This week our speaker is author, Anne Ortland and our subject is prayer. If you haven’t already tried this as a Community Host, please listen to the Leadership Lifter which is at the top of your menu for Week 4 on the DVD. You will hear what Anne hopes will be the outcomes of this session. You will also hear some valuable preparation tips that will aid you in hosting this week’s meeting with your Community Group. Then continue to preview this week’s session, play only the first part of the DVD that ends before the first question. I think this week’s introduction is particularly outstanding!
Now pause and reflect on what God has to tell you about what you just saw on the DVD. Then practice prayer by then asking God to put on your heart the special message God has for your group meeting. Meditate on our memory verse this week, Psalms 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God...” as you think about what you have just seen.
I believe that by preparing in this way will be transformational for your group and especially the people in your group as you grow deeper in Christ together.
Please also check out the last blog written Saturday which talks about next steps for your group.
God bless you as you hold your meetings this week!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Half Way Look Ahead
We are at the half way point of our six week Community Group study, “Growing to be like Christ”. With only three weeks left before the end of this series, it is time for us to do some forward looking and see what is next.
Our original plan was to grow PAC’s small group ministry as well as align the small groups with the new vision of the church presented by Boyd earlier this summer, www.princetonalliance.org.
The core of the PAC vision is to “Know God, Develop Community and Bring Hope to the World”. In straight forward words this translates, “believe, belong and serve”.
Our hope is to make it possible for many more people to connect to our PAC family by belonging to a small group. We planned the Community Group campaign in part for this very purpose.
In early September, 85 people responded to our call and said that they would host a new small group for six weeks. This was to be in addition to 30 existing small groups that have their roots in the care circle ministry. While we were unable to find groups for all of these who said they would host at this time, we did succeed in launching 80 Community Groups! These groups are now following the weekend sermons with the Growing to be Like Christ” DVD material.
Looking ahead, we hope the 80 will decide to continue on together as Community Groups. While the current sermon series will end in three weeks there are some options for groups that continue to consider using for content material.
First option would be to continue with the Doing Life Together DVD series which included the “Growing to be Like Christ” material. We have two recommendations for you. If your Community Group is new to PAC or if you just want to focus on the basics of Christianity, “Beginning Life Together” is just for you. It deals with finding God’s purpose for your life. Second option is if you want to continue with something more around fellowship, we would recommend another DVD in the series called, “Connecting with God’s Family” The DVD materials for either option cost $65 and will have to be paid for by your Community Group. PAC will help you in obtaining these materials.
If you don’t want to continue with the DVD series, you can do your own study. At PAC we have many recommendations for content material for you. Contact your Community Pastor for more information.
For your Community Group to continue to meet, you need to do the folowing:
1. Pick the leader for your group. In many cases you probably already know who this person is who is best suited to lead your Community Group. Our guidelines were that Community Hosts did not have be members of PAC. However, to be a leader of a Community Group after the campaign, you do need to be a member.
2. To become a member of PAC, you can attend our next membership class which will be held Saturday, November 17, at PAC. The class is called Discovery Community and is held from 8:30 am to 1:00 pm. More instruction will be given to you that morning regarding membership.
3. There will be leadership training available for Community Leaders. Details are forthcoming.
4. Even though many of the Community Groups don’t have a full membership of 10, by staying together even with as few as 4 people you provide the opportunity for others to connect with you in the future. We are always adding new people at PAC and they may be looking to join your group.
Your Community Pastor will be contacting you during the next three weeks to help you through this decision time. May God bless you as you build Community Groups in your neighborhoods, so we can bring hope to the world!
Our original plan was to grow PAC’s small group ministry as well as align the small groups with the new vision of the church presented by Boyd earlier this summer, www.princetonalliance.org.
The core of the PAC vision is to “Know God, Develop Community and Bring Hope to the World”. In straight forward words this translates, “believe, belong and serve”.
Our hope is to make it possible for many more people to connect to our PAC family by belonging to a small group. We planned the Community Group campaign in part for this very purpose.
In early September, 85 people responded to our call and said that they would host a new small group for six weeks. This was to be in addition to 30 existing small groups that have their roots in the care circle ministry. While we were unable to find groups for all of these who said they would host at this time, we did succeed in launching 80 Community Groups! These groups are now following the weekend sermons with the Growing to be Like Christ” DVD material.
Looking ahead, we hope the 80 will decide to continue on together as Community Groups. While the current sermon series will end in three weeks there are some options for groups that continue to consider using for content material.
