Bible Study Lesson Plans SMBC Senior Adults

March 25, 2010 Bobbye Lott Outreach Committee South Main Baptist Church 4100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77002

Share Campaign 2010 | Bible Study Lesson Plan

Table of Contents  Week 1, April 11 - Live Your Life .................................................................. 3 Week 2, April 18 - Learn—about the person we want to share with ..............6 Week 3, April 25 - Listen----notice opportunities God places in front of you 9 Week 4, May 2 - Share….your faith….your family of God ........................... 12 

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Share Campaign 2010 | Bible Study Lesson Plan Week 1, April 11 - Live Your Life Matthew 5:13-16 Key question: Does your life reflect God? Today we begin a four week church wide emphasis on sharing—sharing our faith and sharing about our church. We are in the middle of a marketing plan to announce to the surrounding community that, yes, we are a traditional church but we aren’t stuck in a rut---“fresh faith, vintage church.” We at South Main are really good at accepting and welcoming people when they get here, but how are we doing at sharing outside of church in our daily lives? Before we can consider discussing faith with someone or even just inviting them to church, we must consider that they will be hearing that message or invitation through the filter of their experience with us. When Jesus said, “let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven”, he was really talking about how our actions speak louder than our words. Many people today have a negative impression of religion largely due to people they have seen or know who claim to be Christians, but seem to behave in ways that they don’t want to have anything to do with. They see many Christians as caring more about the rules than about people, the hypocrisy of people who say one thing and then do another, people who act “holier than thou”, people claiming to be Christians behaving badly, etc. This isn’t to say that we must be “perfect” Christians in order to talk about faith with someone, but we need to be honest with them about how we are not perfect and how we struggle. We must be pure in our intentions to genuinely care for other people. If our intention is to sell someone on being a Christian rather than caring and engaging people honestly and letting God work through our interactions, then we cannot succeed. Can people pick you out of a line up as being a Christian? Oh! Don’t we wish! Have you ever said something or done something (especially when driving or standing in a long line with inconsiderate people) and immediately thought, “I hope they don’t know I go to South Main!”? At the Walgreen’s in my neighborhood is a cashier who wears her Christianity beautifully, from the angel pin on her dress to her sweet southern voice and manner. In the twenty or more years she has stood at that register, I’ve never seen her lose patience, no matter how angry or rude a customer may be. One day as I handed her my check with a Bible verse printed on it, I grumbled that they had rearranged the store and I couldn’t find things where I expected them to be. She smiled, and in her very soft voice, Magnolia said, “I used to have a Bible verse sticker on my car and I had to be very careful the way I drove.” Her gentle response told me I was not living up to the way I hoped to live. I read a quote from Dr. Harold DeWolf, in which he wrote, “The New Testament church engaged in evangelism as naturally and normally as a robin sings or a happy child 3|Page

Share Campaign 2010 | Bible Study Lesson Plan plays.” That’s what we are praying will be accomplished in this study of sharing our faith. Dr. DeWolf’s statement brings an image to my mind of Charles Schulz’s “Peanuts” character, Pigpen. Everywhere he goes, dirt is flaking off him and scattering all around. I picture our sharing of Christ’s love floating around us and settling on others. How do we measure up to Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:13-16? Cecil Sherman calls this the “You Are” Passages. “You are like salt for all mankind.” We are a small presence that changes the taste of the whole meal. “You are like light for the whole world.” Being like a bright light on a tall pole, we are there for all to see the product of Jesus’ teachings. Matthew’s style was to gather several of Jesus’ teachings from a common theme to present to us in a neat package. This passage could have been spoken in a single sermon, but Dr. Sherman writes that he thinks Matthew gathered these ideas over the whole of Jesus’ ministry, and presented them in what we know as the Sermon on the Mount. What are some things people see in the way we live our lives which might help or hurt our ability to communicate out faith? (positive or negative attitude, patience, treatment of people of lower social status, honesty, acceptance, gossip, priorities, self righteousness, judgementalness, hippocracy, etc. Jesus had something to say about people who are gaudy in their religion in Matthew 6:118. We are not to do our praying, our giving, or our fasting to be seen of people. So how do we find a way for others to see our faith as followers of Jesus? What are some thoughts and ideas of what this “share” emphasis should not be? (examples) To knock on doors, invading people’s privacy-- not a safe thing to do in Houston. To encourage only those who are good at outreach—doesn’t include me To put “Baptist guilt” on me for not doing my part To only increase our numbers at South Main What are some thoughts and ideas of what our sharing should be? (examples) To be aware that our actions and words should reflect our faith To become aware of believers who don’t have a church home To become aware of people who are not believers To recognize our influence on those who are skeptical of Christians To become aware of opportunities to share in everyday conversations (Remember Steve’s sharing in sermons about a couple he and Ben encountered on the train on the way to an Astros game; and the small group of medical people on a plane headed for Peru to do missions work, with no way to get their supplies into the country.)

