Skip to main content

What's in a Name?

Why LIFEGroups?

So why LIFEGroups? This is week three of five looking at this question. Last week we talked about how LIFEGroups help people connect at Calvary. But LIFEGroups are not just a tool for social connection. LIFEGroups help Calvary achieve its broader purpose of connecting people to God and to each other. We also want LIFEGroups to connect people to God. This week we will look at how LIFEGroups help people grow in faith.

The definition of a LIFEGroup is a group of individuals who share their lives through formative, caring and missional relationships to the glory of God. Lets take a moment and look at the formative relationship. When formative relationships are happening people in a LIFEGroup every member of the group is being formed into the image of Christ. We want everyone in the LIFEGroup to be constantly growing in the faith. We want everyone in the group to be more like Jesus every day.

And how is this accomplished? I am glad you asked. Let me ask you a question. How can we connect with God if we do not know his story? How can we grow to be more like Him if we don’t know who He is and what He does? That is why bible study is such an important part of what a LIFEGroup does.

Bible studies can take many different forms. The group can look at a book of the bible, Christian doctrines or certain topics. The point is to get into the word of God discover how it is that God wants us to live our lives. God has taken the time to give instructions for life and we need to learn those instructions so we can follow them.

Next comes the good part, the place where knowledge about the faith turns into growth in the faith. In your LIFEGroup you have a place where you can both learn about your faith and practice your faith. In your group you can practice those commands like “love one another, pray for one another, and confess your sins to one another.”. A LIFEGroup is place to learn, question and explore. The best place to do this is with a group of people who learning, questioning and exploring with you. A LIFEGroup is a place to grow in your faith. That’s why LIFEGroups.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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...
3 comments
Read more

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:
1 comment
Read more

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...
Post a Comment
Read more