Next Portico Small Group - January 14th

I hope that everyone had a very blessed Christmas, and hope that the New Year brings you more closer to God than you had ever imagined. The start of a new year used to fill me with anxiety; another year gone and past and it never seemed like I made much traction. But nowadays I have a much different feeling about the new year. It's a brand new year filled with unlimited possibilities, blessings, challenges, failures, successes, good times, bad times, etc. (I count even the failures and bad times as blessings and ask God to humble me and teach me so that I can grow stronger in my faith - although I admit, that isn't always easy to do!!). But really, each day is another opportunity to live out the truth of God's Word, to love God and love others, and reach others for Christ.

So as we start off another new year for our Small Group study, we're going to spend some time on the topic of "how to study your Bible". If you are like me, you've tried so many different ways to ready and study Scripture, but it still seems like there is so much more to go. We're going to take the next several Small Group sessions to go into and discuss effective Bible studies, why that is important, how to do it, what to do with the knowledge we gain from it.

Over the next week or so I'll finalize the first study guide and get that posted below and mailed out to the group. Until then, Happy New Year!!!!

1/5/10 UPDATE: the study guide is ready and is available in the link below under "Current Thursday Group Topic"

No Small Group the Rest of December

Last week we met and had a great discussion about the Navity. It was interesting that so many of our ideas about what happened on that glorious day, were shaped by things outside the Bible, like songs, stories, movies, TV specials, etc. So we read through the accounts of Jesus's birth in Matthew and Luke to see what Scripture says (and what it doesn't say). All in all, it was another great study.

We'll need to take a short break from small group and hit it back up in January. Between Christmas concerts and everyone's holiday travel schedule, December is a bit packed. Just remember though, to take some time to slow down and reflect on what this season is truely about - not Santa Claus, not fanciful displays of lights, not sugarplums, nutcrackers, elves, or snow. It's about the birth of the One who came to save us all from sin. I encourage everyone to continue your personal Bible studies during this time.

I'll connect with everyone shortly to set up the schedule and topics for January.

Merry Christmas to all!!!!

Small Group for Thursday, Dec 3

Howdy all, I hope everyone had a restful and blessed Thanksgiving holiday. I also hope everyone made time in between football, eating, shopping, and eating some more to stop and give thanks to God for all He has blessed us with!

As we head into December we begin to shift our focus towards Christmas. That will be our topic for this Thursday's small group. In preparation, please read through the following article by following this link to the website for Grace To You.

I'll send out some questions and additional Scripture passages later tonight that we can discuss on Thursday.

Last Week Recap and Theme for Next Time

We had a great study last Thursday, 11/5, wrapping up our series on God's will for our lives. Remeber that the study guide (and all previous study guides) can be found towards the bottom of the page.

We also had a pretty neat experience with welcoming a new face to the study group who found it through this website! How cool is that?! That in mind, for any new visitors checking this page out, the main website for Portico church can be accessed by clicking on the picture of the coffee mug on the left-hand side of the page.

Next time, 11/19, we won't be having our regular study. Instead we are going to have a service day, a chance for us to give of our time portion of the time/talent/treasure trilogy. We'll be bell ringing (from 6-9pm) at Festival Foods in Oshkosh as part of the Salvation Army's Red Kettle Campaign. We'll be in the front foyer area so it might be a little chilly - dress accordingly!! If you can make it for the whole time, that would be great - just plan to meet up right at Festival a couple minutes before 6. Otherwise, join us in progress for as much as you can.

Small Group Topic for Thursday, October 22

Hey all, we're getting ready to hit Part 2 of our series called "God's Will is Not Secret". We're going to dig in to 6 principles of God's will, and how we can know what they are. We'll go through the first 3 this week so I hope you can join us!! This week's guide can be found in the links below, and if you need last week's guide (or any other previous guide) they can be found below as well. See you Thursday.

