VOL. 7 ISSUE 1 | COMMUNITY BIBLE STUDY
1.What are you hungry for? 2.Who Me? Yes, You!! 3.#ItWorks! 4. Jenga, Jigsaws and Jesus 5. A Gift for YOU!! 6. Elevate Exclusive 7. Trending Now: 8. WHAAAT?
WHAT ARE YOU HUNGRY FOR? Have you heard this tag line in a current Stouffers commercial airing on television? The commercial highlights Ted Ginn Sr., who coaches track and football at Cleveland's Glenville High School. Over the course of his career, Ginn has helped numerous athletes reach the college level. Some have even played professionally, including his son Tedd Ginn Jr who currently suits up for the New Orleans Saints of the NFL. Ginn says, “Coaching is my life. It’s my joy. It’s what I do every day. I get up to get down every day for the kids and the parents.” He adds that he wants to make “more significant differences in kids’ lives than how they run down a football field or jump over hurdles.” To do this, he spends time around the dinner table with his students teaching, mentoring, and connecting with them. To Ginn, coaching is about more than winning. “I don’t coach to win games," he says at the end of the commercial. "I coach to change lives. I hunger to coach athletes into men.”
As leaders in Community Bible Study, we coach, mentor and connect with class members with the mission of making disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Are you hungry to make disciples?
Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 What is a disciple? An apprentice, a follower of Jesus. What is a disciple-maker? A Christian who enters into relationship with people to help them trust and follow Jesus. As leaders in Community Bible Study, we want to live our lives in a way that makes people want to follow us. Here are some practical ways we as CBS leaders can be disciple makers: TD – Share the Good News of the Gospel in your teachings. As you shepherd the Servants Team, are you asking about their personal walk with the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you modeling what the Lord is teaching you personally? ATD – How are your leaders growing through Leadership Development time? Remember you have 30 weeks – by the time you receive this issue of Elevate you will have only 22-24 weeks to make disciples. Set a new goal in LD time every 5-6 weeks. Be intentional about encouraging, developing and holding accountability. CL – Are you developing relationships with the men and women in your group? Do they know you care about them? Do they know you are praying for them? Do they know you love Jesus? CYL – Are you looking into the faces of your little people? Do you look into the eyes of the home school students and teens as they answer questions? Do you communicate how special they are? Do you let them see you pray? Coordinators – Do you communicate “Welcome, we are so glad you are here!” to class members as they walk in the door? Do you shepherd new attendees through the registration process and right into their core groups? PC – Are you modeling the significance of prayer? Do leaders and class members know that they can call on you to lift their need in prayer? Do you follow up with prayer requests and give the Lord glory for answers – and give hope in the waiting? AD – Are you faithful to communicate and pray for your TD’s? Do you encourage them to “build in breaks” to replenish and fill back up? Worship Leaders – You usher everyone who comes to class into worship with the King Most High! Are you purposeful and prayerful in your music selections? For suggested music selections for each study, CLICK HERE
“We gain by giving, we rise by bowing to serve, and we’re filled by pouring ourselves out to God and others.” ~Choco De Jesus
“When people fall in love with the people of God they will fall in love with God.” ~ Annie F. Downs
The call to be a Children and Youth Leader in a CBS class is an opportunity to impact the future of God’s kingdom forever, investing in the lives of the next generation. That involves time! And sometimes it seems that some of the time requirements could be streamlined, because the demands on our time are high. Within the call to be a CYL is God’s desired plan to disciple both the leader and the child. That happens: • During Leadership Development (LD) time for the leader • From carefully executed lessons for the children that are planned during Lesson Planning sessions. LD time easily fits into the timeframe of the Leaders Council portion of a CBS class. Lesson Planning typically happens outside of this time frame. The need to separate the two is intentional~ because if one doesn’t happen, the other is adversely affected. The discipling of both the leader and the child are less than the best! It works! When LD time focuses on leadership development, teachers are growing as leaders of excellence, allowing God to teach, feed, and love on them as His sheep. Likewise, when Lesson Planning happens, those taught, fed, and loved on leaders have prepared lessons of excellence and are ready to teach, feed, and love on their littler sheep! From the National CYM team comes this exciting observation: “No matter what class schedule you have, the teachers will be more prepared and growing as leaders, and the teaching will be excellent all around when both LD time and lesson planning are part of a CBS class.” #ItWorks!