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Share Campaign 2010 | Bible Study Lesson Plan If Steve had not been aware of the people around him, he would have missed the opportunity to share the connection of God working in our lives. When Randall O’Brien was our Interim Pastor, he used an illustration of “Saint Thomas” [Coker] and “Saint Bobbye” inviting people to South Main. St. Thomas had to work alone, bringing one new person at a time, but St. Bobbye’s new people each brought more new people with them. Soon, one side of the church was full and running over, while the other side had only a few new people. The Church Staff can’t do it all. We are called to do our part in sharing with everyone we come in contact with. How do we do that without turning people off? Being aware of the way people perceive us may be a great incentive to make some changes in our behavior. As we go through our everyday activities, looking for opportunities to share our faith will bring surprises of the doors that open to us. We just have to have faith to stick our foot in that door, being careful not to stick it in our mouth. One of my favorite Chafin-isms is, “I only take my foot out of my mouth when I’m changing feet!” We’ll be exploring ways to connect in the next three Sundays, and hopefully for a long time after that, praying that the Holy Spirit will move the people of South Main to live lives worthy of the name Christian, using our gifts to be aware of the opportunities God gives us to share His love with others.

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Share Campaign 2010 | Bible Study Lesson Plan Week 2, April 18 - Learn—about the person we want to share with Matthew 9:9-13 Key question: How does relationship affect our ability to share our faith? Have you ever tried to have a conversation with someone who, instead of listening to what you had to say, was intent on what they would say next? Or, they were so involved in giving advice about your situation, you couldn’t even finish your part in the discussion---someone who had all the answers? How did that make you feel? Probably less than eager to spend much time in that person’s presence. Are you sometimes that person who has an answer for every situation? Do you give of your time to just listen—to let someone tell their story without interrupting? For some os us, the gift of learning from others must be acquired—the act of listening. If we are to establish relationships with those we hope to share our faith with, we must learn to genuinely listen to their story—to learn their faith, or lack of it, to be able to share our own. Let’s see how Jesus became involved in a person’s life he wanted to share with, Matthew 9:9-13 Do you think Jesus had already established a relationship with Matthew before he said, “Follow Me”? The text doesn’t tell of any contact prior to this call, leaving us to imagine there had been none. Cecil Sherman writes, “I think that unlikely. But since the text is silent, you know I am giving you my opinion here. This is not from the Bible. 1. Jesus was all around Galilee. This calling took place at Capernaum. Jesus preached often there…..He was known. Almost certainly Matthew had had several chances to hear and watch Jesus. 2. Jesus attracted Matthew. He was not just a money-grubbing, green-eyed, greedy man. Somewhere inside the man was the capacity to thing unselfish, noble thoughts. Jesus saw this goodness inside Matthew. 3. Jesus appealed to the best side of Matthew. Jesus ‘said to him, Follow Me. And he got up and followed him.’ He left financial security and he left the things money can buy…..He didn’t hesitate to think about it. He knew his mind. He chose Jesus.” Cecil Sherman Formations Commentary Matthew wanted to see what Jesus had to offer, and he wanted his friends to know, too, so he had a party for them all, Jesus, his disciples, tax collectors, sinners. Not all translations of Matthew say it was at his house, but Luke 5:29 states it took place at Levi’s (Matthew’s ) house.