Small Group Topic for Thursday, October 8

This Thursday we are going to dig into a series called, "God's Will is Not Secret". Have you ever struggled with that? Wanting to do God's will but not know what it is or how to find out? You may be surprised to know that God's will is not hidden from us. He has revealed it to us in His Word. Join us as we dig deeper and find out.

Topic for This Thursday (9/24) - Submitting Ourselves to God

Why do we fight? Why do we envy? Why do we feel we don't have enough? Why do we sometimes feel that following God and living like Jesus is a chore? Why is it easier to do our own thing, even though we know we shouldn't?

Print out the latest guide, linked below, fill it out, and bring it with you on Thursday. We'll pray, we'll share, we'll learn, we'll connect. God is real and He wants us to have a relationship with Him. Will you?

James 4 - Submitting Ourselves to God

Howdy all!! We took August off to concentrate on a number of summer activities, and now we are ready to get back into the swing of things. We met last night (9/10) and spent a lot of time in prayer for and with each other and for the Portico community in general. We also discussed a number of topics that the group would like to study, so I've got some homework to do to start getting study guides put together -- but I'm looking forward to it! We also said good-bye to Dave who is moving to Florida (officially this time) next week, and hello to Tina as a new member to our small group. Welcome Tina!!

When we meet again on 9/24, we are going to do a study based on James 4 and it will be titled "Submitting Ourselves to God". I'll publish the guide below as soon as I have it finished. Until then, enjoy the remainder of the beautiful summer weather God has given us this week!

No Small Group in August

Just wanted to give everyone the heads ups that we won't have having Thursday night small group on the 13th or the 27th. On the 13th we're taking the day off, and on the 27th Eric is hosting a community outreach discussion at church (click on the link in the calendar above for details). We'll pick it back up again in September. God bless!!

Topic for Thursday - God Will Finish What He Started In You

Hey all. This week we'll do something a little different and use a topical study that someone else has put together. Specifically from Dr. Adrian Roger's ministry Love Worth Finding. It's titled "God Will Finish What He Started In You", and can be found here.

Hope to see you there!

Scott

Still on for Tonight (7/16)

Howdy all, even though I haven't sent out any previous confirmation emails we are still on for tonight.

We'll have a fairly small group tonight as a couple of people are out of town on vacation enjoying God's wonderful creation. So there is no set topic tonight, we'll go where ever the Holy Spirit leads us!

Next Study - 7/2, The Book of Philemon

Howdy all, just a reminder to everyone that last week we went with a "modified" schedule. Our next study will be on July 2nd and we'll be looking at the book of Philemon. Check your email for the study guide, or download it from the link below.

In a previous email, I had the dates wrong (go figure). So the schedule should read: July 2, July 16, July 30, etc. The calendar in this blogger has the correct schedule. Just shoot me an email or call if you have any questions/concerns.

Scott

We're on for This Thursday (6/18)

We're going to change up the schedule a little bit and meet this Thursday the 18th, and go every other week from there. So the next study after this Thursday will be July 2nd, then the16th, etc.

There isn't a study guide for this week, but rather the email I sent out tonight has the details. See you Thursday!!

Topic for Thursday, June 11 - Prayer

Someone once read a neat saying to me. It said, "when life is too hard to stand....then kneel." How true is that? So many times we try to tackle life's difficulties head on, on our own strength; then we are discouraged when we fail. We have a powerful resource. We have a powerful advocate. We have a powerful aide. We have a powerful friend. We have the almighty God of the universe. The creator and judge over all things seen and unseen. And He created a means for us to commune with Him when He tore the veil in the Temple when Christ died as the sacrifice for our sins. What an honor! What a privilege! What a blessing to be able to have direct communication to the most high God!!! ......but how often do we use this blessing? How often to we view it as a privilege instead of as a right? How often do we think of God as our magic genie who will come at our beckon call and grant us our wishes? How often do we get upset when our prayers aren't answered? Or, perhaps they are....just not the way we wanted them to be so we miss that. How often do we remember to thank and bless God when our prayers are answered?

