Cell Group Agenda for week of January 29, 2006

Small Group Agenda for Week of January 29, 2006
Scripture 1 John 4:10-11
“Love One Another”


”This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:10-11

Welcome
Have everyone get something to snack on and drink and bring it to a room where everyone can get comfortable and join each other.
Once everyone is comfortable, have them share how they felt when they received the letter from another member of the group telling them how the writer sees him or her as representing a child of God.

After everyone has a chance to respond, pray a prayer welcoming Christ into our presence and asking Him to make us receptive to His Word as we prepare ourselves to experience Him through the Scriptures.


Word
Have someone read 1 John 4:10-11.
”This is love: not that we loved God, but hat he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

After reading Scripture, have everyone break up into groups of 3 or 4. Give a copy of the following questions to one person in each group and have them ask a couple of questions, then pass the questions to someone else in the group. Try to give everyone an opportunity to ask a couple of the questions in the breakout groups.


1. Are we supposed to love one another?
2. Does God love us?
3. Based on this Scripture, considering it is written in the context of a letter, why do you think John finds it important to remind people in the first century that they are to love one another?
4. How are we supposed to love one another? (After everyone has a chance to answer this question, have someone read 1 John 3:18 and give everyone a chance to answer the question again.)
5. How important should loving with actions and with the love of Christ be for those of us who call ourselves Christians?

Tell the following story:
In his book Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, Richard Foster tells of an old sage who asked his disciples, “How can we know when the darkness is leaving and the dawn is coming?” “When we can see a tree in the distance and know that it is an elm and not a juniper,” one student responded. “When we can see an animal and know it is a fox and not a wolf,” replied another.

“No,” said the teacher.

Puzzled, the students asked for the answer. The sage replied quietly, “We know the darkness is leaving and the dawn is coming when we can see another person and know that it is our brother or sister; otherwise no matter what time it is, it’s still dark.”

Do we take seriously John’s words, “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren?” (1 John 3:14).

Our Daily Bread, June/July/August 1998, June 17
Haddon W. Robinson


6. When does it become most difficult to love one another?
7. Is there anyone here who is finding it hard to be seen as a Christian because of an misunderstanding or an unwillingness to love other?

If anyone answers this question by saying that he or she is having a difficult time loving others, have everyone surround that person and pray that the Spirit of Christ will fall upon them in such a way as to give them a willingness to care for others with actions.

After prayer, join the others for collective worship.


Worship
Worship will be experienced by sharing with Christ and one another the ways God is calling each of you specifically to love others with actions and with the same love that Christ has for him or her.
After each person speaks have someone lead everyone in a song that expresses gratefulness for Christ’s model of love.
Finally, pray a prayer of thanksgiving for the love of Christ that is present with each of His children.

Witness
Briefly discuss ways that we can use actions to share the love of Christ with each other and others. Decide on which expression of love we will share as a group before the next gathering.