Author: Dan Conway

Dear Christ Church Small Group Leaders,

   Attached is the discussion guide for “Remembering the Long Way,” our second stop in the wilderness; the Israelites in the wilderness of Zin about to enter the Promised Land in Deuteronomy 8:1-10. 

Pastor Temple’s and Pastor Johnson’s messages are available on www.christchurchsl.org/sermons.  

Leader Tips:

#1- The parallel of today’s messages with the church-wide study in the Sunday School classes is video session 2 and chapter 4 in theLand Without Borders book by Dr. Jack A. Beck (How God Uses The Wilderness). 

#2- This book is available at Jacob’s Well for $10 as is the daily Lenten devotional book Listen To Him for the same price. 

#3-  This Tuesday at 8am, I will be meeting in Jacob’s Well with any Small Group, Bible study or Sunday school class leaders who wish to come to talk about John Wesley’s writing “The Character of a Methodist.”

May God bless you all as you meet in his name and seek his presence and guidance as a group in this season of Lent. 

Dan Conway

Pastor of Discipleship & Outreach

Christ Church

Dear Small Group Leaders of Christ Church,

    Welcome to our Lenten journey through the wilderness!  The first stop is Transfiguration Mountain.  Attached is the discussion guide for the morning messages- Settling In or Setting Out. 

The sermon video is online at www.christchurchsl.org/sermons. 

    Note: the Land Without Borders Study is being done in many of the adult Sunday school classes.  I am continuing to offer a different experience in the small groups with the sermon based discussion guides so that those small group members who are also in Sunday school classes will not have to do the same study twice in two different groups.

Leader Tips:

1. For those not in a Sunday School class who would like to do the Land Without Border’s study, they are welcome to join the Pastor-Led Bible study on this course on Thursdays at 7pm in Jacob’s Well.
2. The recommended devotional book for Lent- “Listen To Him” by J.D. Walt is on sale in Jacob’s Well or the church office for $10.  It is based on the gospel of Luke and follows the journey of Jesus from the Mount of Transfiguration to the empty tomb.  Also available online.
3. Discipleship Leader’s Breakfasts are continuing on Tuesdays at 8am in Jacob’s Well.  All teachers or group leaders are welcome to join me for a time of Biblical teaching and prayer.
4. Additional copies of the most recent issue of Christ Church magazine are available in the ministry information racks. 

Your Co-laborer In Christ,

Dan Conway

Pastor of Discipleship & Outreach

Christ Church

Dear Small Group Leaders of Christ Church,

     Attached is the discussion guide for this week’s message “The Power of One,” Ephesians 4:1-16. 

The sermon video is available athttps://www.christchurchsl.org/sermons/.  Please forward the guide and link to your small group in a friendly email reminder of you meeting this week.  You may also wish to include the following announcements:

1. Ash Wednesday worship services this week at Christ Church are at 7am and 7pm in the sanctuary.
2. Christ Church’s new recommended daily devotional for the season of lent “Listen To Him: Forty Days on the Road to Resurrection” will be available for sale at Jacob’s Well starting on Ash Wednesday (also available on Kindle or by email subscription atwww.seedbed.com/dailytext
3. The church-wide study during lent, Land Without Borders by John A. Beck (Jack Beck), is starting this week in the adult Sunday school classes and on Thursday nights 7-8pm in the Gathering Hall with the pastors leading.  Related themes and scriptures will also be present in the Sunday morning services as well. 
4. All teachers, leaders or rotating teachers in Sunday school classes, Bible studies or small groups are invited to join pastor Dan on Tuesday mornings 8-9am in the Gathering Hall for Discipleship Leader’s Breakfasts.

Your Co-worker in Christ,

Dan Conway

Pastor of Discipleship & Outreach

Christ Church

Dear Small Group Leaders of Christ Church,

       Attached is the discussion guide for this week’s small group meetings on “Blessed & Distressed.” 

