InterVarsity Graduate Christian Fellowship at Stanford University

Small Group Fellowships 2004-2005

The best way to find spiritual nourishment and enduring Christian friendship is in the more intimate setting of weekly Small Groups. Our hope is that each group will be much more than a mere study and will include all the ingredients of a healthy fellowship of believers: outreach and service efforts, community, spiritual formation, and work toward reaching an integrated or holistic view of our work and vocation. We are excited to have six Small Group Fellowships addressing various topics. Please contact any of the leaders if you have questions or are interested in their Small Group!

Note: As small groups often have dinners and other outings together, the venue information below may be incorrect for any given week. Do contact the small group leaders for up-to-date information.

Unified Study: Mere Christianity

From the back of the Touchstone edition: 'Mere Christianity is C. S. Lewis's forceful and accessible doctrine of Christian belief....(It) brings together what Lewis sees as the fundamental truths of the religion. Rejecting the boundaries that divide Christianity's many denominations, C.S. Lewis finds a common ground on which all those who have Christian faith can stand together, proving that "at the centre of each there is something, or a Someone, who against all divergences of belief, all differences of temperament, all memories of mutual persecution, speaks with the same voice."'

In addition to providing a common reading for the fellowship, we hope that this year's unified study will be helpful to Christians in the fresh insights that Lewis brings to bear on the familiar doctrines of the church, and to non-Christians as an accessible, although by no means comprehensive, introduction to the faith.

Study Guide 1 for Book One. (Week of 31 October 2004.)
Produced by Rachel Ahern.

Study Guide 2 for Book Two. (Week of 29 November 2004.)
Produced by Rachel Ahern.

Study Guide 3 for the first half of Book Three. (Week of 30 January 2005.)
Produced by Jennie Ehren.

Study Guide 4 for the second half of Book Three. (Week of 28 February 2005.)
Produced by Ben Malin.

Study Guide 5 for the first half of Book Four. (Week of 25 April 2005.)
Produced by Jonathan Gray

Study Guide 6 for the second half of Book Four. (Week of 23 May 2005.)
Produced by Lumina Albert

We are glad that these guides seem to have been of use to quite a few people outside the fellowship. We would appreciate it though if you could acknowledge us as the source when using them. Thanks.

The Conspirators

The purpose of our group is to realize our relationship with Jesus Christ in our everyday lives, to manifest our faith in every part of who we are. We will pursue this goal primarily through the study of Dallas Willard's The Divine Conspiracy and Jesus's "Sermon on the Mount," but also through worship, prayer, and service.

The Book of Nehemiah

We will study the book of Nehemiah in the context of its historical background. Our Goal is to rebuild our lives and strengthen our spiritual influence on friends. People with diverse backgrounds welcomed!!

The Book of Revelation

Often people tend to shy away from studying the book of Revelation, not giving it the same attention as the rest of the New Testament. As we work through this book together, we hope to cover the main schools of thought on Revelation while also considering its relevance to us today. We also hope to be a community in which we support each other through encouragement and prayer.

Biblical Characters and Characteristics

Courage, integrity, wisdom, servanthood, diligence, humility ... how better to learn the characteristics that God desires for us to have than to study the solid walks of those He includes in the Bible, His Book of love and instruction to us? We hope to encourage each other in building these Biblical characteristics through prayer, service opportunities, and other quality time together.

The Acts of the Apostles

In our small group we will follow the life of the church in the days and years immediately following Jesus' death and resurrection. We plan to explore the decisions and experiences of the early believers in their relationship to the Holy Spirit and to one another. A primary goal of this group will be to learn how this biblical model applies to our lives here at Stanford, and to incorporate these lessons into our lives.

A Peculiar People

Our group focuses on Rodney Clapp's A Peculiar People: The Church as Culture in a Post-christian Society — a compelling book that addresses the apparent irrelevance of Christianity in our individualistic, technology obsessed, consumerist culture. In response, Clapp urges us to reclaim our heritage as a peculiar people with not only distinct beliefs, but with distinct practices and worldviews. We will also periodically study passages from the biblical Book of Daniel as a case study for our topic. In addition, we hope to build a community of friends through prayer and occasional outings and shared meals.

Do you have some great ideas for future small groups?

Because a number of Small Groups finish at the end of each quarter, there are opportunities for people (you) to see their (your) ideas become a small group. If there is something you would really like to see happen and

• you want to lead a group to do it, or
  
• you'd like to co-lead a group to do it, or
  
• you'd like someone else to lead, but you think it's a good idea

then please contact Karan Venayagamoorthy (vskaran), our small groups coordinator.

• be Bible studies
  
• read and discuss books
  
• have a practical focus (e.g. evangelism, social action, spiritual formation)
  
• be for reflection/meditation/prayer
  
• be discussions centered around important issues

• John Bible Study
• Genesis Bible Study
• Lectio Divina (spiritual reading)
• The Pursuit of God (discussing the book by A. W. Tozer)
• Outreach/Witness group
• Married couples group
• Walking with God
• Reading the works of Karl Barth
• The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (discussing the book by Mark Noll)
• Paradiso (discussing the third part of Dante's Divine Comedy)

Previous Small Groups

Last Modified: Saturday, 21-May-2005 13:47:28 PDT

Questions/Comments?