Every leader needs someone to come alongside them with words of truth and wisdom to encourage, admonish, and help them in their life and leadership. Biblically, that's the on-going discipleship process. A Community Director is a mentor of Community Group Leaders that can do just that, by engaging in intentional Gospel conversation with focused discussions … Continue reading Every Leader Needs a Mentor
Preaching the Gospel…to Myself?!
What We Can Learn from the Puritan Discipline of Rehearsing the Gospel Knowing the dishonesty and deceitfulness of fallen human hearts, the Puritans cultivated humility and self-suspicion as abiding attitudes, and examined themselves regularly for lurking spiritual blind spots. They found the discipline of self-examination by Scripture (not the same thing as introspection), followed by … Continue reading Preaching the Gospel…to Myself?!
How to Study a Book of the Bible
- Thank you to Dr. Al Bean, PV Community Group leader and retired Old Testament professor, for major contributions to this resource. The Bible is made up of sixty-six books, each with its own author, time and place of writing, and purpose.* So, studying the Bible book-by-book allows us to see the diversity of God’s … Continue reading How to Study a Book of the Bible
Not Just Another Bible Study
One the biggest challenges in the process of making disciples is helping people move beyond head knowledge to heart knowledge. Transformation happens at the point where the truth of God’s Word intersects with the reality of an individual’s life. We know that happens best in the context of biblical community—believers living in authentic relationships with … Continue reading Not Just Another Bible Study
Abba Changes Everything Pt. 2
Read Pt. 1 of this post The first step in God’s method of transformation into Christ-likeness is growing in a more intimate knowledge of Him. To effectively lead others in this process requires that we begin with the reality of who they are and where they stand in relationship to the Father. While the simple … Continue reading Abba Changes Everything Pt. 2
Abba Changes Everything Pt. 1
“Abba Changes Everything” exclaims the cover story of a past issue of Christianity Today magazine. The article had nothing to do with the 70’s Swedish band—rather, it presented the theological basis for Christian adoption. Abba changes everything. That phrase stuck with me. Isn’t that also true for more than just adoption? That is a reality … Continue reading Abba Changes Everything Pt. 1
Breaking Down Walls Pt. 2
This is part two of a series on the practice of confession in your community group. If you haven’t already, click here to read Part 1.. Defining Confession While confession has a number of facets and unique expressions in Scripture, at its most base level, confession means: to be in agreement with God; to take … Continue reading Breaking Down Walls Pt. 2
Bonhoeffer on Confession
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together In confession the break-through to community takes place. Sin demands to have a man by himself. It withdraws him from the community. The more isolated a person is, the more destructive will be the power of sin over him, and the more deeply he becomes involved in it, the more … Continue reading Bonhoeffer on Confession
Breaking Down Walls Pt. 1
Think about the last time someone made of confessed of sin in your community group meeting. What was the reaction by you and the group? What did it do to the feel of the group dynamic? If you’re still trying to remember a time confession happened in your group, you’re not alone. Let’s be honest, … Continue reading Breaking Down Walls Pt. 1
Thinking Beneath: Pursuing Depth
We’ve all heard people make statements along the lines of: “I just want to go deeper.” I have to be honest though, in my experience it’s one of the most misused and overrated statements in church, because without any kind of context, that statement can mean anything! Does that mean we’re not spending enough time … Continue reading Thinking Beneath: Pursuing Depth
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