War Room: Session 1
Session 1: Honest Evaluation
Welcome:
Hello Ladies!!! Welcome to Week 1! I hope you ladies had a wonderful week. We missed you in Session 1, but so glad you made the time to catch up with us today.
Thank God for technology that we can still meet from the comfort of your home when life gets in the way and you just can't join us at the buiding we call church. But as the Father said, where any two or more meet, He will be there (Matthew 18:20 - "For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them".) That's called church too ladies! So grab a cup of tea or something nice, get your study guide, a pen or highlighter and your bible. Ready? Let's get started!
Opening Prayer:
Let's open in prayer. Please bow heads and join us
Dear Father,
We thank you so much for this alternative way to meet and study your word with each other. We pray that we will feel your presence and hear your voice through the message in our study guide. We pray that you will guide our conversation as we share our thoughts with each other and strive to honor you as we grow in the Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.
Session 1 Desciption:
Our first session is about encouraging honest self-evaluation between you and God. It isn't intended to discourage but to help you understand yourself and inspire you on to greater spiritual growth in the weeks to come.
First, let's review what we did last week, and then you will complete 3 days (only 3 days!) of homework on your own before we meet next week, at which time we will discuss the homework in our group. Sound good? Alright.
Class Activity Review (what we did in Session 1):
During our first week, we spent most of the time on introductions. We have 25 total in our group, (Praise the Lord) - some new and some old (I don't mean it like that ladies!! :lol:). This includes 2 facilitators, Karen and myself. Yeah for Karen! So thankful that God nudged her along to serve us on Thursday nights! And so grateful for her service.
We also went over some housekeeping stuff and church guidelines as follows:
1. We will keep this a welcoming, safe place for discussion as we come together to share what God is teaching us through each study. We are to support each other with Christ-like love, free of judgement or condemnation.
2. All discussions and prayer requests will be kept confidential and within our group, (unless you would like us to solicit additional prayer warriors outside our group).
3. Our time together is a blessing to share what God has been teaching each of us. We are here to study together and facilitate discussion. Facilitators are not counselors, however. The church has trained Stephen Ministers available as well as other appropriate counseling resources to help you with whatever you might be experiencing in life currently. Just reach out and we will put you in contact with the right person.
4. Our discussion should be focused on God and what He reveals through His Word. Discussions must be free from denominations, politics, school choice options, personal business, and recruiting.
5. Outreach opportunities must be approved ahead of time.
6. Each study group takes turns bringing heavy snacks so that ladies are not coming from work to bible study hungry and unable to focus on study time. Not to mention it just makes for a fun time!
Then we got into our study!
Session 1 Review:
We started by reviewing the probing, self-assessment questions on page 11. These are deeply personal and for your individual benefit.
Activity: So I asked the ladies to do this exercise at home and keep their answers. Please take a few minutes to complete this exercise now or after this session, and keep your notes for yourself. Then at the end of our study, we will answer these same questions again to see if we answer them any differently.
Finally, we saw the first movie clip (they are only 3-5 mins long). I know, not the 30-60 min videos we are used to, right?! But the idea is to watch the clip and then have discussion around it based on some thought-provoking questions in our study guide.
Activity: Read a summary description of the clip on page 12 of your study guide.
After the clip, Karen did an awesome job leading us through a discussion based on the questions in your study guide, page 12. Let's take some time to share as you feel led, answering the following questions.
Q1: What is one thing about your life right now that you desire to be better? Have you been praying about this one thing?
Q2: Do you ever feel like you are fighting the wrong fight? Explain.
Q3: What land mines are present in your life? Are there some you have stepped on? Are there some, by God's grace you have avoided? Are there some you fear looming on the landscape of your life ahead?
Activity:
You can answer any or all 3 questions in the comments section below to share with your sisters in the online study.
Ok. If you are done entering your comments below, thank you for sharing ladies. It is always a blessing to share and encourage each other. Our growth would be almost non-existent without it.
Session 1 Homework Assignment:
For your homework, please complete the "Engage" section on page 13, as well as Days 1-3 on pages 14-19. Only 3 days - yeah!!
Wrap-up:
Have fun with it and remember, just do the best you can. God will always show up when his daughters are pursuing Him
Love you ladies. See you next week - at church (and where is that?) where 2 or more meet in His name! God BlessYou!
Closing Prayer:
Dear Lord,
What a wonderful time you have given us tonight. We thank you for always meeting our needs when we seek you and trust you like these ladies did tonight in our online bible study. Even though they couldn't make it to our in-person class on Thursday night, they showed up tonight as you led them to! I pray that you will bless them and keep them and may your face shine upon them. We love you and praise you Jesus. In your name we pray, Amen.