Spirit-Filled Servant Leadership - What? When?

Visitor

• Beth Smith - Beth heads up the church's leadership program.  She will be working with our class on building a leadership development program.

Announcements

• Habitat for Humanity - Spring build continues on Saturdays through May 12th.  The roof is on the house, with painting and landscaping remaining to do.
• May 2: National Day of Prayer
• May 11: UMW Mother-Daughter Dinner
• May 12: Trinity Class BBQ at the Moores' house.
• May 19: Wild Run vs. Cancer
• Remember to meet with your dinner groups!

Concerns

• Carol & Mark Moran's son, Michael, passed away yesterday.  Class Officers will let us know how we can help.  In the meantime, pray for the Moran family.
• Melinda's sorority sister's husband died in an accident last week.
• Melinda's childhood friend's daughter lost her battle with a genetic disease at the age of 9.

Bible Verses

• 1Corinthians 2:9-11
• Romans 8:27
• Ephesians 4:30

Themes

• "And to expose our hearts to truth and to consistently refuse or neglect to obey the impulses it arouses, is to stymie the motions of life within us and, if persisted in, to grieve the Holy Spirit into silence." - A.W. Toyn
• Our study of the Holy Spirit is informed by the book "Forgotten God" by Francis Chan.
• Last week's discussion: Who is the Holy Spirit?  God.
• This week we discussed the What and When of the Holy Spirit.
• What do we know about the Holy Spirit?
  • He dwells within us.
  • He has His own mind - perhaps as our conscience.
  • He prays and intercedes for us.
  • He wants to have a dialog with us.
  • He helps us fulfill God's purpose - to love each other.
• When does the Holy Spirit work within us? When we get out of the way.

Next Week

• We will continue our investigative reporting on the Holy Spirit by completing our discussion of "when" and moving on to "where".

Andrew, Philip, John: Little Brothers & Chicken Little (12 Ordinary Men, Part 3)

Visitors

• The Hartley girls

Announcements

• Todd Watson expressed his thanks to the class for our support of the Employment Transition ministry.  (It was great to see Todd in class!)
• Officers meeting: Tuesday at 7:30, somewhere in the church.  Rick will get us a room # as soon as he has it.
• Beth Smith will begin working with our class to develop a leadership program for the church, sometime around March 29.  Rick Shamblin passed around a sign up sheet.  If you're interested, feel free to contact him: rick.shamblin@yahoo.com.
• The church needs greeters.
• The Connections Band will play the Hits of the 70s at the Allen Performing Arts Center, March 30 at 7:00.

Joys/Concerns (my apologies if I missed any names or details)

• The Norwoods' neighbor, Marge Baker - her cancer has metastasized.
• Jana Bell's step-sister's friend's husband was lost in a motorcycle accident.
• Stacey Lawrence's uncle had bypass surgery on his leg.
• Two of Paula Harrison's brothers: one with heart surgery, the other with liver failure.
• Pray for the college kids travelling to/from Spring Break.
• The church was broken into overnight.  They're still assessing the damage.

Bible verses

• John 1:40-46, 6:5-9, 12:20-22
• Luke 9:49-50, 52-56

Themes

• Continued study of the apostles: Andrew, Philip, John
• Andrew - Lived in the shadow of his older brother Simon (Peter).  He is a very honorable figure in the Gospels, always saying or doing the right thing.  (Clay likened him to former Dallas Cowboy Chad Hennings - see, it isn't ALL about baseball!)
• Philip - Jumped all in when sought out and called by Christ.  Seems to have been an administrator for the group.  He was devout, detail-minded, and analytical.  (Clay likened him to Radar from M*A*S*H.)
• Andrew and Philip are the prime participants in the passages from John listed above.
• John - Outlived the other disciples.  He's been known by many different names, including the apostle of love and John of Patmos.  During Jesus' earthly ministry, John might have been the least likely of the twelve to become known as the apostle of love, as evidenced by the passages from Luke.
• From John, we can learn the need for balance.  Specifically, John had to learn to balance truth with love, ambition with humility, and glory with suffering.

Next Week

• Part 4 of our Lenten study of 12 Ordinary Men: James the Less, Bartholomew (Nathanael), and James.

March 11 - Small Group

A small subset of our class showed up: the Bells, the Yearsleys, Karen Lanier, Jennifer Rawlinson, and Carol Moran.  This was due to the time change, the start of Spring Break, and the wet weather.  We decided to postpone the planned lesson.

We made a circle of chairs and the 7 of us had a great visit.  In particular, Jennifer was able to share her great experience.  Her in-laws celebrated their 70th(!!) anniversary and the whole family gathered.  Jennifer spent quality time with all of them, and Chip's daughter, Micah.

12 Ordinary Men: Peter & Judas (not Iscariot) - What's In a Name? (March 4th)

Rick Shamblin filled in for Rick Bell who went to New Orleans to run a half-marathon.

Visitors

• Mike & Lynn Hood

Announcements

• Cookie Caper 3/18
• The church needs Sunday morning greeters

Joys/Concerns

• The Yearsleys' eldest daughter, Nicole, got engaged, which is a great joy.
• Prayers for Paul Nauschutz's friend Joe Graham.
• John Durham's son received a scholarship.
• Melinda Lawrence's uncle finished chemotherapy for esophogeal cancer and signs are good.

