GOING DEEPER: FOR ADULTS
Starting Monday, January 23rd @ 7 pm we will start to study and discuss Jaco Hamman’s new book, A Play-Full Life. It is a spiritual and practical reflection on making Christ’s peace and justice real in our ordinary lives.
A searching faith: the key for teens and young adults is to help them grasp and experience a sense of belonging to the community. That means we must encourage questions, doubts and fears, for if we don’t honor the hard questions – or acknowledge that life in the 21st century is different than times past – we lock people out. It is risky business to explore the darker questions and often church people don’t want to deal with these doubts – and this is why most churches lose their young adults. Our commitment is to honor the hard questions own the fears that are real for everyone.
An owned faith: this stage of faith is rare before the age of 30 and built upon a foundation of welcome as well as early experiences of love, a deep sense of belonging and an honest wrestling with doubt and fear. When this faith matures, it is no longer something passed on by family or culture: it is owned. It is real and personal and deeply powerful – but it must be nurtured and strengthened.
At First Church the questions and nurturing take place in three ways:
Going Deeper – A Series of Study/Conversations on Mondays at 7 pm: Sometimes we study important books like Three Cups of Tea. Other times we practice learning to pray as adults. And sometimes we explore popular culture by using movies, music and television to listen to God’s still speaking voice. (For example, one year we used the movie “Chocolat” to learn about the deeper meaning of Lent.) Most often each series lasts for five weeks.
Special midweek study: throughout the year there are also unique luncheon study gatherings at 12 noon. .
Sunday morning sermon talk back: Three or four times each year there will also be a series of after worship gatherings to raise questions and go deeper with the pastor about a sermon series. For 45 minutes we are able to respond and explore the morning messages in a more intimate way – and everything Is open for this conversation!
Perhaps the words of the apostle Paul express our hopes and dreams for our adult Christian education ministry:
As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. Be thankful: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God through him.
