GRACE Group Leaders
Building followers of Jesus
Christ…
12/20/07
…offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God,
dedicated to his service and pleasing to him.
This is the true worship that you should offer. Romans 12:1
GRACE – Authentic Worship -
Worship happens everyday, throughout the
day, as we pray, sing, give thanks, ask for guidance, meditate on the Word, and
choose God’s will over our own.
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New in the Small Groups Library |
Living In Pursuit of God –
6 Session DVD Study from
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus looks beyond our actions to the
attitudes that motivate us. He looks
beneath the surface of our prayers and religious activities, and get s to the
very heart of the matter. He teaches us
a whole new way of living.
This six week DVD study is part of larger verse by verse look at
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. In this
series your group will look at Matthew 6:1-24 for an in depth study of the
Lord’s Prayer, fasting, materialism, and storing up treasures in heaven.
This is a great study for groups looking to grow closer to
God. As always, you can borrow the DVD
from the Small Groups Office for the duration of your groups study. Discussion Guides for each member can be
purchased at
http://www.purposedriven.com/en-US/Resources/SmallGroupMinistry/Curriculum/InsideOutLiving.htm#SeriesID_31
.
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Metro Kidz |
If your group is looking for a great serving opportunity that
would make a significant impact in the community then you might consider
working with our very own Colleen Smith.
Colleen is working through
Metro Kidz Dinner: G.R.A.C.E.
Groups can serve Metro Kidz at Charm City Church by preparing a meal that will
serve between 75-100 kids, the meal does not have to be elaborate, it can be
mac & cheese with hot dogs, lasagna/garlic bread, sandwiches/chips etc; easy
foods that would be easy for groups to make. Groups are invited to stay and
serve the meal that they have prepared and spend time in
fellowship with the kids and volunteers that they have served. Food needs
to be prepared ahead of time but can be re-heated at the church. We serve the
kids dinner no later than 8:10 p.m.
Wednesday Night
Special Event Volunteer: The third Wednesday evening of the month is
our "fun" themed night. We've done sock hops, movie nights, fall
festivals and are planning beach parties, game nights etc. It's always helpful
to have a few extra hands to assist with games, hanging out with the kids and
"crowd" control :)!
Saturday
Adopt-A-Block: Even though colder days are here, there is still
opportunities to serve the Charm City Church neighbors, staff and church
members through adopt-a-block. On days when it's not snowing or raining we'll
continue to bundle up and hit the streets for prayer walks, a time of
fellowship and cleaning the streets. While hitting the streets is not for
everyone, there are plenty of indoor projects that need to be tended too such
as organizing the clothes closet, painting, and helping to set up classrooms.
For more info contact Colleen
Smith (443) 874-2085 (Office) (443) 538-7841 (Cell) colleensamantha@yahoo.com
Check
out www.charmcity-colleen.blogspot.com
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“Why Do We Have to Pay for Adam and Eve’s Mistake??” |
This question was discussed at a recent Starting Point group
meeting. It was looked at from several angles.
Maybe you’ve talked about it in your group as well. I would love to hear what your group thinks...
The opening pages of the Bible relate the account of the first
humans disobeying God. It's a tragic story: Adam and Eve ignored God's
instruction and ate the forbidden fruit. As a result, brokenness, shame,
sorrow, and death have plagued humanity ever since. The apostle Paul described
the ramifications of the "Fall" into sin this way: "sin entered
the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to
all people." (Romans 5:12, TNIV)
Now, this story raises two obvious questions. First, why is it
such a big deal that Adam and Eve ate one piece of fruit? Why such horrible
consequences? Second, why do we have to suffer these consequences for Adam and
Eve's sin? It just doesn't seem fair that all men, women, and children that
have ever lived or will ever live have to pay the penalty for Adam and Eve's
actions.
For starters, we should recognize what Adam and Eve's sin
represented. Genesis portrays how, by disobeying God, Adam and Eve doubted his
goodness (God must be keeping something from us), didn't trust his provision
for them (God didn't give us enough with all the other trees in the Garden),
and believed that they knew better than God (God must have been mistaken when
he told us not to eat from this tree). They stubbornly challenged his goodness,
wisdom, and authority by defying his instruction. This is the heart of all sin:
distrust of God (and others) and choosing to follow our own selfish desires.
