This week in our Free: Living in the Abundance of Jesus series, Community Life Director Casey Mock shared how we experience the abundance of Jesus through community. We were reminded that we were never meant to do life alone, we build deep bonds, grow together, encourage one another, and become strengthened through God’s Word and prayer. Life Groups help us stay connected, grow in faith, and walk through every season together. If you’re not in a Life Group, there is a place for you; join a Life Group and find your people!
Four Factors in the Abundance of Jesus in Community:
We build deep bonds with other believers
We show the very character of Christ when we love one another like he loves us. When we connect…and STAY long enough (current group I am in started 6 years ago in the midst of pandemic) to see true friendship form and prayers be answered, we exemplify the command of Jesus we see in
John 13:34-35
I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
We show the world that we are His and like Him when we love each other. Get your crew before your crisis / team before your triumph so you are prepared for abundance in every season.
We don’t go it alone.
Ecc 4:9-12
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
1 Peter 5:8
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Life Groups answer this with “Not today Satan…I’ve got my crew watching out for me”
Ps 68:6
God sets the lonely in families…
If you want to live an abundant life in Christ, don’t go it alone.
We grow together…we get FREE together.
FREE living in the abundance of Jesus. Take Him at His Word; He has more for you. Be people who go through things together. Stick to each other like Velcro and be there for each other. This is what it looks like to live abundantly in Christ through community. I don’t have to go alone. We grow together. Abundance in community looks like doing it together. Being there for someone. How we walk the walk matters.
Heb 10:24-25
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Life Groups connect people deeply and help them grow together when they don’t do it alone.Life Groups are the chosen vehicle for connection and growth at City Central. They are the tool used to stabilize believers
We are fortified in the Word of God and buoyed by each other in prayer.
What does community in Life Groups look like at CC?
- Size: 10-12 adults…choosing to stick together to press each other and pursue abundance together
- Grouping by season of life (newly married, family with kids, old guys, men’s or women’s
- Frequency of meeting most groups meet twice a month
- To eat or not to eat (some potluck style, some dessert)
- All groups Discuss the Sunday sermon…we follow a sermon based small group model here at City Central. We do this because brings the word that was deposited on the weekend to the forefront to be discussed and applied in the mid-week. The CC Tacoma app has the notes and discussion questions as well as application questions. I have recently found myself compelled to take notes during the Sunday sermons so I am better prepared for Life Group discussion! My LG presses me and grows me in the understanding of God’s Word as I study it with my friends.
- Pray for one another…for a long time in the same direction. For financial breakthrough, for healing , for kids to love Jesus, for healthy marriages. It is this type of deep togetherness we see the early church function in the book of acts.
Acts 2: 42, 46-47
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their numbers day by day those who were being saved.
God is growing his church, this Life Group ministry is always growing as well. As the church at City Central grows, Life Groups keep it small. Life Groups are of a size and nature for individuals to connect deeply with other believers and grow in the Word and in prayer.
We have Life Groups meeting all over the region…Lakewood, Puyallup, on the Peninsula, on the west end, in University Place, in Central Tacoma and North Tacoma…you see where I am going with this…all over! Today you will meet one brand new group with a couple more coming in the next few months… You have heard Pastor Chris in recent weeks say…If you have a need plant a seed…need a friend, be a friend
Life Groups change the world we live in because they change us. We need each other to be long haul abundant in Christ believers who are tethered to the Word of God and each other…stabilized in community to go out into the world!
With that belief, I invite you to join a Life Group today!
Discussion Questions:
- What does it look like to live in the abundance of Jesus in Community?
- Who do you stir up? Or, are you neglecting to meet together?
- How can our Life Group help us grow deeper in God’s Word, prayer, and our relationships with one another?
Application Questions:
- What is one practical step you can take to stop going it alone and allow your community to support you in this season?
- How can you be intentional this week about encouraging, praying for, or showing up for someone in your Life Group?