St. John’s Lent Courses
Lent 2010
This year Homegroups followed one of the two courses that were on offer: ‘21M’ by CMS or ‘6 steps to talking about Jesus’ by Simon Manchester. These 2 courses are designed to help us in our ‘Reaching Out’ for this year.
Creation to Covenant (Lent 2009)
The “Growing Together” theme for this year at St. John’s is all about growth, unity, development and discipleship. This series of six studies based on Genesis 1-18 is designed to strengthen our understanding of God and inspire us to have a bigger vision of God’s plans and purposes. The greater our understanding of God the greater will be the transformation we experience in our lives. Alongside this study, many people at St. John’s have taken up the challenge to read the Bible in a Year and we hope that “Creation to Covenant” will connect and inform what you are reading from the Bible each day.
There are many ways in which our study in Genesis can shape and inform our life together. Here are 10 applications which readily sprung to mind:
- God is creator and he alone can bring about growth and blessing
- God is able to redeem our lives and community from the mess and mishaps we encounter
- God has a long term commitment and plan for his people which provides safety, protection and purpose – characteristics which are effective in promoting growth and well being
- God’s intention is to bring blessing to the whole earth, not one chosen family or subculture: his compassion and generosity can shape and challenge us
- God takes hold of lives that are open to serving him and uses them unexpectedly and supernaturally to bring blessing to others
- God is present and involved in the world in a way which challenges contemporary culture and brings about good where evil abounds
- God designed us to be fruitful and to bear his image in our world
- All the resources required for growth can be found in God
- An individual’s lifestyle, choices, relationships and behaviour are important to God
- Although we can experience God in a personal way, God’s purposes are much greater than his dealings with “my” life – he is the God of history and the God of the ends of the earth
Please feel free to use these studies in a flexible way according to the needs of your group – if you don’t understand a question then move on to the next one; if you can think of a more relevant question for your group, please use it. We have tried to include a variety of theological, reflective and interactive questions and activities in the hope that you will be able to see how relevant Genesis is to our lives. Please let us know how the course is working for you and ask us if we can help you further in your studies.
St. John’s memory verse for the year is taken from the New Testament letter to the Ephesians. In this letter, Paul is describing how God has an eternal plan to unite people in a relationship with himself and in a mature and diverse community with each other. The values and theology of Genesis are clearly the foundations for Paul’s vision of the church. God is a good creator and loves his people, calling us the body of Christ and making us healthy, growing and full of love.
He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
Ephesians 4:16, New Living Translation
Peter Farley-Moore
Vicar, St. John’s Blackheath
Meeting God with Luke and Samuel (Lent 2008)
“Meeting God” is an aspect of life at St. John’s which I believe is crucial for all of us in 2008. These study series have been written in the hope that we would encounter God together. The aim of the studies is to provide us with a framework for reading through the biblical narratives and learning from the lives of the main characters.
Each week there is a section of scripture to read. Please take time to do this reading, as it is important to engage with the texts themselves rather than our memory of the stories. You may find that some of the questions don’t connect with you or you may think of better questions to discuss! That’s fine, please feel free to use these guides in a flexible way – they are guides and not straight jackets.
My hope is that these studies will provide an opportunity to learn the history of the Bible, be inspired by the characters and make connection with our daily lives. It is important to make space for everyone to discuss and pray about the ordinary issues of life that are touched on by these books.
The sermons that complement this study series are available on the Sermon Audio page.
Peter Farley-Moore
Vicar, St. John’s Blackheath
