Kathy's Small Group Discussion Topics

This blog is a place that archives topics and stories used in Yokefellow Prison Ministry sessions in a county jail in rural Pennsylvania. You are welcome to use these ideas in your small group sessions. They would be applicable to use in Christian small groups of most any kind.

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Location: williamsport, Pennsylvania, United States

Thursday, February 24, 2005

The Narrow Gate

I've been reading "Hard to Believe" by John MacArthur at home. The book makes some interesting points. So this night I led the group to discuss the Narrow Gate as noted in Matthew chapter 7.

This discussion relates to where Jesus talks about the vine bearing fruit.

We talked about what it means to follow Christ, to give up one's self to serve God and his fellow man. What do these words mean in our lives? Are they just words and ideas or do they somehow find their way to our actions and major decisions?

Thursday, February 10, 2005

Being Yoked and Enthusiasm

Tonight we had a bunch of regular attendees, plus a return inmate we'll call "Burt" (not his real name). "Burt" had been a group member last year, then got out of jail for 3 months and is now back in jail. He talked about how he felt, having gotten back into alcohol and trouble so quickly, and how he had sent God out of his life once he got released from prison.

Having prisoners return to jail is a difficult part of prison ministry. It can bring a sense of failure for both the inmate and the volunteers. Of course, both groups hope that an ex-con stays close to God and obeys the law upon their return to society and freedom.

We read a chapter from the book of Proverbs. I explained that many people read a proverb a day for every day of their lives. There are 30 chapters of Proverbs, so it's easy to get a system going to read the whole book of Proverbs each month.

Then, we went to Matthew 11 verse 28

We talked about how one person can or cannot influence another person, for good or bad. We all give opinions and ideas. I raised the idea of a skin rash, how it can be spread around (or a cold), to show that we do indeed have the ability to influence other people. I asked the group to think about who they have been "Yoked" to in their lives.

I used my husband and I as an example of a good match. We both benefit from our marriage and relationship. We talked about good yokes and bad yokes. We talked about the importance of being connected or "yoked" with other believers for the good and bad times in life. In this town, there is an Aftercare group that meets once a week.

Wouldn't it be great if each inmate who wanted it was "yoked" to or adopted by a church so that when they were released members of the church would help the ex-con stay well and on track with God and the community?

Friday, February 04, 2005

Love (1 Cor. 13) again - Charity and Love

So, last week's homework was for everyone to read 1 Cor. chapter 13 everyday. No one did it.
It's hard to encourage homework but I think it's still worth trying.

Anyway, we compared the King James Version and the New International Version of the scripture passage. The KJV features the word "Charity" while the NIV uses the word "Love". I believe the original Greek word used was "agape".

We read some definitions and comments from bibles that people had there in the group. Each person gave their thoughts about what "love" is and what "charity" is and what the differences are.

Towards the end, I pointed out that one of the definitions included the idea of reaching down to help someone with less money or strength that yourself. This is what we use the word "charity" for today.

Then I said how far God reaches down to us, from his great power and strength down to our tiny existence. Yet, he reaches to us. It is with this picture we can reach to our brother and love him.

One of our regular attendees accepted a plea bargin for 6 years in federal prison. He is in his mid-twenties now. The group talked quite a bit about this. I asked him to spend a moment each day praying for Yokefellow Prison Ministries. We encouraged him to continue his studies and learn a trade if possible. I didn't know what else to say.

We've had numerous guys get sentences of 5+ years. But it often seems hard to accept. Society tends to forget the incarcerated. But you can't forget someone who you've seen every week for 6 months. Jesus doesn't forget us.