JENGA, J I G S AW S &
JESUS
Jenga is a game of skill and strategy. Player s build a tower with designated pieces, then take turns carefully removing pieces in hopes that the tower doesn’t fall! Eventually, the tower falls due to lack of suppor t and weakness in its str ucture . A 500-piece jigsaw puzzle needs all its pieces as well. Just one small missing piece keeps the puzzle from being complete , even though the other 499 pieces are in place! So, when a Ser vants Team has a missing teammate does the team fall apar t or is the team now incomplete and ineffective? Not so! When you have a vacant ST position, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and regroup. Continue to pray for God to bring that leader, connect with your Area Director to keep them informed, and then begin to divide and conquer : • Examine the responsibilities of the role that’s vacant • Consider the strengths and skills of the current ST member s throughout all gener ations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)
• Divide up responsibilities with ST member s according to their gifts and talents, so that nothing of impor tance goes undone , and no one per son tries to fill the role alone . Also consider the skills and talents of your Leader s Council! Are you missing a Children and Youth Director? Look for a LC member that’s cr azy about crafts and ask them to help with that facet of the role . Waiting on God to provide a Coordinator? Check out the young LC member that’s great with technology and ask them to help with the class website , or to manage the things that require the use of Fisher. Even when there are leader ship needs and voids on the ST, discipling leader s continues in these ways: 1. Confidence grows among leader s as they see ST member s wor king together selflessly and as they see God use their gifts and talents for His kingdom. 2. Faith grows as they watch God provide . 3. Relationships with the Lord deepen as leader s tr ust Him, wait on Him, and follow His lead. Prayerful consideration is always the foundation for steps taken to fill a ST void. Be eager to seek God in these seemingly impossible scenarios, because you are asking the One “who is able to do far more abundantly than all we can ask or think, according to the power at wor k within us,…”. Then tr ust that the outcome will be: “to Him be glor y in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)
A social media graphics package has been created with your class in mind! Use these images to generate interest on Instagram or Facebook and provide a link to your class website . Use them all now in a series of posts to boost engagement with your class, or use them over the cour se of the year to build connection.
Click here .
What makes for quality discipleship? What are the things within a discipleship relationship that produce real growth? What did Jesus impart to His disciples and how did He do it? Jesus’ example is the very nature of discipleship we hope to model. Here are two components of quality discipleship:
1. Relational Building Jesus was involved in people’s lives. When you disciple someone, you’re not taking on a project, you’re investing in a person. Look at 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12, a classic passage where Paul talks vividly about his heart for the people in whom he invested in the city of Thessalonica. We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too. (NLT) These believers at Thessalonica weren’t just a crowd of people; they weren’t just objects or a project. These were people who Paul deeply loved. No matter how spiritually gifted you may be or how much theology you may know, “People won’t care what you know, until they know that you care.” Here are five ways to build discipleship relationships: • • • • •
Ask questions Listen Spend time together Encourage Be vulnerable
2. Word of God Quality discipleship involves getting the Word of God into someone’s life. We know what Romans 12:2 says – “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Don’t be conformed to this world - be changed, be transformed. But how? By getting the Word of God in your life, by the renewing of your mind with the Word of God. • God’s Word produces transformation. • God’s Word builds convictions for a lifetime. • God’s Word is the Truth. There is no perfect discipler. You learn to disciple by doing it. Do you hunger to see people come to know Jesus? Do you hunger to walk alongside people in life and in their pursuit of a relationship with Jesus? Do you hunger to watch those you disciple – disciple others? *excerpts taken from Cru.org, by Tim Henderson
The Last Arrow: Save Nothing for the Next Life - by Erwin Raphael McManus Erwin McManus grabs your interest from the get-go by informing his readers he is dying. Although he meant it in a spiritual context when he penned it, by the end of the book the statement takes on a much more literal meaning. When your days are numbered, every minute presents an opportunity to live life with all you've got. That's the message of The Last Arrow. Don't settle. Don't be mediocre. Don't save up energy and experiences for another day for another day is never promised to any of us. McManus beautifully illustrates stories of perseverance with biblical truths and takes you to the doorstep of your potential.
It’s Just a Phase So Don’t Miss It - by Reggie Joiner, Kristen Ivy A phase is a timeframe in kids' lives when you can leverage distinctive opportunities to influence their future. That means the whining infant, the dramatic fifth grader, and the stressed-out tenth grader are not just going through a phase that should be wished away. Instead, they are transitioning through a critical phase that you are called to discover, celebrate, and navigate strategically with them. As a parent and a leader don’t overestimate the time they have and underestimate the influence you have. None Like Him - by Jen Wilkin God is self-existent, self-sufficient, eternal, immutable, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, sovereign, infinite, and incomprehensible. We're not. And that's a good thing. Our limitations are by design. We were never meant to be God. But at the root of every sin is our rebellious desire to possess attributes that belong to God alone. Wilkin calls us to lift our eyes upward, to earnestly contemplate his attributes and to humbly acknowledge our own limits so that our hearts can be filled with wonder and rest in letting God be God.
1. What is the primary use for Remote Core Groups (RCG)?? • To extend the reach of your class in your community • To make the study of God’s Word accessible to those that can’t attend when/where your class meets 2. Is there a limit on the number of remote core groups that a class can have?? • No, a class can have as many RCGs as they’d like, and they can be in different locations or all at one. The needs of community will guide you as you pray. 3. What creative ways have classes used RCGs?? •Classes have had RCGs specifically for extending their Young Adult Outreach since so many YAs work or attend school. •Classes have used RCGs specifically to meet the needs of the Ethnos community with foreign language and ESL core groups. •Single gender classes have used RCGs to add opposite gender and co-ed core groups to the class while keeping the primary class single gender. To access Remote Core Group document on Fisher: Fisher>Resources and Courses>Remote Core Group Guidelines Leadership Development Team Amy Baker Helen Bradick Dawn Griffin Rick Hale Kristine MacDermott Jenny Shropshire
Elevate is a publication of the Leadership Development Team of Community Bible Study. Elevate is designed and published exclusively for use of Community Bible Study leaders. The views expressed by authors cited in this publication do not necessarily represent those of Community Bible Study.
The Leadership Development Team can be reached with comments or questions at lead@communitybiblestudy.org