Skip to main content

Where everybody knows your name

by: Steve Rodenburg

Doesn't it feel good when someone remembers your name? When I worked in customer service our company had us take a whole class with the single focus of how to remember names. Knowing someones name creates an instant connection and rapport with the person. Remembering and using a persons name shows were interested in the other person. It shows we’ve paid attention to them and that we care about who they are. It shows we’re putting the focus on them and not on ourselves.

Think about the places where everybody knows your name. The list is probably short. My family knows my name, the people I work with know my name, and the people in my LIFEGroup know my name. The places where everybody knows us are the places where we spend our time, the places where we invest ourselves, the places where people care about us.

Among those places where everybody knows your name, the LIFEGroup is unique. At work youre there because you have a job to do. You may like your coworkers but theyre not the reason you go to work everyday. You love your family but as my dad says, you can pick your nose but you cant pick your family. A LIFEGroup is different. A LIFEGroup is a group of people who share their lives together because they recognize the value of building relationships that bring them closer to God and closer to each other. The people in my LIFEGroup do not come because they have to. They come because they choose to. They come because they care.

I look forward to that special moment Sunday evenings when our LIFEGroup meets. Im glad I have a group of people that care about me. I’m glad I have a group of people to care about. I’m glad I have place I can go where everybody knows my name.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

10 Summer Activities To Keep Your Small Group Connected

I just sent an email to all our small group leaders (I do this 3-4 times each month). This week's focus was STAYING CONNECTED THROUGH THE SUMMER. Below is a list of 10 summer activities a small group can use to stay connected. These are specifically created for groups at The Gathering, but you can pretty easily modify the list to fit your church or your community. Go to a Dragon's Game together. You can buy tickets as a group from the church for the game on July 11. Design a Progressive Dinner. Have appetizers at one house, salad at another, the main course somewhere else and dessert at a final destination. Have a monthly barbecue party. Serve together. Pick a place (Good Neighbor House, St. Vincents, Victory Project, Pirate Packs, Caring Partners International, One Bistro) and sign up to serve as a group one afternoon or evening. Meet up at the Family Movie Night on June 15. Spend a day at King's Island. Work at the church for an afternoon. We have many proj...

20 Questions to Build Group Connections

Here is a great exercise for a new group. The instructions are pretty simple. Go around the group giving each person the opportunity to choose one question and answer it honestly. Anyone can follow-up with an opinion or clarifying question (no critiquing each other's answers, though). Once a question has been answered, no one else may answer that question. If your group is larger, you may want to alter the rule and allow each question to be answered 2 or 3 times. Ideally, each person should end up answering 3-5 questions. As the leader, pay attention to the conversation. Let the discussion run its course as this is how people in the group build their relationships with one another. You can use these questions, modify them or create your own.

5 Conversations Every Small Group Should Have

Small group gatherings are not business meetings. They need not have rigid agendas or strict time constraints. Although effective groups often follow set curriculum, there are times when they can take a break from their plans and have conversations about their group’s health. These five questions can be used together or one at a time. They are designed to help groups’ determine their identity, diagnoses their health and develop a plan for the future. How can we meet one another’s needs? Acts is full of stories about Christians finding creative means by which they can meet each other’s needs. Some even sold their properties and possessions. The small group is the ideal lab in which we can work out what it truly means to love one another as Jesus loved us. If the greatest love of all is laying down our lives for each other (and it is), then meeting the needs of others in our group should be one of our first and highest priorities. How can we encourage one another? 1...