Why Growth Groups?
They reflect His glory
God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit exist as a community. When God created humanity to reflect Himself, God declared it was not good for man to be alone. God made woman and said to ‘go and multiply and be fruitful’. In our original design, we were made to be a growing community.
The power of the gospel
When humanity rebelled against God we destroyed our relationship with Him and each other. Jesus died on the cross so that we might be restored to God and one another. It is through the power of the gospel we can be restored and re-learn to live as we were designed both loving God and loving each other.
We need each other
As in creation, in the church, we are designed to be inter-dependent. God has made each of us unique giving us different gifts and personalities. Scripture describes us as one body joined together. Individually we have different functions but together we have life.
Salt & Light in darkness
God calls us to be ‘salt’ holding onto the faithful promises of the gospel and ‘light’ bringing the light of the gospel into places where we dwell. As we are transformed into being more like Jesus together we can bring love, grace and forgiveness and create a place of acceptance, help and support like nothing else in this world. It is through our community life and mission to the people around us that we proclaim the gospel in word and deed.
So if we believe that it is part of God’s design for us to be a growing community, sharing life together, enjoying a depth of friendship, mutual encouragement and care then one of the ways that we can express this is through Growth Groups. This is where we can live out the commands of Jesus practically. As our church grows and our Sunday meetings become bigger, Growth Groups become even more important.
What does a Growth Group look like ?
We see in the New Testament and early Church history that growing Christian communities:
Look Up
They enjoy God together (John 17:3) through the Word (2 Tim 4:2; Acts 2:42) , prayer (Acts 2:42), spiritual gifts (1 Cor 14:1), worship (Eph 5:19) and communion (Acts 2:42)
Build Up
They share life through friendship, hospitality (Hebrews 10:24-25) , and meals together, through joy and through tears (John 13:34-35) and specific care for those in need (Gal 2:10)
Reach Out
They were ‘sent people’ on mission together to share the blessing of God with those around them. (John 17:18; 1 Thess 2:8)
Growth Groups do the same as we:
Look Up to Christ through responding to Sunday sermons, bible study, prayer and worship.
Build UP one another through encouragement, caring and mutual support for each other.
Reach Out to others through friendship and welcoming new people into the community of believers.
We expect each member to consider how you can be a blessing to one of the groups. Groups meet on a Wednesday and Thursday at various times and venues. You can indicate your interest in a Growth Group by contacting one of the leaders or by contacting one of the Elders.
Growth Group Leaders
Sebastian Collard
Chris and Wendy Slavin
David Barclay, Mark Gordon
Rob and Ann Weir,
Norman and Lorna Brown
