i just came back from my second growth group meeting. i know them as small groups, but at the journey they're called growth groups. we meet at columbus circle right at the entrance of central park on tuesdays at 7. last week, me and my two leaders, catherine and david, were the only ones who showed up. david was pretty bummed that i was the only person there...i told him i've led similar groups before and i understood what he was going through :)
tonight's meeting consisted of catherine...and me! yeah. although i joined this growth group as a means to get to know more people at the journey, that hasn't really happened so far. but i'm sure more people will show up next week. apparently our other members are journey regulars but just had odd things get in the way the past two weeks...sickness, weddings, job-related emergencies (which was why david couldn't make it tonight).
catherine told me that as she was waiting for me to show up, a homeless man who was bathing in the fountain at the central park entrance asked her if he could have her flip flops (they were those black jcrew ones). he took off his sneakers that were way too small for him and his feet seemed to be in really terrible shape. catherine offered her flipflops to him, but he ended up refusing them because they were too small for him. she wanted to point the man out to me, but he seemed to have left. but soon enough he showed up again, and i was like, "let's go to jcrew and get him some fliplops." ah, the one redeeming factor about the time warner center: quick and easy access to j.crew flipflops for needy homeless men.
catherine and i bought a pair (estimated the size, figured green was a good color) and gave them to him. he was really happy, of course. he told us about the statues around the fountain and referred to them as members of his family. he also referred to the fountain as "the pool", which i thought was pretty funny. he also compared catherine to venus ;) she thanked him.
the man told us he was a preacher (well, he was wearing a green plastic rosary around his neck) and kept telling us the verse, "ask, and you shall receive." fitting, yeah. as we left he told us to see him the next time we were at "the pool."
we're reading a book called turnings in our growth group. it's about poverty, third world countries and what it means when the bible says that god blesses the meek and poor in spirit. it is called turnings because it studies the inversions that occur in the Bible..."the last shall be first," "more blessed to give than to receive." it's something like an explanation of the beatitudes.
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"A preacher friend of mine recently quipped, 'I used to think that our job was to get people to realize that they're a whole lot worse than they realize.' With this mindset, the call to repentance was sounded to bring sinners to their knees; if they broke into tears, so much the better. As such, the message was NOT good news.
...
The word, 'repentance' in Greek is metanoia. It is a compound word, derived from meta, "around," and nous, "mind." Literally, repentance means 'Change the way you think.'
...
The call to repentance is good news, because the presence and the transforming power of the kingdom of heaven - not human sin - should have priority in our thinking about the Gospel."
tonight's meeting consisted of catherine...and me! yeah. although i joined this growth group as a means to get to know more people at the journey, that hasn't really happened so far. but i'm sure more people will show up next week. apparently our other members are journey regulars but just had odd things get in the way the past two weeks...sickness, weddings, job-related emergencies (which was why david couldn't make it tonight).
catherine told me that as she was waiting for me to show up, a homeless man who was bathing in the fountain at the central park entrance asked her if he could have her flip flops (they were those black jcrew ones). he took off his sneakers that were way too small for him and his feet seemed to be in really terrible shape. catherine offered her flipflops to him, but he ended up refusing them because they were too small for him. she wanted to point the man out to me, but he seemed to have left. but soon enough he showed up again, and i was like, "let's go to jcrew and get him some fliplops." ah, the one redeeming factor about the time warner center: quick and easy access to j.crew flipflops for needy homeless men.
catherine and i bought a pair (estimated the size, figured green was a good color) and gave them to him. he was really happy, of course. he told us about the statues around the fountain and referred to them as members of his family. he also referred to the fountain as "the pool", which i thought was pretty funny. he also compared catherine to venus ;) she thanked him.
the man told us he was a preacher (well, he was wearing a green plastic rosary around his neck) and kept telling us the verse, "ask, and you shall receive." fitting, yeah. as we left he told us to see him the next time we were at "the pool."
we're reading a book called turnings in our growth group. it's about poverty, third world countries and what it means when the bible says that god blesses the meek and poor in spirit. it is called turnings because it studies the inversions that occur in the Bible..."the last shall be first," "more blessed to give than to receive." it's something like an explanation of the beatitudes.
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5)
"A preacher friend of mine recently quipped, 'I used to think that our job was to get people to realize that they're a whole lot worse than they realize.' With this mindset, the call to repentance was sounded to bring sinners to their knees; if they broke into tears, so much the better. As such, the message was NOT good news.
...
The word, 'repentance' in Greek is metanoia. It is a compound word, derived from meta, "around," and nous, "mind." Literally, repentance means 'Change the way you think.'
...
The call to repentance is good news, because the presence and the transforming power of the kingdom of heaven - not human sin - should have priority in our thinking about the Gospel."
posted by debbie at 5:13 PM
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