First option would be to continue with the Doing Life Together DVD series which included the “Growing to be Like Christ” material. We have two recommendations for you. If your Community Group is new to PAC or if you just want to focus on the basics of Christianity, “Beginning Life Together” is just for you. It deals with finding God’s purpose for your life. Second option is if you want to continue with something more around fellowship, we would recommend another DVD in the series called, “Connecting with God’s Family” The DVD materials for either option cost $65 and will have to be paid for by your Community Group. PAC will help you in obtaining these materials.
If you don’t want to continue with the DVD series, you can do your own study. At PAC we have many recommendations for content material for you. Contact your Community Pastor for more information.
For your Community Group to continue to meet, you need to do the folowing:
1. Pick the leader for your group. In many cases you probably already know who this person is who is best suited to lead your Community Group. Our guidelines were that Community Hosts did not have be members of PAC. However, to be a leader of a Community Group after the campaign, you do need to be a member.
2. To become a member of PAC, you can attend our next membership class which will be held Saturday, November 17, at PAC. The class is called Discovery Community and is held from 8:30 am to 1:00 pm. More instruction will be given to you that morning regarding membership.
3. There will be leadership training available for Community Leaders. Details are forthcoming.
4. Even though many of the Community Groups don’t have a full membership of 10, by staying together even with as few as 4 people you provide the opportunity for others to connect with you in the future. We are always adding new people at PAC and they may be looking to join your group.
Your Community Pastor will be contacting you during the next three weeks to help you through this decision time. May God bless you as you build Community Groups in your neighborhoods, so we can bring hope to the world!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Week 3 - Personal Time with God
By now your Community Group has met one or two times. Hopefully people are connecting to our PAC church body through this small group experience. There are over 80 groups now meeting covering the same material weekly that you are.
As a reminder, our mission purpose for the six week Community Group campaign is to:
1. Connect many new people to our church body at PAC by joining a small group. (Bring them In)
2. Provide an opportunity for people to grow deeper in Christ while they grow closer to a group of people trying to do the same. (Build them up)
3. Move the church out into the community…hence the name Community Groups. (Send them out)
This coming week our session deals with personal time with God. Lately I have been involved with several challenging human situations which has caused me to remember the following:
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then the people take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men and women by changing their environment. Christ changes men and women who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human behavior.”
Thinking about this helps me remember who I really am and who God really is. He is adequate for all we need... after all God is sovereign over all. I am more able to not be overwhelmed by life and to be truely thankful that God is adequate for me.
Bottom line...we need personal time with God to get His perspective on our lives. May you make room to schedule personal time with God this week and see the difference that will make!
As a reminder, our mission purpose for the six week Community Group campaign is to:
1. Connect many new people to our church body at PAC by joining a small group. (Bring them In)
2. Provide an opportunity for people to grow deeper in Christ while they grow closer to a group of people trying to do the same. (Build them up)
3. Move the church out into the community…hence the name Community Groups. (Send them out)
This coming week our session deals with personal time with God. Lately I have been involved with several challenging human situations which has caused me to remember the following:
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then the people take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men and women by changing their environment. Christ changes men and women who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human behavior.”
Thinking about this helps me remember who I really am and who God really is. He is adequate for all we need... after all God is sovereign over all. I am more able to not be overwhelmed by life and to be truely thankful that God is adequate for me.
Bottom line...we need personal time with God to get His perspective on our lives. May you make room to schedule personal time with God this week and see the difference that will make!
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
The Power for Living - Week Two
We hope the first week of Community Group meetings touched people’s lives by providing an opportunity to meet new people and even possibly feeling a little more connected to PAC.
This week as you prepare for the second session, first listen to the “Leadership Lifter” on your DVD. You will find the Leadership Lifter at the top of the page after you click on Session Two. Listening to the Leadership Lifter first is very helpful because it contains the heart of the message the teacher is trying to convey in this session.
This week, our session is led by John Ortberg. Magnification of his message can be found in his book, “The Life You Always Wanted”. John calls us back to the dynamic heartbeat of Christianity – God’s power to bring change and growth.
John’s hope in this session is that everyone will walk out of the meeting with determination to deliberately seek to open themselves up to the activity of the Holy Spirit in their lives. The Holy Spirit is not just for well known Christians like Billy Graham or Mother Teresa or Chuck Colson.
John’s plea to us is to not be cheated out of the greatest adventure of living with God, walking daily with the Holy Spirit. Believe it is possible that thoughts that enter our minds are really promptings for us from the Holy Spirit to take action. Promptings may be for us to provide some compassion for someone who really needs mercy or an encouraging note to someone who is in the dumps or even possibly to confront with the truth someone who needs to hear it.
