They Are Doing What?
It is things like this that absolutely break my heart and infuriate me all at the same time.
WE Series Overview
Over the next three weeks, we are talking to your student about the importance of community. What that means is simply this—we need other people. God never meant for us to go through this life alone. There are times when each one of us knows that very well, and then there are other times when it’s the last thing on our minds. Wherever you are at, you need other people. And they need you. It’s part of how we see God in action in our world. It’s also how we learn more about Him and ourselves.
In following Christ, there is one truth that most of us forget—we were never meant to do this alone. We need other people. It’s critical not just because we need friends, but also because in community we understand more about who God is. We see how He is working in other people’s lives. We learn things that God has taught them, and we get an opportunity to love and serve others. The WE series helps us discover the “WHY” behind community—why we need it, why we should pursue it.
WE: Week One (August 16th)
We need other people. We get that when we feel lonely, don’t we? But the reality is that there are times when the last thing we want is someone around—whether it’s our own grumpiness or because we just don’t want to be hurt again. But God made us in such a way that people fill a very specific need in our lives. And while God does supply all our needs, He created us to need other people, too.
WE: Week Two (August 23rd)
We talked last week about how we need people, and if we’re honest, we all have realized that at some point or another. But there’s a reluctance to take that next step because it’s risky. It’s scary. And most of all, it’s messy. True community costs us something. But if we don’t have it, it will cost us a lot more.
WE: Week Three (August 30th)
People’s stories are powerful, aren’t they? There’s something about hearing what’s going on in another person’s life that puts things in perspective for us. We may be thinking that God has forgotten us, that He doesn’t care about what’s going in our world, but then we hear someone share how God showed up when they really needed Him. And because of that, we begin to think that maybe, just maybe, He can be there for us, too. That’s the power of community. It’s how we see God at work in our world. It’s how we grow closer to Him. And it’s an important part of growing in our relationship with Him.
Importance of Life (Small) Group Community
At Grace Point, we thrive as a ministry on our Life Group ministry. The importance of getting together as a group of peers with a passion to hold each other accountable, breathe life and love to each other and to both cheer and weep with each other cannot be overstated. I know our students grow deep and are challenged in their respected EPIC Journey (Life) Groups but even more important is Anna and my need for small community interaction. As our ministry, both Grace Point and EPIC, continues to grow it is necessary to find a place in the Life Group setting.
I was reminded again of this in a reading I was doing for grad work. Clinton and Ohlschlager, in their book, Competent Christian Counseling, state:
Within a community committed to acceptance, education, and appropriate discipline and consequences for conduct unbecoming a disciple of Jesus Christ . . . people are brought to maturity.
The spiritual reparenting required is often best accomplished through cell (life) groups, that assemble for the purpose of Bible study, encouragement, exhortation, worship, and the practice of a series of spiritual disciplines within a circle of accountability (Foster, 1988; Willard, 1998). In keeping with our giftedness, no member of the believing community is excused from involvement with these groups or the means of personal spiritual growth they seek to establish (Ephesians 4.14-16) (p. 113)
Our Pastor of Discipleship, Tom Houser, does an AMAZING job fostering and training our community of believers on the importance of the Life Group community. For more information on Tom’s thoughts and guidance check out, http://runinsuchaway.com/.
