Small Group

I have just finished reading 2 Corinthians. In this, Paul begs, brags, and pleads with the Corinthians to come to a higher level with God. He talks about how he is serving and gives them his understanding of how God wants him to live. After I finished reading I went out to the car to get Jason's lap top, my computer is broken. I passed the mailbox and opened it to discover the monthly mail out, Connections. I opened it and read Steve's, "Words to the Community." I felt like I was reading a writing from Paul himself as I read what Steve was saying. "I'm going to beg...shamelessly, unapologetically, urgently." There is a common goal in these men's minds and that is for the church to grow more together toward God. There is more in this community of believers than most of us can even dream. These men are hurting for the people they are trying so desperately to guide. There is a relationship with God that surpasses any relationship we will ever be able to imagine. There is a family of believers right in front of us if we will just step out of our comfort zones and listen to what God is trying to tell us.

We are starting small group study, in our church. I am very excited about this time as we have an opportunity to come closer together. The church is not the building that you worship in, but the people who are His followers. We tend to think that going to a "church building" on Sunday mornings is enough. This is actually never what the writers in the bible intended. As we sit in our seats listening to the pastor, watching the worship leaders and singing on our own, with them, is not what was talked about in the bible. What is talked about is a community of believers getting together and sharing their God given gifts with the other believers. How many times do you feel like you are a part of the worship of Christ, by sitting in a pew? How often are you compelled to share something that the Holy Spirit is sharing with you, but you are stifled by the organized service that we attend.


There are many believers among us who have left the traditional church service. They have made a choice to have "house church" because this is more adequate for what the bible means when it tells us to meet together and share with one another. My oldest brother is one of these who has taken his family out of the traditional church setting and formed his life around house church. I am not one of these people. I feel more comfortable going to "church" on Sunday morning. But in doing this I do feel a sense of lacking in the service of our Lord. This is where small group studies, at other times, fills in the gap. There is an intimacy that is lacking when we put on our Sunday smiles. This intimacy can be gained when we meet as a small group.


I have been reading the book that we have been given and I am very excited about this opportunity. It is a real chance to fall in love with my new family. I do not know most of them, even though we are part of a "family". How are we to help each other in our walk with God, if we do not even know one another? Studies like this take away some of my time, but what they give me I could never gain on my own. I love getting to know other believers and gaining strength from them in this time. It is a time that I could never get without an appointed opportunity to get together. Take this opportunity, do not let it pass you by. If you do not get involved, there is so much that God intended for you, that you are giving up. Get involved with your church. It is not going to a building, it is meeting together with other Christ followers. Learn how to love. Start with your family, then move to God's family. You will be richly blessed!