New Arrivals to Our Lending Library

Hello,

Just want to let you know we have recently added new materials to our lending library, a few of which you can view under the Lending Library/New Releases tabs. When you have a moment stop in the church office and take a look. They are on the shelf cataloged “New Arrivals”.

If you decide you would like to check out one of the items but will not be using it until September, please let me know and I will put you on a list to hold it until then. We just want to make the materials available on the shelves for previewing.

Thanks and have a great summer!

Lois

 

 

 

Leap of Faith

Take a look at this photo…it highlights the topic of discussion, “You’re gonna need it to get into heaven.” Do you really need a leap of faith to get into heaven?  Have you ever heard someone say, “Take a blind leap of faith?”  I certainly have!  It sounds exhilarating. It sounds dangerous. It sounds spiritual….and it sounds a bit ridiculous.   But in a religious context we think it all the time.  In fact we sometimes encourage others with that very phrase…“Just take a blind leap of faith man!”  When it comes to having faith in God, or scripture, are we called to take blind leaps?

Does faith necessitate taking a large leap, hoping the outcome is beneficial?  The quick answer, I believe, is no.  Let me ask you, how do you know that what you are studying in the bible during your small group time is capital T – Truth?  Do you believe it is, or do you know it is?  We all know God asks us to have faith. So what is the difference between knowing scripture is true, and believing it is.  Let’s start with “what is the difference between faith and knowledge?”

Faith is having evidence (facts) to support what cannot be seen.  (Heb. 11:1)

Knowledge is having evidence (facts) to support what you can see.

For example:  If I tell you I have a coin in my wallet, you can gather the facts.

• Wallets are made to hold coins

• There are a lot of coins in the world.

• Most people do carry coins in their wallet

• I told you I do (you trust me?), etc.  These are your facts, but you cannot see that I have a coin in my wallet.  I am asking you to have faith.

Now, if I was able to, and was with you beside your computer/phone (which would just be weird), I could show you that I have a coin in my wallet. Then, friends, you would KNOW what I said is true.  That is the small difference between faith and knowledge.

What I am getting at is that God never asks us to take a blind leap of faith.  Faith that is blind is really not faith at all.  If you have no basis for what you believe, no support, then it is not faith (at least not the faith God calls us to).  What God calls us to is less like a blind leap and more like a logical step.  God desires that we have evidence and facts to support what we cannot see.  The bible is full of evidence of the seen and unseen!

So let me ask you two questions that are hopefully a bit thought provoking and maybe you can ask your small group, too

1.  Why do you believe what you believe?
2.  Do you have the evidence to back it up?

Study earnestly to present yourself approved to God, a workman that does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.  2 Timothy 2:15

~Chrissy Duke

Here are some books with more depth regarding this post:  Case for Faith, Case for Christ, For a Reason, and THE BIBLE!

 

 

Shallow Small Group

Jodie Zorbaugh shared this video with us, and we wanted to share it with you (even though it is the opposite of what we want, it makes a point). We cannot wait to see you Monday May 23rd at 7pm, for our Leaders Meeting!

* *  If any groups are in need of a service project, check out GroupServe Opportunities- under “Serve Our Community” and “Ways to Get Involved”

 

The Childcare Dilemma Part 2

In Part 1 of The Childcare Dilemma we discussed the importance of childcare in small groups, how to get started, and then how to make it happen. In this post we’ll look at childcare options, how to treat sitters and maintaining order.

Small Group Childcare Options

Be as creative as possible. Don’t limit yourself to thinking the way you’ve  always thought. That’s important. When our group had twenty nine children, we had to be very creative. We had them divided into three different age groups with three individual sitters. Each age group had activities to engage in, and obviously, we met at a house where we could all fit. If that house wasn’t available we would have had to come up with another creative solution.

Here are some childcare options that might stimulate your thinking.

• You can hire a sitter to watch the children in another home–maybe in the same neighborhood, or parents can get their own sitters as if they were going out on a date. (Although I must say I love having our children where we meet. I want them to see us in community, I want them witness first-hand what it is we value so much, and I want them to experience it.)

• If your sitter bails on you for the night or you just couldn’t find sitters for a particular week, two adults can watch the children, either for the whole night, or in shifts. We recently did this in our group when our sitters fell through. Two people watched the children for twenty minutes each. It worked well. It also gives people in the group an opportunity to get to know each other better.

• If there are parents with teenage children in the group they could watch the younger children.

• Yours and another group could watch each other’s children. Couples could rotate so that they would only be watching children once every five weeks or so.

