One Teacher, Many Brothers

God blesses those who realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them.

~ Matthew 5:3, NLT

God did not call me to a man or to a denomination. He called me to Himself. He invited me to have relationship with Him.

What does this call, this invitation, involve? Most importantly, it involves loving Him and all that He is with everything I am and have. Secondly, it involves loving all that He loves, and that includes EVERYONE.

My relationship with Him calls me into relationship with those He loves. Thus, I am called to community. I was created for community.

After studying Jesus’ model of community with His disciples, I realized that there are some lessons that just cannot be learned at home with family. Yes, family is extremely important. And yes, their influence in our lives is profound. However, there are lessons that we learn only among our peers.

It is in a community of believers that I learn how to live the way Jesus taught us to live. It is there that I see the living, breathing grace and character of God. If I can live it there, I can live it anywhere.

Between Jesus’ death and the Last Day, we have the opportunity . . . no, the privilege . . . no, the blessing to live in community with other believers. Sadly, we too often do not recognize this relationship with other believers as what it is – a gift. More often than not, we take these relationships for granted.

How blessed it is to sing together. How blessed it is to pray together. How blessed it is to support one another. How blessed it is to share a meal with each other, to laugh with each other, to remember the goodness and faithfulness and miracles and mystery of God. We just don’t know the true value of something until we no longer have it.

Relationship with other believers is the grace of God upon us. It is one of the ways God strengthens and enables us to stand and be His people. My brother or sister’s whisper of encouragement in my ear is nothing but the sweet breath of God.

Are you looking for the prophetic? They are those around you and me who speak the precious words of God. Are you looking for the healers? They are those sitting around you and me week after week with arms that hug and mouths that pray.

Are you looking for a miracle? What could be more of a miracle than God changing the heart of someone and then transforming those unique individuals into a diverse group of people whose lives have been radically changed by His love and who in turn embrace all who walk through their doors and those with whom they come in contact? That ragtag group of people is Christ’s living, breathing body.

Today, many people say, “God called me to . . .” Maybe He did; maybe He didn’t. That’s between Him and them. However, after forty-something years of being a believer (some years I believed more than others), I cannot escape the thought that our highest call is to love Him with everything we are and have and to love what He loves.

What does God love? I know that He loves His son, and He loves the world because He sent His son so that the world could be saved. He also loves what His son loves, and Jesus loves His bride, His church. Therefore, I am called to love God, to love all the people of the world, to love Jesus, and to love the church.

I am so thankful that Jesus has a body of believers here in this world. It is in this community that I learn and am equipped to go out and love the world to Jesus. It is in this community that I am healed physically and emotionally and strengthened and encouraged to be what He desires me to be. It is in this community that I feel the safety to try something new because failure is no longer a four-letter word. In this community the Beatitudes become alive, and I learn how to show mercy and be humble, how to comfort and rejoice, how to long for justice and purity, how to be a peacemaker. In this place, I begin to know who I really am and what the purpose of my life really is. In this place, I know forgiveness, for I am both the forgiven one and the forgiving one.

Thank you, God, for your son and for your holy spirit and for your mercy, love, and patience. Thank you for those you’ve placed around me who love me as you do, “just as I am,” and who love me enough to speak your words of truth into my life. Thank you for your gift of community and all the “gracelings” that travel with it. May I, may we, never take you or your community of believers for granted. May we be the ambassadors of your kingdom in this world today.

~ dhandy

Small Groups 101

In the mid-80s, we were introduced to the philosophy behind small groups. At the core of this philosophy is the belief that all ministry must flow out of relationship – relationship with God first and then with other believers and those we are trying to reach. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13 that anything not motivated by love is worthless. “I’m bankrupt without love.” [Verse 7, Message]

What is a small group?
A small group is a group of people (12 to 25 is comfortable) who meet together to experience what the New Testament refers to as koinonia, or fellowship.

Small groups have been around for a long time. Jesus had the twelve. He shared His life with these guys and the people who traveled with them. After Jesus’ death, these guys and others began to gather in small groups, usually in homes, to share their lives with each other.

What do small groups do?
Originally, Vineyard churches called their small groups kinships. These small groups, or kinships, are places where believers grow, minister, serve, study the Bible, pray, sing, fail, cry, laugh, and sometimes even eat and play together.

These groups are places
* where people can develop meaningful relationships with other believers,
* where an environment of nurturing and discipling takes place,
* where those who want to become leaders can practice their leadership skills,
* where people can experience accountability,
* where people can bring their nonbelieving friends and acquaintances who are interested in becoming believers.

What is the leadership structure of a small group?
The leadership team of a small group, or kinship, is usually (not always) composed of three or four people. * The host couple or person is the one responsible for opening up the home (or the church) for the small group meeting. They do the things that a host would do: welcome everyone, set things up, make sure that there is toilet paper in the bathroom, make coffee (even snacks), clean up afterwards, and help the other members of the leadership team.

* The worship leader is in charge of leading worship at the small group. This could be one person or a variety of people in the small group.

* The facilitator is the person in charge of facilitating, or directing, the meeting. He or she makes sure that events flow smoothly and listens to see what God wants to do in the meeting.

Ideally, people who serve in a leadership capacity at kinship eventually serve the larger fellowship in a leadership capacity. In other words, small groups are a great place to identify and develop leaders.

A Final Word
Today, many people who do not attend church simply cannot be reached in a large church setting. They can though be reached through relationships, especially the kind of relationships nurtured in a kinship setting. Many of these people feel “safer” going to a home meeting or a small meeting and are more willing to try out small groups than to attend a “church service.” Therefore, small groups are another way of reaching out to and sharing the gospel of Christ with our community.

Do we have small groups?

Yes, yes, yes! Currently, we have several small groups, each with its own unique flavor.

* Pathfinders meets on the first and third Tuesdays of the month at Bruce Cornutt’s abode in Southside. (If you need directions, please ask.) This small group is a Bible study/discussion group led by Bruce.

* Every Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m., Jim hosts a small group here at the church. The evening usually offers coffee (of course), worship, a short teaching, and ministry.

* Every Sunday afternoon at 4:00 p.m., Todd and LeNola Bagley host a service here at the church. The agenda for this meeting is written in pencil to allow for the Spirit’s leading.

* Grace meets every Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. at the church and is hosted by Seth Barber and Richard Moon. It is a recovery-based meeting offering healing and restoration. Court cards can also be signed at this meeting.

* Jim and Patsy Bentley’s kinship meets on the second Thursday of the month at their home. (If you need directions, please ask.) This small group usually combines fellowship, worship, and ministry.

*Robby Elrod also hosts a small group which meets in Esther and Cindy Finlayson’s home. They aren’t meeting this summer but plan to resume this fall.

Speaking from my own experience, small groups have definitely been a positive influence in my own life. The things I’ve learned and the relationships I’ve made in these small groups are priceless and have encouraged me to draw closer and closer to God. These experiences and these people have positively been the grace of God poured out upon me.

Please consider this your personal invitation to visit or become a part of one of our small groups.