Creative Community

Dear LIFEGroup Driver, As you are certainly aware, we will be launching our new “Justice and Mercy” series at Calvary in a few weeks. I’m excited about this opportunity for us as a family to think more “missionally”. I hope your group will be able to participate. You have probably received a couple phone calls from Jacquie Finn over the past few weeks. She’s doing a great job trying to coordinate schedules and help me determine how many breakout facilitators we need, and when we’ll need them. If she’s still trying to get ahold of you, please try to return her calls. You can get plenty of information about this series by checking out our website at: justiceandmercy.com Although we are not requiring every LIFEGroup to be a part of this series, we are providing five different meeting times for your group to combine with other groups to study material pertaining to Justice and Mercy. Particularly in the Breakout Sessions we will be examining the injustice of...

Information is available about the coming Justice and Mercy series. Check it out at: JusticeandMercy.com

Cleaning house This week I experienced a LIFEGroup first. This week our LIFEGroup met at a home. Last week at the end of the meeting some asked “Where are we going to meet next week?” I immediately said “Why not my place?” I’ve been in Muskegon for over a year but haven’t really had any one over from church yet. When I made the suggestion to meet at my house my wife gave me a funny look which I understood immediately. Her look said “That’s fine if people come over but you’d better understand that you will make sure the house is clean.” I told my wife that I thought the idea of LIFEGroups was to share authentic relationships and it would be more authentic if they saw me as the slob I am. She didn’t buy it so I spent the whole week cleaning. As Sunday got closer I found my self more and more excited. Then I started noticing things around the house that needed to be done. I noticed I hadn’t given the bathroom sink a good scrubbing in a while. I noticed a few pieces of litter in...

Connection Point 5: Engage Have you ever found something that you had to share? I remember when I first found G&L chili dogs. I was helping a friend put on a roof in Muskegon . It was late afternoon and we were getting really hungry. My friend’s girlfriend went out and got us food. She came back with the classic Greek chili dog special. Now I’m not much of a hot dog eater so I was a little skeptical. But when I took that first bite! Wow! I was an instant convert. When I got back to Grand Rapids I told everyone about the wonders of the Greek chili dog special. My dad loves a good hot dog so one Saturday afternoon we took the drive out to Muskegon just for G&L. When I moved to Muskegon I was very excited to finally be ever near a G&L. Whenever I have friends or family in from out of town I always make sure I bring them to G&L. Where are you in your spiritual journey at Calvary ? Have you been the explorer? Have you attended Link-Up? Have you partnered an...

I like math. I love the certainty that I can have in math. I love that I can actually prove that there are 180 degrees in a triangle. Think about it. I’ve just stated a truth. I’ve just stated a truth that is universally true for all time. There never has been, and never will be a triangle that does not have interior angels equaling 180 degrees. This is true in America , its true in China , its true in India . It is true everywhere all the time, never changing. In our LIFEGroup this week we asked the question “Can we have the same certainty about God?” Can we come up with a proof for God? Theologians in the past tried to create logical arguments that proved God. Anselm came up with probably the most famous logical proof for God. He said that God is that which nothing greater can be thought. The argument runs that though we are created beings we can conceive of great things such as infinity and ultimate goodness. Since as finite creatures we have no direct experience of infinity an...

The Five Points of Connection Point 4: Serve There is a great show on PBS called Grannies on Safari. Two Grannies who are best friends, travel the globe creating friendships and learning about the culture. In my favorite episode the Grannies travel to Japan . They visit the ritzy Ropongi Hills district. They participate in a traditional Japanese tea service. They even get to attend a sumo wrestling match. It’s a lot of fun watching these Grannies explore a new culture. The only problem is the Grannies never get to stay for very long. When people come to Calvary we don’t want them to just be explorers. Everyone starts out as an explorer but there comes a point when its time to participate in Calvary . When that point comes the explorer attends Link-Up where the person is introduced to the culture of Calvary and the person partners with a LIFEGroup. So what is next point of connection after partnering? Have you ever stayed an extended period with a different famil...

jon sampson trains small group leaders. recently he posted about their church's new method, and why he enjoys Bible study in community . his thoughts really resonate with me because they are my experience. read the article here . jon writes: Here's one observation from today's training. Our time is always more engaging and interesting when everyone gets the opportunity to participate. People learn more when I ask a question than they ever do when I pontificate on a point. Listening to a lecture (or even an excellent presentation filled with examples and stories) is just about absorbing something. When people answer questions, they're forced to process and create. The group comes to life. i think the one of the nice parts of Bible Study in community is that you aren't bound by a schedule. If you decide as a group that you need to come back to a passage because you aren't done with, you can do that. In one-way communication or with large groups, that isn't ...