And we all know what results when distrust and selfishness take root... broken
relationships, broken lives, pain, sorrow, and regret. Sin breaks our spirits,
and even our physical bodies. God is not unaware; he knows that our selfish
choices lead to self-destruction and he loves us too much to ignore our plight.
He made us to reflect his character, enjoy his creation, and be his
children--not to self-destruct. No wonder our sin is such a big deal to him.
But that still leaves the question: why do we suffer the
consequences of Adam and Eve's sin? Here we are, thousands of years later, and
it feels like we're paying the penalty for their disobedience. Far from being
an academic discussion, this is an extremely personal issue for many of us.
When circumstances get tough, when life comes crumbling down, or when tragedy
strikes too close to home, it just doesn't seem fair that we're still taking
the fall for the Fall. But this is a deeply theological issue as well. It
raises questions about the nature of human sin and whether the Bible can be
trusted to accurately describe our predicament. Let's consider a preliminary
thought.
Perhaps we're currently paying the consequences of our sins, not
Adam and Eve's. Let's be honest, we're all sinners. The Bible makes this clear
in places like Psalm 14:1-3 and James 2:8-11. But you don't need to read the
Bible to affirm that we're all sinners; we know this truth from simple
observation and self-awareness. Everyone has faults; no one is perfect; we all treat
others wrongly from time to time. There's simply no debate about this. So, if
we're all sinners, then maybe we're not really suffering the direct
consequences of Adam and Eve's sin, but of our own. Read the rest of Paul's
statement: "sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin,
and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned." (Romans
5:12, TNIV) In other words, Adam's poor choice thousands of years ago is
somehow related to our poor choices today. But we suffer "death" (Paul
uses this term to refer to all the consequences of sin, chief of which is
physical and spiritual death--the loss of life and separation from God) because
of our own sins. So, before we question whether or not it's someone else's
fault for this quandary we're in, let's not forget that we're all sinners, we
all contribute to the problem, and we're all in need of forgiveness.
But, why are we all sinners? Let's examine a few possibilities.
Perhaps, we simply continue to follow Adam and Eve's poor example. God informed
them of the consequences of eating from the one tree that he warned them about.
And yet, they still disobeyed. Are we any different? We know the consequences
of gossiping, cheating, losing our tempers, laziness, or promiscuity. And yet,
that doesn't stop us from talking about people behind their backs, fudging the
numbers at work, unloading our frustrations on family members, neglecting our
responsibilities, or sleeping around. The list could go on. You'd think we
would learn from Adam and Eve's mistake, but we have trouble learning from our
own mistakes. We know better, and yet we can't seem to do better.
Maybe we inherit this inclination to sin biologically. In other
words, maybe sin is like a disease that Adam and Eve passed down to all who came
from them; like those who are predisposed to alcoholism, we are born with the
propensity to sin. King David seemed to confirm this. After committing adultery
and murder, he exclaimed: "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the
time my mother conceived me." (Psalm 51:5, TNIV) He wasn't making excuses
for his behavior, as we shouldn't for ours. No one forced David to give in to
his temptations and then try to cover up his sin by making it worse. But
perhaps this dynamic explains where we (and David) got our sinful nature in the
first place.
It's also possible that we're sinful because Adam and Eve
represented all of humanity. Perhaps, we were all there in the Garden
metaphorically such that we also sinned "in and with Adam."
Therefore, our current sinful choices reveal our identification with Adam as
our representative. Or, to put it another way, Adam and Eve made a poor choice
that we all would have made had we been in their place. In this sense, we're
all in this mess together. We're all broken from sin and death as long as we
remain "in Adam."
But, there is good news. Through his perfect life, his
sacrificial death for our sins, and his resurrection and victory over death,
Jesus offers you and me new life. Sin and death need not have the last word any
more. By following the way of Jesus and placing our trust in him, we can become
the people God created us to be. "In Christ," we are made new.
"For," the apostle Paul writes, "if, by the trespass of the one
man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive
God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in
life through the one man, Jesus Christ!" (Romans 5:17, TNIV)
Thanks for all you do!
Information, questions, comments.
240-553-1090 ext. 111
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G.R.A.C.E. Group.