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TRI-X stands for:
Explore the Bible
Excel in Christian Love
Excel in Christian Living
This summer, Adult Bible Studies presents a course entitled 'Images of Christ.' Writers Bob Mansfield and Dow Chamberlain look at various images of Christ as found in the Letter to the Hebrews, all four Gospels, and the Letter of James.
Units include Images of Christ in Hebrews, Images of Christ in the Gospels and Images of Christ in Us. Join us as we explore these various Images of Christ. We are blessed to have The Rev. Henry B. Sudduth, retired United Methodist pastor, as our teacher.
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Faith Link Class
The Faith Link adult Sunday School class chose this name as a reflection of our focus of linking the bible and our faith to our everyday lives. We participate in discussions in an informal setting. The class also uses current Christian books and resources for weekly discussions. Examples of past studies include: MacArthur's "Twelve Ordinary Men", Philip Yancey's "Prayer: Does it Make a Difference?", Lee Strobel's "The Case for Christ", John Ortberg's "If You Want to Walk on Water You've got to get out of the Boat". Throughout the year, members of the class gather for dinners and family picnics which provide opportunities to socialize outside of the church setting. The unstructured, contemporary setting of the class lends itself to sharing joys and concerns and allows its members to uphold one another in prayer. Come and join us and experience comfort and spiritual companionship as we encourage one another to practice our faith in our daily lives.
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The Searchers Class
The Searchers Adult Sunday Schooled Class explores various facets of our Christian walk and chooses it curriculum as it goes. Classes vary from discussion sessions to more traditional teacher-led lecture classes dependiing on the topic being covered and the desires of the teacher. Teaching duties rotate from time to time depending on what is being taught and the interests and experience of people in the class. Recently, the class has had a series of lessons on topics as varied as : John Wesley and the History of Methodism. Difficult Bible Passages, the book of Revelation, and World Religions. Additionally, the class often chooses to do one of the special Lenten and Advent studies available. Class members represent a wide spectrum of age groups. In addition to Sunday School sessions, the class holds several social events throughout the year.This class is ideal for someone looking to explore a variety of topics in a fairly informal environment.
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Edith Spencer Sunday School Class
The Edith Spencer Sunday School Class consists of a group of mature ladies who are interested in an in-depth study of the Bible. The class was named in honor of a former faithful teacher of the class, Edith Spencer.The Adult Bible Studies quarterly books, which are approved by the United Methodist Church and by the General Board of Discipleship, are used as a basis for Bible study. The NIV Standard Lesson Commentary is also used as a supplemental resource. Class meetings are held once a moth (except for two months in the summer) at the homes of class members to discuss completed and future class projects, status of our inactive members, and to socialize. The current teacher of the class is Betty Triplett. Joyce Winston and Sandy Williams are assistant teachers.
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Praying Parents
"Praying Parents" is a Sunday school class for young to middle age adults. Most are parents with children living at home. The class covers a variety of topics, usually working from a recently published Christian book. Facilitator duty rotates among members. The class tries to be friendly, understanding and supportive. All are welcome. Coffee pot in the class room!
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Short-Term Disciple Bible Study
Beginning Sunday, January 6, we will offer Invitation to the New Testament during the Sunday School hour. This basic Bible study uses Matthew’s Gospel as a starting point and explores how Jesus’ arrival impacted the lives and faith of early Christians. This is not a lecture, but a small group discussion centering on Scriptures you read during the week and classroom video presentations. If you would like to be a part of this study (or for further information), please contact Tanya or Ray Ammons (850-4183), Bruce Burroughs (851-6512), or the church office so that we can order sufficient participants’ books. If you want to order a participant book ahead of time, see Disciple Short Term Studies at www.Cokesbury.com.
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Young Adults
YASS, Young Adult Sunday School, led by Allison & Larry Shepherd, is a class for the 18-30 age group. The class is small now, but dedicated. Hopefully when the college students return for vacations the group will increase in size.
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Climb Aboard the ARK
The Senior High School class has embarked on another exciting adventure. We are now in the process of viewing the major motion picture Evan Almighty.
When God told Noah to build an ark in the middle of nowhere, his friends and neighbors must’ve thought he was nuts. In Evan Almighty, a family-friendly comedy about a modern-day Noah, God tells a U.S. Congressman named Evan Baxter to build an ark. Evan initially resists, but once he’s convinced he’s really heard the voice of God—animals following him around, two by two, was a pretty good clue—he decides to trust, obey, and build that big boat … right in the middle of an affluent subdivision in Virginia.
Everybody thinks Evan is nuts, including his family, who pretty much leaves him on his own. Yet Evan, like Noah, persists in obedience, no matter the consequences—even when it appears he’ll lose everything.
In Bruce Almighty (2003), the title character, played by Jim Carrey, was an immature, self-centered TV reporter. After life threw him some tough punches, he was sure he could run the world better than God. So God, played by Morgan Freeman, gave him the chance. Bruce quickly found out that it’s not so easy—and along the way learned lessons in humility, grace, the power of prayer, and, ultimately, complete surrender to the Lord.
Fast-forward a few years. One of Bruce’s TV colleagues, Evan Baxter, who was then an up-and-coming anchorman, is now a newly elected U.S. Congressman who comes to Washington, D.C., with a simple but ambitious campaign slogan: “Change the World.” Evan, played by Steve Carell, is confident he can do this on his own until God appears to him with an odd request: He wants Evan to build an ark, because a flood’s on the way. The skeptical Evan isn’t buying it, but God persists in trying to get his attention—sending tools and lumber to build the ark, arranging for various animals to follow him around two-by-two, and so on—until Evan at last relents and decides to obey, even if it means the ridicule of his family and neighbors and a complete loss of credibility in the halls of Congress before a watching nation.
Evan is a modern-day Noah who learns the cost of obedience, even in the face of mockery and scorn, and learns what it truly means to trust. Along the way, he begins to understand God’s love not only for him, but for all people—as well as his own responsibility to share that love with others through Acts of Random Kindness—ARK.
Unlike the much edgier Bruce Almighty, which was rated PG-13, Evan is rated PG “for mild rude humor and some peril.” The “rude humor” is relatively innocuous, the stepping-in-doggy-doo style of potty humor meant to hook preteen boys. The filmmakers, who are Christians, wanted this to be a family-friendly film, and they have succeeded.
We will be studying the following topics in the next few weeks:
1. Listen Up: Keeping an ear out for God’s voice.
2. Trust and Obey: Even when it seems outrageous.
3. Acts of Random Kindness: Helping others in God’s name.
The film makes a point of stressing “acts of random kindness,” and Universal, the studio that made the film, has even partnered with churches and various ministries for Ark Almighty, a “good deeds campaign” that was sweeping North America when the film was released. For more on the campaign, go to www.ArkAlmighty.com. We will be considering ways our church and small groups can get involved in Ark Almighty.
So, get on the ARK and let’s study God’s Word in another unique and exciting way!!!