Whatever you decide, talk about it as a group and be creative. Maybe there is no single answer. You might have to do several things at various times. But community is worth it.

How to Treat Sitters

If you want the sitters to come back, pay them well and treat them even better. This kind of goes along with being a follower of Jesus anyway, doesn’t it?

• Save them some refreshments, buy them a Christmas gift, wash their car, cut their grass. If their family is in need, help them. Serve them however you can.

• This is key: they are not just there to benefit us. They present the group with an opportunity to demonstrate the love of God in practical ways. We should be there for them as well. In our last group one of our sitters had a family emergency. We raised money for them as a group. It wasn’t enough to solve all the problems of a house fire, but it demonstrated to them that they were more than just our sitters.

How to Maintain Order

When someone opens their home to host a group, it’s no small thing. Everyone in the group should respect and steward well the property of others.

• When the group leaves for the night, the host family still has a lot of cleaning up to do. Finding broken toys, spilled juice, and general mayhem shouldn’t part of “after group clean up.” Think what you’d want your home to look like at the end of the night.

• It’s wise to have some kind of ground rules for the sitters and children. Here’s what ours look like:

• We have something for the children to do the entire time, including a snack time. They can watch a   video, play games, have a snack, learn a story, do a craft, etc. Mix it up and be creative. There are     other times when bringing the children into the group time is more than appropriate depending on       their ages. If you are studying parenting, you could bring the children into the circle and praise them   in front of their peers. You could have a special time of thanksgiving for mom or dad on Mother’s or     Father’s day. Whatever you do, keep it creative.
• There is no roughhousing or wrestling allowed.
• We have found that a 5:1 ration works well. That’s a general guideline that is influenced by many things, including the age of the children and even the age of the sitter
• Children are to be respectful and obedient to the sitters and to each other. If a child is spoken to more than once, he/she is sent upstairs and sits in the kitchen. If the child still cannot control himself/herself the parents take the child/children home. We have never had to do that, but it’s important to have something in place so that parents and children both know that we take this time seriously and that we value our sitters.

It may be a good idea to print these posts out and bring them to group. Read them together and talk about what you are doing well and what you could improve as it relates to childcare.

Community is an essential component in the life of every follower of Jesus, not just those without the childcare dilemma. I’m convinced that there are solutions. Hopefully this guide will help you in your journey.

What’s your biggest obstacle when it comes to childcare in your small group?

What has worked well for you?

 

Service Opportunity: Blessings Closet

Hey Leaders!

We have an exciting opportunity through Shepherd’s Staff in Westminster to meet the needs of the neediest among us!  Here are the details:

The Blessings Closet, a ministry of The Shepherd’s Staff in Westminster, was established in 1992.  It is a year-round ministry which provides non-food household essentials (at no cost) to people in our community who may be on government assistance, earning poverty level wages, temporarily out-of-work, or simply without a home.  Whatever their situation is, we want to support them as Christ has taught us to do.  Last year, 3,208 households were served through this ministry. To stock the items needed, we rely upon the generosity of churches, schools, and other organizations to keep The Blessings Closet filled each month.

With the goal to make this program even stronger, to reach even more people in need, Kathy Brown (the founder), Brenda, Velma, and I are reaching out to key organizations such as ours to coordinate a drive where every Sunday during a specific month or 2, the following 6 items would be collected:

Paper Towels * Toilet Paper * Laundry Powder * Dish Soap (16 oz)
Shampoo (22 to 30 oz) * PineSol (25 to 28 oz)

                                        
We would identify the best month(s) for them to coordinate this drive and collection.  When the items are collected, we would develop the logistics to have them delivered to Brenda Meadows at The Shepherd’s Staff.

The Blessing Closet is open every Wednesday from 5:00 to 7:00.  During this time, we distribute the items needed.

Their phone numbers are: 410-871-1492(w) 410-871-0674(h)  pjonesjbs@comcast.net

What can your small group do? 

You can collect these items with your group, talk to Shepherd’s Staff, find times to come and help distribute these items.  Or, perhaps, you personally want to take ownership of making this happen on a church wide level.  If you are interested in doing collections church-wide, and organizing please contact Chrissy Duke at 410-239-4700 or email chrissyduke@lifepointchuch.us.

 

Scibek’s Thank You

 

We wanted to share with all of you the Thank You we received from the Scibek’s.  If you recall, at the Big small group BASH, for the small group leader’s gift, we donated $ to the Scibek’s to help with their son’s medical bills.  It was a blessing to serve our very own!

