SMALL GROUPS
A Small Group, at its core, is believers doing life together. Jesus was in a Small Group. The early church was made up of Small Groups and there were no church buildings like we have now. Something brand new was just getting started. No longer did people meet in temples like they used to. At least not the Christians, they knew that things were different now. They could not go to the temple like they always had and do the same things that they had always done. Jesus came, He fulfilled the law and He was the ultimate sacrifice for sins, so sacrificing animals was no longer needed.
Now you just put your faith in Jesus, confess your sins to Him and follow his commands. But they weren’t teaching the principles that Jesus taught at the temples so they needed to find a place where people were talking about what Jesus taught. This brought Christians to each other, in homes, in alleyways, and wherever they could get together and talk about Jesus and what life means as a Christian.
Fast forward to today and here we are! There are church buildings and conferences and sermon podcasts and Christian music and WWJD merchandise. So why do we still need Small Groups? The truth is all of those things are great and we should strive to be a part of them. But Small Groups are special because they hit us literally where we live. The day to day. Some church buildings can be massive and hold a ton of people, conferences are temporary and as great as Christian merchandise is sometimes it’s not enough. What do I do on the hard days or where do I go when I have specific questions or just want to be a part of a community of people that know what I’m going through and what it’s like when life happens?
That’s why we still have Small Groups. They are a community within a community. I probably won’t know every single person in my church but I can know everyone in my Small Group. We can pray for each other, hang out, go see a movie, catch a game, call or text each other and trust that we can be open and honest with one another. Cause we are all in this life together. We need people that have our backs and want God’s best for us.
It’s a crazy life and like any crazy ride it’s better with friends, right? We all have “friends/family” that we like to interact with but if they are not believers themselves then there are certain things that they just can’t identify with. We continue to love those people and build relationships with them and look for opportunities to share the love of Jesus with them. But what about when you are not doing well? What about when you are struggling? Those people might try to wish us warm thoughts or send good vibes our way, but what we really need is the people in our lives who we absolutely trust to pray Heaven over us. We are better together! Join a Small Group today!