Lesson - Part 2 of our Lenten study of the 12 disciples, presented by Clay

Bible Verses: The listing of the 12 apostles, which is done in 4 separate verses - Matthew 10:2-4, Mark 3:16-19, Luke 6:13-16, and Acts 1:13.

Themes:

• The 12 can be thought of in 3 groups of 4.  The people in each group are always the same, although the order changes.  The first man listed in each group is always the same, marking them as leaders of their respective groups: Peter, Philip, and James (son of Alphaeus).
• Discussion of nicknames, leading to Jesus nickname of Simon, Peter (the rock), as well as the Gospel-writers' nicknames for Judas (son of James): Lebbaeus and Thaddeus.
• Peter is an expectant nickname.  Jesus needed Peter to be the rock of the early church, as opposed to the impulsive, unreliable Simon he had always been.
• How Simon grew into the role of Peter, the Rock.

12 Ordinary Men: Introduction (Feb. 26)

Visitors

• Desiree, Kelley Gatewood's niece

Announcements

• Cookie Caper - 3/18

Joys/Concerns

• Cathy Phillips' grandmother broke her hip.  The family is dealing with treatment options.
• Marie Moore's sister diagnosed with Lupus.  It's a blessing to finally have a diagnosis.
• Marie is also up for another job & trying to decide what to do.
• Duff Althaus is starting a new job.
• Kay Schafer, Susan's mother, is still receiving treatment following her recent surgery.
• Stacey Lawrence's mother's friend has stage 4 cancer.

Lesson - Part One of our Lenten Study: 12 Ordinary Men, presented by Clay

Bible Verse: 1Corinthians 1:26-29

Skit: Jesus as a contestant on The Apprentice, starring John Coyle as Jesus and Duff Althaus as Donald Trump.  Humorous look at how Jesus created an unconventional path for His eternal plan to save souls through the ages.

Themes:

• Why study the disciples?
• The Twelve, The Teacher, The Task, The Training

Wherever, Whenever, Whatever

Announcements

• February 22: Ash Wednesday Services (6:30 AM, Noon, 6:30 PM)
• February 23: Book review - Betty White's "If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won't)"
• February 25: Habitat Walk-a-Thon
• March 4: First Sunday class lunch - Chiloso's after the 11:00 service, so 12:15ish
• March 18: Cookie Caper - The church needs bakers, sign up today.
• Trinity Dinner Groups - Forming now. Sign up in class, or contact Kelley Gatewood.
• Trinity Class Leadership project - Anyone interested in brain-storming or volunteering, contact Rick Shamblin.

Joys/Concerns

• Dean Brown is in good spirits and trying to figure out the next steps in his cancer battle.
• Kelly Newsom's Dad passed last week.
• Chip Rawlinson's Dad is starting cancer treatment again.

Bible Verses

• Luke 9:23, 57-62

Themes

• The return of "The Trinity Players" in the conclusion of the "Jesus and the Believer" saga. If you missed it, you should be terribly disappointed. (And by way of preview, you'll have a couple of opportunities to catch (or even be one of) "The Trinity Players" during our Lenten study.)
• Conclusion of our study of "Not a Fan" by Kyle Idleman.
• "Wherever" sends us to places we don't want or expect to be.
• "Whenever" means NOW, not just when we're bargaining with Him. ("If you just get me through this, Lord, I'll...")
• "Whatever" means His will, not ours.

Next Week

• Question to contemplate: If you had 3 years to implement a plan to save as many souls as possible for all time, how would you do it?
• Primary Bible Verse: 1Corinthians 1:26-29
• Part 1 of our 6 Week Lenten Study - The Disciples: 12 Ordinary Men, presented by Clay
• Introduction - The Twelve, The Teacher, The Task, The Training, The Trump?

The Invitation

Announcements

• Gentlemen - Valentine's Day is Tuesday.
• In March, we're starting "First Sunday Lunches" - Everyone is invited to gather for lunch after class.  Our inaugural lunch will be at Chiloso's on March 4th.  Chiloso's is in Eastside Richardson at Central and Campbell.
• We are also starting up class small groups or dinner groups.  If you're interested and haven't signed up in class, please email trinityfumcr@gmail.com.
• If you need a new name tag, please let Jana Bell know.
• We have a date for the 2012 Pancake Flip: Saturday, September 29th.
• Feb 25: Habitat Walk-a-Thon
• March 18: Cookie Caper.  The church needs 160 bakers to make 6 dozen cookies.  Sign up now.

Joys/Concerns

• Susan Schafer's mom, Kay, had surgery Thursday.  She got out of ICU yesterday.  Kay's primary concern was for family friends John & Gail Cash, who lost their son recently.  Kay arranged for their prayer blankets.
• Dean Brown tested positive for cancer in his lymph nodes.  Let's surround our beloved friend and teacher with prayers, support, and love.
• The Bailey triplets all achieved the level of Eagle Scout.

Bible Verses

• Luke 9:23.  If John 3:16 is the "believer" verse, then this is the "follower" verse.
• Isaiah 43:1.  "You are mine."

Themes

• We continued the study of "Not a Fan" by Kyle Idleman.  Now that we know what kind of relationship Jesus wants, what does His invitation mean?
• Marie distributed Christ's invitations to us:

Upcoming Topics

• Next Week: We finish the study of "Not a Fan" with anytime, anywhere, anyhow.
• Our 6-week Lenten study, "The Disciples: 12 Ordinary Men", starts the following week.