The sermon videos are not yet on the website but both versions can be viewed directly at the youtube links below…

    As you all meet this week, know that your members may be bringing questions about what they are hearing in the media about the General Conference meeting of the Methodist Church that is meeting this week in St. Louis.  You may wish to share this link as a source of information https://www.txcumc.org/GC2019 from the Annual Conference.  Please be in prayer for the UMC as differences in viewpoints on human sexuality, the Book of Discipline and questions about church governance are addressed by the only legal body that can truly speak for the United Methodist Church.  

Your Co-laborer in Christ,

Dan Conway

Pastor of Discipleship & Outreach

Christ Church

Dear Small Group Leaders of Christ Church,

    Another busy Sunday!  Sorry I am emailing out the discussion guides a little later than usual.  The discussion guide is attached.  Both sermon messages are available at https://www.christchurchsl.org/sermons/.   

Also, in case you are interested, Pastor’s Temple from Tuesday night at the Well on Human Sexuality and the Methodist Mess is also on the website at –https://www.christchurchsl.org/messages/united-or-untied-methodists-marriage-and-the-mess-were-in/.   Prayers for our upcoming General Conference meeting of the denomination that begins this Sunday.  Each Teusday morning I meet with Discipleship leader’s at 8am for coffee and a time of teaching and prayer about an aspect of discipleship.  Y’all are welcome to join us, lately we have been talking about sanctification and spiritual formation.

    I’ll keep you all in prayer as you reflect on God’s Word together and its relevance to your daily living.  Thanks for being a part of the discipleship ministries of Christ Church!

Your Co-laborer In Christ,

Dan Conway

Pastor of Discipleship & Outreach

Christ Church

Dear Small Group Leader’s of Christ Church,

Attached is the discussion guide for this week.  I am just sending the guide for now, announcements and leader tips may be coming later.  Busy day today!

Peace and Grace,

Dan Conway

Pastor of Discipleship & Outreach

Christ Church

Dear Small Group Leaders of Christ Church,

     Attached is this week’s discussion guide for “In The Power Of The Spirit,” Luke 4:14-21.  The sermons are not yet separated out and placed on the church website, but should be there sometime Monday morning.  However, the whole services are on http://christchurch.yourstreamlive.com/  and after selecting the service, one can fast forward to the sermon portion of the video to view. 

Leader Tips:

#1  Ministry Opportunities in 2019 cards are available at the welcome center for any who missed Sunday but would like to indicate their interest in upcoming groups, events and ways of serving.

#2  Next Sunday is Restorative Justice Ministry Sunday with special ministry testimonies and music in all services with our brothers in white joining us in song.  Afterwards, there will be an open meal in the gym with additional RJM ministry time.

#3.  Upcoming Lenten Study at Christ Church- “Land Without Borders” by John A. Beck, begins Mar 10 in Sunday school classes with similar topics with different scriptures in the worship services.  If some of your group members are in a Sunday school class and small group, no worries.  The sermon based discussion guides will continue through the season of Lent, which will be different that the video-based curriculum people will be using in Sunday school classes because they will be based on the sermons.  They will be different but will reinforce the video curriculum along the same theme.  For those without a Sunday school class who wish to also do the video study, a new weeknight evening class will be offered during lent, possibly on Tuesday nights, led by a pastor in Jacob’s Well, similar to Tuesdays at the Well.

#4. Special events on Tuesday-

• Discipleship Leader’s Breakfast, 8-9am, come join in conversation with me over coffee about growth in discipleship and restoring the image of God through the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.
• Tuesdays at the Well with Pastor Temple- 7-8pm in the Gathering Hall, the topic is “Does the Bible Really Tell Me So?”

If you all have questions about the Lenten study or would like help with an aspect of your small group life, please give me a reply or call so that we can find a time to meet and discuss.  I am here to support you in this important ministry of making discipleships of Jesus Christ.

Blessings!

Dan Conway

Pastor of Discipleship & Outreach

Christ Church

Dear Small Group Leaders,

    This week our stewardship series Mastering Money: Making Your Finances Serve Your Faith continued with the message Some Biblical Advice For The Broke.

