Adult
• 4 Sessions of Learner’s Materials
• 4 Sessions of Teaching Materials
• 4 Handouts
1. Acts 1:15-26
2. 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22
3. Acts 9:26-30
4. Acts 15:1-35
A variety of decisions are made every day in any church. One needs only to eavesdrop on conversations in church parking lots, church hallways, Sunday school classrooms, and vestibules to know that an array of decisions draw energy and conversation from church members across the spectrum.
These decisions may be theological in nature, concerning the ordination of women, mode of baptism, or style of worship. Then again, these decisions also could concern aesthetic matters, such as the color of the sanctuary carpet, chandelier versus fluorescent lighting, or even the ideal type of choir robes. Other decisions may be functional in nature: the selection of a new minister, establishment of a children’s church, or the purchase of property. And of course, there is always the looming decision that must be made by every family every Sunday: Where do we eat lunch?
Over the course of the next four sessions, we will search the Scriptures to find hints regarding how the church has made its decisions in the past. Within these biblical stories, we will not find any secret formulas, foolproof techniques, or even suggestions for where to eat lunch. What we will find, however, are four vignettes from the life of the early church. We will have the opportunity to eavesdrop, so to speak, on the selection of a new apostle, a debate about how to deal with leaders and loafers, the decision to embrace an old enemy, and the struggle to include new and different friends.
No one story will provide the key to a smooth decision-making process in your own life or the life of your church. But each story will offer its own unique perspective on the influence of issues like history, attitude, leadership, and process. Taken together, the stories may provide a picture of what your church’s intentional and unintentional decision-making processes might look like. But don’t take my word for it. Read the stories. Put the pieces together. Then, you decide.
by Jim Dant
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