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Share Campaign 2010 | Bible Study Lesson Plan Of course the Pharisees grumbled about Jesus associating with tax collectors and sinners! I have a personal story that’s burning to get out! Thirty-six years ago, my family moved into the house I still live in. Another family moved two doors down at the same time. One afternoon, my new Catholic neighbor and I were visiting in the driveway of the still under construction house between ours. Her five year old son came out and said, “Mama, Daddy said for you to come in the house and stop fraternizing with the Baptists.” After all these years, we still laugh about it, and we can and do share our innermost feelings with each other. Could Jesus and Matthew have shared a laugh later about the grumbling of the Pharisees that day? This is not the only time we’ve seen Jesus associating with sinners. Jesus must have fit right in at the party, listening to Matthew and his friends, getting to know them, establishing friendships—maybe even attracting followers. He was accepting of the other guests, putting them at ease. Jesus could be in the company of sinners, causing them to want to hear what he had to say. Well—he’s still hanging out with sinners today—here we are! Jesus had a purpose in where he was going with this social contact. He answered the questions the Pharisees asked his disciples: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Again from Dr. Sherman’s commentary: “Always church people need to ‘get in touch’ with this text. The Pharisee spitir is not dead; it travels incognito. Always we are tempted to close the church. We want pure people like us…and no more lest we be dirtied by associating with the unwashed. So churches become clubs rather than the open inviting, serving places Jesus meant them to be. Let’s try to use this lesson to open our churches to all people Jesus touched. And if we do, we will have a diverse company when we gather on a Sunday morning. This will not dilute our message; it will give us an audience for it.” When we establish meaningful relationships with people who “are not like us”, then we will be able to share the joy of relationship with God. Who do you know who is missing out on a personal relationship with God? Is it someone who used to be active in Christian fellowship, but no longer is? Might that person accept an invitation to attend a South Main at Home group, or come with you to a special event? (Youth Dessert Theater “Beauty and the Beast”, Holy Week noon services, Bach to Broadway, Missions Day, etc.) This from Steve Rader, chair of the Outreach Committee: “Have you ever read a great book or seen an amazing movie and you just have this urge to share that with someone? ‘Have you seen it? Oh man, it’s such a great story….And the characters are so amazing…you HAVE to see it!’ That is how it should be with our faith. We are sitting on the most powerful and amazing information in the

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Share Campaign 2010 | Bible Study Lesson Plan universe….God’s love and redemption for our lives!....How can we not share that? How can we not be excited about it in ways that just make us want to burst at the seams?” Lord, help us overcome our fear and hesitation with sharing your love. Help us to be genuine and honest as we build relationships with those we are in contact with in our lives. Give us a burning desire to tell your story.

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Share Campaign 2010 | Bible Study Lesson Plan Week 3, April 25 - Listen----notice opportunities God places in front of you Colossians 4:2-6 Key question: How can we be aware of moments to touch the lives of others? Do you sometimes ask a family member or friend, “How was your day today?” or “What did you do this week-end?” or “How was church this morning?” What if you rephrased those questions into, “What did you notice today—at work, your meeting, church, etc.?” How often would you get the response, “I haven’t taken the time to notice anything today”? Might that be your response if you were asked? Sometimes we get so caught up in our agenda, we close our minds to what is happening around us. Being aware of our surroundings takes practice. The Apostle Paul, in Romans 12:2, warns Christ-followers against living life unaware, paraphrased in The Message, “Don’t become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it.” As we begin to notice opportunities God puts before us in our lives, we will become aware that they are all around us. Since I began studying to prepare these lessons on sharing our faith, I have become open to noticing and responding to these bits of connection. After a morning of study and fellowship in my South Main at Home group, those who can, meet for lunch. As I exited my car, a woman came out of Starbucks carrying the most delicious looking frozen coffee concoction. I said, “Mmmm, that looks good!” She stepped back up on the curb and opened the door for me to enter. I said, “Thanks, but I’m not going there. I’m going around the corner to meet my Bible study group for lunch. Would you join us?” She responded with “How wonderful that you can study God’s word anywhere! He is so good!” Our conversation continued a few minutes before we each went on our way. Not everyone has the gift of “never meeting a stranger”. It came from my daddy. Shortly after we married, Harold and I were visiting my parents. Daddy invited Harold to join him at the corner café for his mid-morning coffee break. While they were sitting at the counter, a man came in and Daddy whacked him on the back and said, “Have a seat and let me buy you a cup of coffee:” Harold felt a little left out that Daddy didn’t even offer to introduce him. After the man left, Harold asked who he was. Daddy said, “I don’t know. I’ve never seen that young feller before.” Ah—my inheritance—the gift of hospitality? While standing in line to pick up a prescription, a woman came in and instead of getting in line behind me, she walked right up and plopped her purchases on the counter. She was wearing a t-shirt with the Marine insignia on it, and she looked the part—shoulders 9|Page

