Fellowship Groups
A primary purpose of the church is godly fellowship. True fellowship allows members to develop relationships with one another at a depth necessary to truly care for each other’s needs and hold one another accountable to the spiritual commitments we have made. For this reason we have reserved Sunday afternoon/evening and also Wednesday evening for a time to break down into smaller groups to sing, share, pray with one another, and study the Word for greater understanding and application.
Additionally, our fellowship groups provide support and encouragement for members of the group, such as meals and hospital visits, thus embodying the one-anothers of Scripture and personalizing the care each person receives. To this end, we encourage all members of Grace to be involved in a fellowship group as a means of using their giftedness to build up the body.
We do not believe that small groups are the key to the church (sound teaching is), but they have a valuable function in allowing the body to be spiritually healthy.
What Happens in the Groups?
Each group is a bit different but the general format is prayer, music, Bible study, and fellowship. Many of the groups eat a meal together (either before or after the meeting time) as a means of extending and enhancing the opportunities for interaction and encouragement.
The objective of the prayer time is to intercede for one another more intimately than is possible through the relatively casual interaction that goes on Sunday morning.
Teaching in the Groups
This year, there will be several different topics of study. Check with your prospective group leader if you have questions about the topic. Most groups will do “sermon review.” That is, we will work through a series of questions based on the sermon from that morning – seeking to explore some of the points more thoroughly, make practical application and answer questions that may have been raised. Regardless of the particular topic or approach our goal is to continually deepen in our understanding of the principles of God’s Word and our practice of those principles in daily living.
Which Group Should I Attend?
We have attempted to choose host homes that are spread out geographically in order to make it easier for each family to be a part. Additionally we have a large number of families with children and so need to try to balance the amount of children in each home.
Please stop by the Fellowship Group information table, located in the back of the sanctuary.