A small group's love for two skeptics leads them to Christ.
by Life Together
Two years ago our teaching pastor, Ted, began to meet with a couple with considerable intellectual reservations about Christianity. They agreed to read some Christian apologetics if Ted agreed to read their books. While they read Letters from a Skeptic, Ted read Stephen Hawking's latest, A Brief History of Time.
...
Then this past fall we launched a new six-week small group study: "A Taste of Community." ...
Follow these principles to help people fulfill their longing for true community.
by Brett Eastman
Don't we all long to be a part of something fun, exciting, and life-giving?
The sitcom Friends captured this desire. Every week 50 million people watched six actors pretending to have relationships with one another. Its popularity was fueled by the deep longing we all have to be connected in community.
The advertising world has caught on to this yearning as well. Ads like MCI's promise to connect ...
Living life in relationship with others is God's pathway for living a life of purpose.
by Brett Eastman
In The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren writes, "God intends for us to experience life together. The Bible calls this fellowship … real fellowship is so much more than just showing up at services … It includes unselfish loving, honest sharing, practical serving, sacrificial giving, sympathetic comforting, and all the other 'one another' commands found in the New Testament."
How to learn the deep "one another" community described in Scripture
Howard A. Snyder
Community in the New Testament sense of koinonia assumes and requires face-to-face communication, whether in a horse-and-buggy age or an Internet age. Three things marked New Testament Christian community: It was centered in Jesus Christ (believers met together as Jesus' followers, constituting his body); this fellowship was a gift of the Holy Spirit; and the community was missional. That is, the ...
Why church members often run from community despite their attraction to it
Thomas G. Kirkpatrick
In a book called The Different Drum, M. Scott Peck suggests that while we want intimacy, we often run from it. Perplexing, isn't it? We want to be honest and open, but we are not willing to risk being ourselves in a group of sisters and brothers.
As an example, let's say that Greg is upset over his teenager's recent experimentation with smoking pot. He wants help to sort out his feelings but is reluctant ...
Which of these love languages do you use to demonstrate care to others?
Tami Rudkin
Gary Chapman in his book, The Five Love Languages, writes that we all communicate our love in certain ways. What area best describes how you love those in your life?
Outreach opportunities seem to abound at Christmastime. Realistically, the opportunities are always there, but there is something about the Season that makes it easier to outwardly express our gratitude for God's gift to us — His one and only Son, Jesus. It is during this season that we often decide to provide Christmas presents and/or food for a single mom and her children, or deliver presents ...
Let someone feel valued by giving the gift of your time this Christmas.
Sue Skalicky
I believe the greatest gifts are those that breathe.
Several years ago, our chocolate lab, Daffy, died of old age. It was devastating to all of us, but especially to my oldest daughter, CJ. At the time, Daffy was nine and CJ was 13. As a brand new teenager, CJ found in her chocolate brown friend a listening ear, a soft shoulder to cry on, a faithful running companion and, most importantly, an endless ...
Small group members listed what's most important to them.
Michael C. Mack
Research shows that group members require four basic attributes in their leaders (reported in the June 1992 Pryor Report). How do these apply to you and your group?
The leader should be viewed as "one of us," not as an outsider.
The leader should be viewed as the "most of us," with the same norms and values of others in the group.
The leader should be viewed as the "best of us," able to harness the group's expertise and energy to carry out the tasks of the group.
Printer view of these results