The Bible has quite a lot to say about prayer, so that is what we are going to take a look at during Thursday's small group. I am in the process of getting the study guide from paper format into electronic - I'll get that sent out this evening.

Topic for 5/28 -- Where Does Your Hope Come From?

Everyone has hope - hope in something. Sometimes it's hoping for a little sunshine. Sometimes it's hoping that the surgery goes well. But when the Bible speaks of hope, what does it mean? We'll take a look at this question on Thursday. See you there!!

5/14 Topic - Attitude is Everything

For this Thursday's small group, please read through the following passages of Scripture:

Phillipians 1:12-18, 4:4-7, 4:10-13
1 Peter 1:6-7
Acts 16:16-34

We're going to talk about attitude. After all, we hear time and time again that "attitude is everything". But what does it mean for us, as followers of Christ? What does it mean for the Portico community? What can we learn from the disciples in the Scripture above? How did their attitudes shape their lives?

Topic for 4/30 - Psalm 27

For this week's Thursday small group, there isn't a handout. Instead, please read Psalm 27. We'll talk about what this meant for David and what it means for each of us.

No Meeting on 4/9 - Moved to 4/16!!!!

Because it's Easter weekend, people are traveling or hosting family and friends, and because I am just not completely ready with this week's topic, we are moving our meeting to next Thursday, April 16th. I really hope everyone can make it, as we are going to be looking into the crucifixion of Jesus. I know it can be a heavy topic, but it really did happen and deserves a closer look. And what did happen is nothing short of amazing!!!!!

See the link below for the study guide to prepare.

Group Meeting Tonight

Just a reminder to everyone that the Thursday group will be meeting tonight at Scott and Tara's house. We'll be listening to a message from Dr. Adrian Rogers titled "the Time of Your Life". Hope to see you there!

Topic for Next Thursday (3/26)

Next Thursday we'll do something a little different. I recently heard a wonderful message from Dr Adrian Rogers entitled "The Time of Your Life" based in part from Ephesians 5:14. We'll listen to that message and have a little discussion about it afterwards.

This weekend, I'll put together some starter questions and post them here. Just some things to think about before we listen to the message on Thursday.

3/22: Eric's message today and the questions he posed to the group was a perfect segway into Thursday's message. So I won't put questions here; instead reflect on the ones Eric asked. Isn't God awesome?

Tonight's (2/26) Group Cancelled

Due to the threat of snow and ice for later this afternoon and evening, I've cancelled tonight's meeting. We can figure out this Sunday if everyone can reschedule for next Thursday or if we should wait until the next regularly scheduled meeting on 3/12.

Recap from Thursday Group - Guarding Our Minds

In case anyone is interested, I jotted down my notes from our discussions from our first topic "Guarding Our Minds" and created a link to it below.

I may not have captured everything, so if I've missed something important, please add a comment below and I'll get it updated.

New Topic for Thursday Group!

The previous topic, Guarding our Minds, was really good and there was some excellent discussion with it over the past couple of weeks. Thanks to everyone who participated, but thanks especially to Harry and David who provided the fantastic salsa.

But now we're ready to move on, and the next topic for Thursday the 26th is called "The Supremacy of Christ". It's basically a series of reflection questions intended to really make us analyze ourselves. Not the selves that are on the surface, but to really dig down and expose the real us. Even though the inspiration for this topic is based off of Colossians 1:15-23, I think it parallels very nicely with the current series on Sunday mornings that Eric is leading us through regarding what Jesus said in His sermon on the mount.

I'll email the topic guide out to everyone but you can also get it by clicking on the link below. Hope to see you all there!

Portico Small Group Website - Up and Running

Hello all! I'm in the process of creating a website that we can use to stay up to date with the community groups (i.e. small groups) at Portico. I'll try to post some updates of things coming up, as well as a summary of some of our previous events. Feel free to share your thoughts about recent or upcoming sessions as well!