    As usual, please send out a friendly meeting reminder to your group members with the attached discussion guide and the link to the Sunday sermon – https://www.christchurchsl.org/sermons/.

Leader Tips:

#1.  Let me offer you a word of guidance in the discussions this week as stewardship and giving can be a touchy and sensitive topic to some.  Right at the beginning of the discussion, offering a verbalized disclaimer about sharing might set some minds at ease. You may wish to say something like…

   “While the church is talking about stewardship right now, I know some people are very private about how or what they choose to give.  Certainly no one here tonight is being asked to share any specific amounts or percentages about what they give.  We are simply going to talk about finances and stewardship in general and what the Bible has to say about it, and leave the personal particulars between you and the Lord.”

#2. At the end of the meeting, you may wish to announce that next Sunday in all of the worship services, people are encouraged to bring their estimate of giving cards with them.  They will have the opportunity, as an act of worship, to offer them in faith by dropping them into an enclosed box (such that their information can remain private).

#3. Also FYI-

• Tuesdays at the Well, 7-8 pm, this week Pastor Temple is teaching on “Dealing With Doubts” at the church coffee bar
• Church devotional books for January & February- The Domino Effect, a study on Colossians, are still on sale at the coffee bar
• Discipleship Leader’s Breakfast- any leaders of discipleship groups at Christ Church are welcome to join me in Jacob’s Well, 8-9am, for an ongoing time of teaching, discussion and prayer about growth in discipleship.
• In case you missed the news, Pastor Andrew is being appointed to serve as the Senior Pastor of Magnolia United Methodist Church and starts March 1.
• There will be a church council meeting after church on February 3^rd(around 12:20pm in the Family Life Center).  All are welcome to attend and chili and soup are on the menu!

I pray you all have great meetings this week!  Thanks for serving in the discipleship ministries of Christ Church!

Your Co-Laborer In Christ,

Dan Conway

Pastor of Discipleship & Outreach

Christ Church

Dear Small Group Leaders,

   Attached is the discussion guide for this week’s message on the new sermon series “Mastering Money.”  The sermon videos can be viewed at www.christchurchsl.org/sermons, in case people missed them Sunday.  

   The only announcements I would remind you of as leaders in the teaching ministries of the church are:

1. You can join me and other teachers on Tuesday mornings at 8am in Jacob’s Well for a time of discipleship teaching, discussion and prayer.  All teachers or leaders of groups in the discipleship area of Christ Church are welcome!
2. Tuesdays at the Well starts this week.  Pastor Temple will be teaching in the church coffee bar 7-8pm on the topic “Can We Get Past ‘Us’ Verses ‘Them’?”  This is the first of 5 Tuesdays in which he will teach on “Tough Topics Worth Talking About.”  The following Tuesdays will be dealing with doubts, confronting cultural biases, immigration, and how we should think about the Bible.

May God Bless you all and the Holy Spirit guide you in your group discussions this week!

Your Co-laborer in Christ,

Dan Conway

Pastor of Discipleship & Outreach

Christ Church

Dear Christ Church Small Group Leaders,

      What new epiphanies and revelations of God await us in this new year?  As we offer God our time and attention in worship and discipleship, it is indeed an awe inspiring question to contemplate!  We are blessed to be taking this journey together and I believe Christ has more for us to learn and do in His kingdom in through this “life on life” ministry of Christ Church. 

The small group discussion guide from today’s sermons on Epiphany Sunday is attached below.  It is also perfectly fine if your group is not ready to meet until next week.  As usual, please send out the discussion guide to your group members in advance in a friendly email from you reminding them of the meeting time and providing the link to the Sunday sermon in case they missed it –www.christchurchsl.org/sermons.

      Next week, we will begin a new three part sermon series, Mastering Money.  Also, if you have not picked up a daily devotional book yet for 2019, copies of The Domino Effect are still available at Jacob’s Well, the church coffee bar.

     Thank you for your being a part of this discipleship ministry in this new Winter Semester.

Your Co-laborer in Christ,

Dan Conway

Pastor of Discipleship & Outreach

Christ Church