Small Group

We've hosted them. We've led them. But in all those years I've never heard a preaching about small group and what it's meant to be. Our pastor, Dan briefly touched on it as we're going through a series on what it means to be a Disciple of Christ - worship, walk, work and witness.

So the purpose of a small group is to pursue maturity in the image of Jesus Christ where He grows us up as a church of saints. It is a place for all of us to practice Ephesians 4 where we bear with one another in humility and gentleness. When it comes down to it we need to:
-commit to going deep and not stay shallow by getting into each other's lives
-speak the truth in love
-lean into each other's weaknesses & pour the grace of God over them
-it is NOT so much about comfort, networking or social
-lastly, to remember that Jesus died for all of us so no one is perfect

These things are certainly not easy, but it gave both Brian and I a whole new understanding of why we meet together as Christians. Yes, Christ commanded us to do so but not in the way I had thought before. Along with that, I love Harvest guideline and intentionality on how to pray at small group. Not the whole, pray for my grandmother's sister's sick dog or the Superbowl or anything like that. But that we're going to focus on ourselves (not in a selfish way) and how God is working in our lives. And the best part is we actually pray.

We've had our first small group this past Thursday and I can't believe it has been almost a year since we've been in one. I loved and missed our Harvest Davenport small group dearly because it was the first time I've experience an "authentic Christian community" that I've so often heard of. So going into a brand new one really made me anxious. Anyway, I love/hate the whole refining process by God because you know He's working on you, but at the same time, it's never a fun thing.

p.s. We're so blessed to have Jennifer, a GMU student who volunteered to watch our boys every Thursday night.  God is so good!