Share Campaign 2010 | Bible Study Lesson Plan back, arms folded across her chest. My usual reaction would have been to give her a look along with a disgusted huff. But, since doing this study, I surprised even myself as I thought, she must be in a hurry, and I’m not. When the cashier asked her name, she turned to me and said, “She’s next.” I thanked her, and in my surprise and inability to put my brain in gear before my mouth starts, brilliantly said, “You have on a Marine tshirt.” She said, “My grandson is a marine.” I asked, “Where is he?” “Afghanistan, please pray for him,” was her response. I quietly said, “I will. What is his name?” Through the thoughtfulness of one, and the need of the other, these two women and I were able to connect to share God’s goodness and his protection. Neither experience was earth shattering—but each one made an impact on my day. Do we choose to be quiet and private about our faith? If we take Paul’s words in Colossians 4:2-6, we will take advantage of opportunities when they come our way. Paul shows us the order for sharing our faith. He make it clear that prayer is first: to devote ourselves or persevere in prayer, keep praying, be watchful and thankful. Some translations use the word vigilant, translated from Greek to be wakeful. Concentrate about what you are saying to God, not muttering halfway some rote request or thanksgiving. Then Paul asked for prayers for himself—not for his well being or release from prison, but for his work in sharing the Gospel. Do we pray for God to open doors for us to share our faith? A group of our church family, set aside for that purpose, has been praying for many weeks that South Main will find renewal during this Share Campaign. I have already seen renewal in my own opportunities. Paul asked for prayer that he would proclaim it clearly—certainly a reminder for us to pray for each other to do the same. You may not feel comfortable in sharing with some stranger standing in line or out on a sidewalk, but your prayers make a difference to those who do act on those openings. Next Paul gets really up close and personal. “Be wise in the way you act…..Behave yourselves wisely” to those outside the church—all the time, wherever we are, whoever we are with, whether friends or strangers. William Barklay, in his commentary, spells this scripture out for us: 1. The Christian must behave himself with wisdom and with tact towards those who are outside the Church…he must know when and when not to speak to others about his religion and theirs. He must never give the impression of superiority and of censorious criticism. The Christian must remember that it is not so much by his words as by his life that he will attract people to, or repel them from, Christianity. 2. The Christian must be a (person) on the outlook for opportunity…. Daily life and work are continually offering opportunities to witness….and to influence people (for Christ)—but there are so many who avoid the opportunities instead of embracing them. 3. The Christian must have charm and wit in his speech so that he may know how to give the right answer in every case…..It is all too true that Christianity in the minds of

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Share Campaign 2010 | Bible Study Lesson Plan many is connected with a kind of sanctimonious dullness and an outlook in which laughter is almost a heresy. Paul, and Dr. Barklay, are cautioning against some forms of God talk that can actually undermine the possibility of opening a door for sharing. We are not to go blundering in, in our hobnail boots, kicking the door down, asking, “What kind of religion are you currently not practicing?” We are to always be full of grace. To do this we need to look at ourselves as more than just “church people”. We must begin to think of ourselves as witnesses. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14