Believe these thoughts are really the Holy Spirit working in our life. Be determined to enter this week seeking the adventure of living with the Holy Spirit in our lives. Realize that God meets us not in a monastery but on Main Street, and that all of everyday life has the potential to be lived as Jesus himself were the one living it.
This week as you prepare for the second session, first listen to the “Leadership Lifter” on your DVD. You will find the Leadership Lifter at the top of the page after you click on Session Two. Listening to the Leadership Lifter first is very helpful because it contains the heart of the message the teacher is trying to convey in this session.
This week, our session is led by John Ortberg. Magnification of his message can be found in his book, “The Life You Always Wanted”. John calls us back to the dynamic heartbeat of Christianity – God’s power to bring change and growth.
John’s hope in this session is that everyone will walk out of the meeting with determination to deliberately seek to open themselves up to the activity of the Holy Spirit in their lives. The Holy Spirit is not just for well known Christians like Billy Graham or Mother Teresa or Chuck Colson.
John’s plea to us is to not be cheated out of the greatest adventure of living with God, walking daily with the Holy Spirit. Believe it is possible that thoughts that enter our minds are really promptings for us from the Holy Spirit to take action. Promptings may be for us to provide some compassion for someone who really needs mercy or an encouraging note to someone who is in the dumps or even possibly to confront with the truth someone who needs to hear it.
Believe these thoughts are really the Holy Spirit working in our life. Be determined to enter this week seeking the adventure of living with the Holy Spirit in our lives. Realize that God meets us not in a monastery but on Main Street, and that all of everyday life has the potential to be lived as Jesus himself were the one living it.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Week One - Growing Deeper in Christ
Here we are in Week One and over 80 Community Groups at PAC are participatiing in the six week study, “Growing to be like Christ” Session one is about growing deeper in Christ. The message of the first session is that "doing comes out of being", what flows out of our mouths originates in our hearts. Matthew 15:18a says "But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart".
By now you have had your first meeting, you might have felt awkward, strange, and even had the feeling what am I doing this for? I want to encourage you Communty Hosts to check out a website that encourages hosts and members with great tips and ideas about the small group experience; http://www.lifetogether.com/Default.aspx?alias=www.lifetogether.com/member. This site is organized around the lifestage of your group. Also, your Community Pastor will be checking in on you to see how you are doing and offereing prayer for your needs and requests.
On the right side of this page is Hebrews 12: 1-3, the scripture for our first session. I have put portions of this passage in bold font that spoke to me as I spent time in the session this week . Scroll down through other passages I have posted over the summer. Reading these postings will tell you pretty much who I am in Christ and what I hold to be true in my life. This is my authenticity, who I am. The A,B,C's of Community Groups are Authenticity, Belonging, and Caring.
Authenticity - is our basic desire to be fully known.
Belonging - is our basic need to be a part of something bigger than our selves so that, interacting with others, we can learn about our selves and receive:
Caring - we need to know that we are considered precious by others. We need to be loved.
The problem is that, on our own, we can get this exactly backwards. We start to think that if we are authentic - if people come to know us for who we really are - they will reject us. We will not belong, and if we don't belong, we will not be loved. So from a human perspective, we see a conflict between being authentic and being loved.
But the good news is... Jesus fully knows us AND fully loves us - enough to die for us on the cross. And once we really accept the grace provided by the cross we can begin to be authentic with God. We can stop pretending that we can be good enough and accept the fact that through Him we truly belong in the Kingdom of Heaven. In that security we can ask God to help us see ourselves - authentically.
So with Jesus, the Love comes first, when we accept this unconditional love, Belonging and Authenticity follows.
So why do we need community groups? Because when we are alone, we fall back into human conventions. Like thinking that A comes before B and B before C. Even when we come here for corporate worship - we put on our best clothes and we tend to leave all the stuff that needs to be brought before God at home in closets. We're afraid to bring that stuff here because if we did, we might not Belong. And, as a result, we might not be loved.
So what we need is a place that's modeled on God's A,B,C's of community - not ours. Where the Caring comes first and the sense of Belonging follows. Together, these create an environment in which it is safe for us to be Authentic. And here's the good part - at this point a feedback loop kicks in - when a more authentic version of you is loved (even while being held accountable), you really feel like you belong and this allows you to be even more authentic, and when this version of you is loved, you belong even more..
When this upward spiral takes place lives are transformed as we grow in Christ, together. I believe that this spiral occurs more easily in Community Groups than in large ones and it occurs most easily in Community Groups where the caring - unconditional caring - comes first.
