Spice Up Learning With Adult Elective Events

ADULT STUDY

God's Love Is Like a Picnic

"God’s Love Is Like a Picnic" takes a look at five pictures of God’s love. Three of the pictures are from parables and two draw upon miracle stories. These pictures portray God’s love in the context of various themes like the kingdom of God and discipleship. They use imagery that is common to Christian experience but which seems always angled to catch the light in a surprisingly unfamiliar way: a basket of loaves and fishes; an invitation to a dinner; a lost coin; a welcome home party; a storm at sea.

We should study these pictures looking with more than our eyes and listening with more than our ears. For then we may not only catch a fresh glimpse of God’s love, we may also discover where we are in the pictures. And that in turn may tell us something about how we should respond in faith to being loved by God.

Sessions include:
1. God’s Love Is Like a Big Picnic
2. God’s Love Includes Everyone
3. God’s Love Is Like Being Found
4. God’s Love Is Like Coming Home
5. God’s Love Calms Our Fears

Resources available:
"God’s Love Is Like a Big Picnic" is a five session study for adults, including learner’s materials, teaching guides, and handouts. The teaching guide is options-based, so teachers can customize sessions to match their favorite approach. These materials are only available as a download—click here to get your copies from Nextsunday.com.

Tips:
• Promote the study using a Valentine’s Day theme. Consider distributing invitations to the study. Inexpensive children’s valentines are great fun. Just purchase enough for the adults in your Sunday School, and have a few volunteers distribute them while announcing this special study.

• This study is also easily adaptable for use with youth. Feel free to offer a series of youth studies during the same five week period.

• This is a great choice for a Sunday night study series.

• If your church is also doing the "Have a Heart" emphasis (see Special Learning Event), "God’s Love is Like a Picnic" is a great companion study.