, 14, and 15th:

Friday, Nov. 13:  6–9:30pm

Saturday, Nov. 14: 9am–4:30pm

Sunday, Nov. 15: 1pm–4:30pm

Designed for pregnant through toddler couples, the Bringing Baby Home program will give you skills and information to help recognize and cope successfully with the normal stressors of becoming a family.

The price is $150, which includes registration and materials. Childcare is free for children under 6 months; over 6 months, the cost is $25 per child for the first child, and $5 for additional siblings.

You can register online through Nov. 1 here. Questions? Contact Brian Hallberg, brianh@churchbcc.org.

Brian Hallberg, Children’s Pastor

I need  more sleep.

Do you remember the last blog I wrote that started out that way? It was when we added our newborn son to our family, with one day’s notice, five months ago. This entry starts with a phone call as well.

During the month of May, the phone rang. This time it was not a social worker who changed our lives; it was a young man named Martell who I had been mentoring for several years. Early in the mentor relationship, my wife and I had invited Martell to move from his current foster home into our home. He was calling to see if the offer was still open. We were humbled by the courage that it took for him to call, and of course, we said YES!

On July 1, Martell moved into our house and became the older brother that Kaleb has always wanted. My wife used to always say before Jacob and Martell came home that “our family is not all here yet.” Within four months, we have added a newborn and a 17-year-old, and we are all home. Our house is certainly full; full of love, full of laughter, and full of true living. Jacob is five months old and sleeping through the nights (when it is my turn to watch him). Becky is five years old and just started kindergarten. Kaleb is seven years old and has begun first grade. Martell is trying not to let his senioritis start too early as he begins his senior year at Shorewood High school.

Karmin and I spend our time feeding, cleaning, doing laundry, helping with homework, giving driving lessons, changing diapers, etc., in what we call our beautiful, crazy life. We have never been so tired, but we’ve never been so happy. Thank you God that Your vision for our lives is so much more beautiful that could have dreamed. Thank you for writing such an awesome story for our family.

Teacher: Pastor Richard Dahlstrom, September 13, 2009.

We are continually being invited into God’s story, as He reveals both His character and His invitation for each of us to participate in His work–right here and now. The dance of God’s work and man’s response is revealed for us in Acts 12.

Discussion questions:
Nancy Eckardt

1. What worries to do you have that get in the way of you seeking God’s kingdom?

2. How has seeking God’s kingdom played out for you? How has that impacted your approach to, or concerns about, life?

3. How have you witnessed God’s protection in your own life? How have you witnessed it in another’s life?

4. How have you learned the secret of contentment? In what ways has it been hard to embrace contentment?

5. Can you think of a unique way that God has revealed Himself to you? Through a friend? Creation? Personal encounter? How did it impact your faith?

6. Salvation is not a sales pitch, as if we had to convince people to receive Christ on our own, without the revelation of God. How have you seen salvation presented as a sales pitch? When have you experienced a conversation or situation when you realize that God has already been working?

7. Can you think of a time when God has worked beyond what you could believe?

8. Read Acts 13:1,2. When have you sensed something from God that you should respond to? What has been your response?

9. How might we use other people in our lives to discern God’s call and direction for us?

Is God calling you to use your spiritual gifts and skills in one of the following ways?

Worship

• Greeters (8) – 11am Chapel
• Power Point Slide Managers (5) – All Morning Services
• Sound Board (3) –  9 & 11am Chapel

Bus Ministry

• Back-up Shuttle Drivers (7)– All Morning Services)
• Crossing Guards (4)– All Morning Services

Children’s Ministry

• Small Group Leaders (2)– 9am, K-3rd Grade
• Small Group Leaders: 4th-6th Grade – 2 (9am)
• Small Group Leaders: K-3rd Grade – 4 (11am)
• Classroom Aid: 4th-6th Grade – 1
• Childrens Greeters – 5 (9am & 11am)
• Group Storytellers: K-3rd Grade – 2 (9am & 11am)
• Preschool Music Leader for 5-10 minutes – 1
• Music Leaders: K-3rd Grade – 3 (9am & 11am)

Teacher: Nancy Eckardt, September 6, 2009.

This week we return to Acts by reminding ourselves of Jesus’ last words
before he left the earth: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has
come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and Judea and
Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.” As we consider how this applies
to us, individually and corporately over the next few years, we see that
to be his witnesses often means to be scattered and to be flexible.

Discussion Questions:

1. What do you do to prepare for the beginning of the year? Do you have a sense that your year starts in January? September?

2. Can you think of a time when you were anticipating something big that you had responsibilities for? What kind of emotions did you feel? How did you handle things as the deadline approached?

3. Can you think of a time when you had to move on from a context when you wanted to stay? What helped you during the transition? How did your relationship with Christ affect your response to the change?

4. Can you think of a time when you have experienced the Holy Spirit in a situation, and that has made a difference in the outcome in some way?

Read Psalm 73.

5. Have you ever felt like the wicked were going to win?

6. In the writer’s prayer, where do you see lament? Intercession? Request? Listening?

7. What is the result of the writer’s prayer?

8. What do you take away from this psalm? What resonates with you about the writer’s prayer?

9. What role does prayer have in your life?

Read Psalm 1.

10. How would you describe your habits of bible study? What makes it easy to study scripture? What makes it difficult?

11. Can you think of a way that the bible has impacted you in some way?

12. We talked about the model of the church as a rubber band, where we seek to bring people into the church and expand the rubber band as much as possible, versus the ring model, where we each have our hand on the ring that is Bethany, and reach out in order to invite others to be a part of a new ring. How do you respond to this? Which model resonates with you and why?

13. What other “ring” do you see yourself a part of?

14. What questions do you have about church planting? How do you see yourself as part of the idea of a church plant?

15. How do you see yourself fitting into the mission of being witnesses? Where do you sense God might be scattering you?