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Share Campaign 2010 | Bible Study Lesson Plan Week 4, May 2 - Share….your faith….your family of God Matthew 28:19-20 and Romans 10-14-15 Key question: How can we become more effective in sharing our faith and our church with others? This is the fun part of this four week study called Live, Learn, Listen, and Share. We are rewarded today with sharing our faith stories with each other. You may say, “I know what I believe, I just don’t know haw to say it!” To share your story, you don’t have to begin with when you first believed, your baptism, or your conversion. You have acquired lots of faith stories over the years. Do you remember the little book the church gave to each family last fall, Squire Rushnell’s, God Winks? During that time, we were enjoying a church wide emphasis on God’s hand revealed in our lives. If you attended the Sr. Adult Retreat at Trinity Pines last October, you heard and shared many stories of incidences in our lives that could have been considered a coincidence, but we recognized it as God, reaching in to touch us. At every meal, people were sharing their own God Winks around the tables. We had a lot of fun with those, shared some very private moments with each other, shed more than a few tears, realizing the nearness of God in everyday occurrences. We discovered that faith-sharing is founded in God’s love. The church is called to spread the gospel—to share our faith with the world by telling of God’s love and His presence in our lives. Yet, faith sharing is not a program of the church—instead, the church is a ministry of faith-sharing. In each program of the church,---every Bible study group, ministry and mission,---the reason behind it is to share our faith with the ones sitting beside us and those who are outside our doors—our neighbors close by and those far away. We are not only called to be sharers of the good news of Jesus Christ, we are given the power to do this ministry. Acts 1:8, Luke writes: (Jesus said) “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Christians are out there in a world full of stories. People are telling stories over a shared meal, during a bridge game, around the 42 table—wherever conversations take place. It is during those gatherings that opportunities pop up to share a story of our own—a faithsharing. One of the most rewarding aspects of my South Main at Home group is that we allow time for free flow of honest conversation, questioning, probing, even doubts. We share our joys and our pain. We are willing to listen to each other’s stories with love, not 12 | P a g e

Share Campaign 2010 | Bible Study Lesson Plan giving advice or criticism. This friendship and trust has been growing in some for over 50 years—but it doesn’t take that long to learn to share stories with others. As we share our faith stories with those we trust, it becomes easier to be open to share with those we don’t know as well. The more we speak of our faith, the easier it becomes to share. In Romans 10:14-15, Paul asked some probing questions, stirring our commitment to obey Jesus command, (not a suggestion!) in the Great Commission: Matthew 28:19-20. William Barklay in his commentary states that in the previous passage Paul has been saying that the way to God is not by works and legalism, but of faith and trust. Then Paul deals with the objection: What if the Jews (or Gentiles!) never hear of that? He deals with it by saying, “You cannot call on God unless you believe in him. You cannot believe in him unless you hear about him. You cannot hear about him unless there is someone to proclaim the good news. There can be no one to proclaim the good news unless God commissions someone to do so.” And then Paul quotes Isaiah 52:7. Jesus’ commission is clear: go and make disciples, baptizing them, teaching them---Eugene Peterson, in The Message, paraphrases it, “I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day……” In the introduction of Bill Turner’s book, Anytime, Anywhere, he writes, “Christian faith is not just a deeply inward journey…..It’s also about passing on to others what we know and about inviting them to join the journey of faith. And if we don’t do that, our own inner growth will be stunted and our faith will be underdeveloped. Dr. Turner writes about priceless Stradivarius violins needing to be played, or they will deteriorate, comparing our Christian faith-----that it must be shared, or it, too, will deteriorate. “We spend a lot of time polishing, refining, and taking care of …our faith…but it needs to be played as well.” (Provide paper and pens for the class to write their story, using as examples ones that have been published in South Main Today or the church website or blog. Ask those who are willing, to read or share their story with the class, or with the person sitting beside them.)

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