Life Groups

Jesus calls His followers to lay down their lives and to follow Him as His disciples.  Real relationships are primary in the design of the church which Jesus established for His disciples as they live out their lives in connection to Him and to one another.  A common practice in modern Christianity is for most to believe in Him for salvation while only a few follow Him as disciples. There is no place in scripture where Jesus gave that option. We want to live in obedience to the commands of Christ and to follow the model He gave to us of intentionally doing life together in order to be disciples who make disciples.

The purpose of a Life Group is to provide a relational environment where we love each other earnestly in order to make disciples who can make disciples.  In a Life Group we will meet together regularly in order to encourage one another, to teach and admonish one another, to confess to, pray for, and bear one another’s burdens, and to stir up love and good works among each other.

A Life Group is characterized as having a Relational Environment

• Meetings will take place in locations which lead to natural involvement in each other’s lives; preferably this means meeting in homes
• Relationships should grow beyond just a scheduled meeting time; sharing meals, fun activities, etc. are part of doing life together
• Relationships that develop into friendships will foster vulnerability and transparency
• A Life Group will become a safe environment for sharing real life issues as bonds of trust are developed over time
• Those in the group will grow to feel a sense of responsibility for the well-being of the others in their group and will naturally reach out if a member begins to fall away

A Life Group is characterized by Intentionality

• We will intentionally share our lives with others so that we can then share Christ with them; Life Groups provide a vehicle for inviting others into our lives
• We will be intentional about connecting others to our church by connecting them to our Life Groups as well as keeping them connected by pursuing those who pull away in order to minister to them
• We will be intentional about seeking opportunities to minister to people in our church and our community and we will share these opportunities with those we are discipling
• We will intentionally branch our groups by releasing others to be disciple-makers in new Life Groups

A Life Group is characterized by a Kingdom Mindset

• Seeing God’s Kingdom manifested in our community becomes so important that it affects our priorities, our calendars, our finances
• Service to others becomes a way of life as we find joy in obedience to the commands of Christ
• We will grow in confidence in our identities as disciples because of our love for each other
• Connecting others to God and to His church becomes a priority that drives our actions
• Transformation will take place in our lives as we become the peculiar people God seeks for His Kingdom