By Jenny Scott
December 2021
The LCMS Northern Illinois District is developing a Bible Study, Incarnate Community, designed for the whole District that will begin in February. The study is designed to invite congregants to return to an ‘in person’ community of faith by exploring the God-given blessings that come as the followers of Jesus gather around His Word and Sacraments.
Pastor Hoffman of St. Andrews Lutheran Church in Park Ridge is writing the sermon notes for the third week of the study. The sermon will be based upon the Parable of the Good Samaritan and is titled, “The Beautiful Mess of Ministry.”
“I am excited about the story-based sermon texts because they lend themselves to conversations and are easy to relate to all age groups and demographics within our churches,” said Hoffman. “There is joy in brining God’s people together in ministry.”
“I love the word ‘Incarnational,’” continued Hoffman. “It’s at the heart of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus wanted to be with the people He served and interact face-to-face. We all learned to do some aspects of ministry remotely during the heaviest days of the pandemic. Now, we are blessed to have those tools in our toolboxes, but we also learned that nothing can truly replace sitting in the same room and worshipping with our family in Christ.”
Voice of Care believes that God creates all people in His image and all people are intrinsically valued by God. Because of this belief, they are committed to building congregations of belonging in which every person is equally valued and respected and has the opportunity to contribute gifts to strengthening the Christian Church. In fact, Voice of Care believes that a congregation is not whole unless every person has a place to fully belong. This core belief inspires Voice of Care to partner with churches, organizations, and stakeholders to serve people who live with and experience disabilities to advance the Kingdom of God by making disciples. The Good News of Jesus Christ and the redemption He offers is for everyone. With that commitment, Voice of Care has provided us with a leader’s guide for the Bible study which is meant to be used with participants who think and operate on a more concrete level of understanding. They may be young, have intellectual disabilities, and perhaps nonverbal in their communication skills. Concrete learners like to learn through their physical senses, what they can touch, see, hear, taste, and smell. They like to deal with things that exist in the physical world. Abstract learners prefer the world of ideas and feelings. They use reason and intuition to deal with ideas, concepts, and feelings.
The four-session Incarnate Community Bible Study is available as a free downloadable resource on our website. While the study materials are designed for groups, they can also be used as a self-study resource.
WORD: Helping congregations be more centered on a rich life of Word and Sacrament, with congregational support in transitions as well as time of joys and sorrows.