A Life Group – A place where people gather together not only to learn about our Lord and to study His word, but to become not just friends but a family.  We are there for each other, to help each other, listen to each other, pray for each other, what a blessing.  Praise the Lord!

I would like to tell you about my best friend.  My best friend doesn’t mind if I’m not the brightest, smartest, prettiest, thinnest or the best.  My best friend doesn’t mind that I wear sneakers, jeans and t-shirts instead of dresses, nylons and high heels.  My best friend will sit with me and talk, laugh and tell me like it is.  My best friend doesn’t mind if I sometimes stumble over my words and they come out different than what I meant.  My best friend doesn’t mind that I don’t have money or a high paying job.  I love my best friend with all my heart and everything that I am.  If I feel frightened, lost, as if I can’t take another step, my best friend will say “hold my hand, I will lead, but we will walk together.”

If I am feeling alone, sad, hurt, rejected, as if I just can’t do it anymore and the tears start, my best friend will hold me and let me cry.  When the tears finally stop and they are being dried, my best friend will say “lean on me, I am here for you, I will not leave you, we will go through this together.”

Would you like to have a best friend like mine? A best friend who is kind, understanding, compassionate, forgiving?  A best friend who will laugh with you?  A best friend who will cry with you? A best friend who knows you and loves and accepts you just as you are?

If you are feeling alone, lost, lonely, hurt, rejected, unloved, desperate, hopeless.  Call my best friend.  You won’t need to call on your cell phone, you won’t need to text, twitter, email, go on Facebook, u-tube or any other tube.   All you have to do is say my best friend’s name.   My best friend wants to be your best friend.  My best friend will be there for you and with you just as my best friend is here for me.  You can say my best friend’s name quietly in your head; you can whisper, use a normal voice or shout.  You can sit, stand or kneel.  Call upon my best friend.  My best friend is waiting for you.  Don’t wait, please turn to my best friend.  You will never be sorry, you see, my best friend is JESUS!

Kerry Gurnsey (Life Group participant)

1 Thessalonians 5:11  “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”

Encouragement is something we all need. There are those who are natural with encouragement, there are those who have the Spiritual gift of encouragement and then there are those who struggle being encouragers. Where ever you find yourself in the encouragement world, I think we all can do a little bit better. The apostle Paul was an encourager and the best encourager to Paul was Barnabas.

I hope all our Life Group communities are full of people who encourage one another. Life can get pretty hard sometimes and when it does we need each other’s encouragement. We are called to carry one another burdens (Gal. 5:13) and continually pray for one another (James 5:16). This is the best kind of encouragement and is the beauty of Life Group  community and the body of Christ at its best.

I want to grow in my encouragement and here are some simple reminders if you want to grow with me.

Be Slow to speak (Prov 12:18; 13:3; James 1:19).  A great way to encourage others is to listen to their stories with attentiveness and care. We must not try to fix things quickly or give persuasive, pat answers to their problems or issues. We can simply listen.

Exercise sensitivity. The Bible reminds us that our speech should be seasoned with salt. Our words need to be filled with grace (Ephesians 4:29) and should imitate those of Jesus who came in grace and truth (John 1:14).

Show kindness when we do speak. Words of gentleness are soothing and tender. Truth does not always have to be delivered from a rifle barrel. Truth spoken gently is more readily heard and more easily considered when spoken in love. Encouragement takes place when our love meets someone’s fear. Everyone has fears or disappointments or confusion about life. When we show others that we truly love them in the midst of their pain, we are providing encouragement. Pray and ask God who in your life needs encouragement today and  then give it away.

– Pastor Kelly

Acts 2:46-47

“Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.”

How would you define community?  Are you comfortable with the word community?  A biblical definition of community is, “Christian Community is the body of Christ expressing the life and message of Christ to build up one another and redeem the world for God’s glory” (Leading Life-Changing small groups).

The new community that formed on the Day of Pentecost immediately began to function in small groups.  These groups wholeheartedly devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles, to fellowship with one another, to practicing the Lord’s Supper together, and to praying for one another. These new communities were characterized by mutuality, accountability, servanthood, love, and evangelism.

Life Groups are a place of mutual ministry among members.  Each member uses spiritual gifts to serve other members in the body.  Mutual ministry is a trademark of a Christ-following community or small group.  That is the beauty of being part of a small group/Life Group.

Big things happen in small groups.  Lives are touched and transformed when someone is willing to invest their time in participating in a small group community.  Prayerfully, you are that person and if not maybe you are ready to take the next spiritual step in connecting in one.  Check out the LG wall in the foyer of the church and see the variety of groups available to you.

Someone once asked me, “Are Life Groups for life?”  I thought to myself, is this a trick question?  The answer could be yes and no.  Yes, meaning spiritual growth is a life long journey. The minute we stop growing, we are dying.  No, meaning we all go through different seasons in our lives and sometimes a group we are currently in doesn’t quit fit us anymore.  Just because you’ve been connected in a group for a long time or visited just once, community must “fit” you and your lifestyle needs.   I don’t want anyone to not attend a Life Group because they feel it’s for life, but they attend because they enjoy life and want to journey this life with others.  Walking shoulder to shoulder, encouraging and challenging each other in this thing we call life this side of Heaven. – Pastor Kelly