As you grow deeper in Christ and your community group, I encourage you to make the caring come first. You'll be amazed at what happens next.
By now you have had your first meeting, you might have felt awkward, strange, and even had the feeling what am I doing this for? I want to encourage you Communty Hosts to check out a website that encourages hosts and members with great tips and ideas about the small group experience; http://www.lifetogether.com/Default.aspx?alias=www.lifetogether.com/member. This site is organized around the lifestage of your group. Also, your Community Pastor will be checking in on you to see how you are doing and offereing prayer for your needs and requests.
On the right side of this page is Hebrews 12: 1-3, the scripture for our first session. I have put portions of this passage in bold font that spoke to me as I spent time in the session this week . Scroll down through other passages I have posted over the summer. Reading these postings will tell you pretty much who I am in Christ and what I hold to be true in my life. This is my authenticity, who I am. The A,B,C's of Community Groups are Authenticity, Belonging, and Caring.
Authenticity - is our basic desire to be fully known.
Belonging - is our basic need to be a part of something bigger than our selves so that, interacting with others, we can learn about our selves and receive:
Caring - we need to know that we are considered precious by others. We need to be loved.
The problem is that, on our own, we can get this exactly backwards. We start to think that if we are authentic - if people come to know us for who we really are - they will reject us. We will not belong, and if we don't belong, we will not be loved. So from a human perspective, we see a conflict between being authentic and being loved.
But the good news is... Jesus fully knows us AND fully loves us - enough to die for us on the cross. And once we really accept the grace provided by the cross we can begin to be authentic with God. We can stop pretending that we can be good enough and accept the fact that through Him we truly belong in the Kingdom of Heaven. In that security we can ask God to help us see ourselves - authentically.
So with Jesus, the Love comes first, when we accept this unconditional love, Belonging and Authenticity follows.
So why do we need community groups? Because when we are alone, we fall back into human conventions. Like thinking that A comes before B and B before C. Even when we come here for corporate worship - we put on our best clothes and we tend to leave all the stuff that needs to be brought before God at home in closets. We're afraid to bring that stuff here because if we did, we might not Belong. And, as a result, we might not be loved.
So what we need is a place that's modeled on God's A,B,C's of community - not ours. Where the Caring comes first and the sense of Belonging follows. Together, these create an environment in which it is safe for us to be Authentic. And here's the good part - at this point a feedback loop kicks in - when a more authentic version of you is loved (even while being held accountable), you really feel like you belong and this allows you to be even more authentic, and when this version of you is loved, you belong even more..
When this upward spiral takes place lives are transformed as we grow in Christ, together. I believe that this spiral occurs more easily in Community Groups than in large ones and it occurs most easily in Community Groups where the caring - unconditional caring - comes first.
As you grow deeper in Christ and your community group, I encourage you to make the caring come first. You'll be amazed at what happens next.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Please attend Discovery Community on Saturday, October 20 at PAC
This fall, Princeton Alliance Church is offering three new core classes that are essential for all people who call our church their home. The first course offered in this series is called Discovering Community. This class contains vital information about our PAC Community.
Since we are a people of many different backgrounds, this class is designed to clearly explain who and what we are. The purpose of the class is to help discover the basic structure, strategy, and importance of community group as we impact our community one neighborhood at a time.
Discovering Community replaces the Discovering PAC class which had been taught for over a decade as the membership class to join PAC. If you are not presently a member of PAC, Discovering Community is the pathway to joining our community. If you are currently a member of PAC, taking this class is not a requirement for continued membership, but rather a concise fresh view of our PAC vision as we go forward.
The Discovering Community class is especially important for Community Pastors and Community Hosts. The course is visionary in nature, leadership focused and essential for people who desire to build community in our area.
Please plan to attend the next class offering which will be the morning of October 20 in the Great Room at PAC. Further details for this class will in the bulletin this weekend.
Since we are a people of many different backgrounds, this class is designed to clearly explain who and what we are. The purpose of the class is to help discover the basic structure, strategy, and importance of community group as we impact our community one neighborhood at a time.
Discovering Community replaces the Discovering PAC class which had been taught for over a decade as the membership class to join PAC. If you are not presently a member of PAC, Discovering Community is the pathway to joining our community. If you are currently a member of PAC, taking this class is not a requirement for continued membership, but rather a concise fresh view of our PAC vision as we go forward.
The Discovering Community class is especially important for Community Pastors and Community Hosts. The course is visionary in nature, leadership focused and essential for people who desire to build community in our area.
Please plan to attend the next class offering which will be the morning of October 20 in the Great Room at PAC. Further details for this class will in the bulletin this weekend.
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