A SOLID FOUNDATION

The Leaning Tower of Pisa has foundational issues. Since its initial construction, the tower has leaned due to problems with the foundation and the soil on which it is built.

Everyone understands that anytime we undertake a building project of any size, it is important to initially consider the strength and reliability of the foundation. Otherwise, the building will end up like the Tower, leaning. Or perhaps worse, your building may fall!

As we undertake this exciting process of growing formative, caring, and missional LIFEGroups, we need to be careful to consider our foundation.

By the end of 2006, we will be very close to reaching our goal of having 40 healthy and identifiable LIFEGroups at Calvary. However, if we do not have a strong foundation for our LIFEGroups, we will be unable to see this early success translate into long-term health.

Over the next two months, you will hear a lot about LIFESupport Groups. These are groups specifically designed for you, the LIFEGroup driver. We believe that the foundation of healthy groups is healthy drivers, and the surest way to grow healthy groups is to invest our resources in maintaining the help of our group drivers.
LIFESupport will be the vehicle we use to build into your health!

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Discussion Questions for Easter

Have several people ask the question, “What’s the most important thing you’ve ever done?” Ask other people, “What do you hope to accomplish in the next several years of your life?” Tell your class that today you’ll be talking about “life mission” or the one most important thing you do that drives everything else. Tell them that Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the defining moment in history, so it should be the defining moment in our lives. Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-19. How does the resurrection impact some of the crucial beliefs of Christianity? How would Christianity be different if there was no resurrection? How would you be different without the resurrection? Read 1 Corinthians 15:50-58. What are some specific ways that the resurrection gives us hope? If you had been a friend of Jesus when he was on earth, how would the resurrection have impacted your life? How do you think his followers then were effected by the resurrection? Read 1 Corinthian...

FIGHT CLUB! (iron sharpening iron)

Our youth pastor, Keith Sandison, has implemented "Fight Clubs" with the young men of our church. While these teenagers and young adults aren't actually pummeling each other physically, they are using the opportunity to aggressively challenge one another to be more attentive to their spiritual formation. Right now my son is participating in a fight club focusing on Proverbs. I love it. Keith has created a handout he uses for the fight clubs which lists seven different methods of "generic Bible study". I think the idea started with this post a few years ago, but as he often does; Keith took my thoughts and made them immensely more substantive and beneficial. Check out his system below:

Community Killers Part Four: Complaining

Nothing can tear a group apart faster or more effectively than a spirit of complaining. For some reason, complaints seem to breed faster than rabbits. Once one person’s complaining goes unchecked, it won’t be long until others have joined in and eventually the entire group is sucked into a hopeless vortex of swirling complaints. Often these complaints have little to do with the group, but they have the potential to sideswipe and destroy a group meeting, or if left unchecked, an entire group. Complaints may cover a variety of subjects. Group members might complain about their job, their day, their neighbor, their spouse, or even the church. The role of the leader is to deal with these complaints in a way which is formative for the person, instructive for the group, and glorifying to God. Because a LIFEgroup should be a place where people share their struggles and receive support and prayer, it can sometimes be difficult to know when someone is sharing a difficulty or...

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