Here is what they said:

“Some lives are true reflections of God’s Love”

Dear Adam and all of the Community Group Leaders,

Scott and I wanted to let you know how grateful we are for the monetary gift you gave us at the community group leaders’ dinner.  We were so surprised.  The donation will be very helpful with all of Preston’s procedures that we have ahead of us… To hear what you all sacrificed so you could help us out, was such an amazing act of kindness.  We feel so blessed to be surrounded by true Christians in our church.  We don’t think we could have gotten thru what we had to go thru with Preston, if it wasn’t for the church support.  Thank you…

Blessings to you all,

Scott and Shareen Scibek (Preston’s parents)

Ruth 1:8

“…Lord reward you for your kindness…” (NLT)

 

A New Day, a New Page!

 

Hello all!

Welcome to the new LifeSupport Blog!  We are making some very fun changes in our small group ministry.  We could not be more excited about what is happening and what the Lord is doing!  God has such a plan to reach people and grow them spiritually through the avenue of small groups.  What a blessing to be a part of it!

In order to keep up with what God is accomplishing we wanted to make the blog a bit more user friendly.  You will find all the usual stuff in the same locations, just looks a little different.  The posts are separated by date, and are easier to understand, etc.  But, that is not all we are excited about.  We have made 2 very important changes to this blog!

ONE: We have added a tab on the left hand side that is called “Snap Shots”. You can click the link below the tab and find yourself on a sign-in page.  This is all for YOU, as a small group leader!  This takes you directly to a quick look of your small group, so you can stay in the loop easily.  You can add and delete members as your group ebbs and flows.  You can edit their contact information, and more importantly you can contact them directly from this page!  So, every once-in-awhile you can go on here, update information, and send emails through this site.  You can also talk to LifePoint Small Groups staff through this page.  So, any questions you have regarding your small group can come directly to us.  What is most exciting about this development is that whatever information you update/change changes in our directory.  This way we have real-time information on who is small groups through LIfePoint.

Why is this important do you ask?  We are going to be able to see how effective we are at the “grow” aspect of Gather. Grow. Serve.  We want to be able to expand and grow as our church grows.  We want to be able know how to better help you with the size of your group and to facilitate healthy experiences.  We can get accurate information on all our groups, immediately!  There are so many benefits to this new addition!  We hope you catch the vision, and every couple of weeks get a chance (or have your apprentice) go on and update your group’s information!

TWO: We have also changed our Group Serve tab at the top.  Serving is a core value in our small groups, and so we want to give you the best information we have to make that happen.  There are so many ways to serve.  In the church, in the community, and in the world.  All are important, find what works best for your group and get involved- it will change your life!  There are two main ways to do this:  there is an ideas page for local and global outreach.  You can look on there and find organizations that LifePoint has connected with and that can give you some real ideas of how to get involved, then your group can arrange service projects that work for you and your talents.  Or, you can sign up for projects that are already happening through LifePoint.  ENJOY!

Question for the day:

What is the ideal size for a small group? – What are your thoughts?

 

The Childcare Dilemma-Part 1

The next two posts are all about the nitty-gritty of childcare in small groups. Why? Because the need for childcare in a small group can often become a real deal-breaker for families that would like to be a part of a group. It seems that sitters are tough to find, some families don’t have the money to lay out for childcare and for many leaders, it’s just too much to try and coordinate. To top it off, a group of ten can easily become a group of twenty five once you include children…where do we put everyone?! I’ve seen groups derail because they were unable to sort out the childcare dilemma. There are groups out there, waiting to be formed right now, but they just can’t get over this hurdle.

Webster’s online dictionary defines Nitty Gritty, yeah it’s in there, as “what is essential and basic : specific practical details.” That’s what this guide is about. It’s everything-you-need-to-know-about-childcare-in-smallgroups-even-though-you-wish-you-didn’t. Okay, that’s a bit of an overstatement. It’s a lot of what you need to know, not everything. Fair enough? And while these next two posts aren’t going to solve all of your small group childcare issues, I hope they will offer some insight and stir your thinking about what might work best for your group.

My small group planted a new group about a year and a half ago. Before we began that new group our group was made up of fourteen adults and twenty nine children, yep 29. My current group has thirteen adults and seventeen children. My family only contributes two of those, so don’t look at us .

Here are some insights on how we’ve made it work, most of the time.

How to Get Started

As a dad of young children I’ve come to learn that most parents have a network of babysitters. Even if they only have one or two “go to” sitters, they have friends who have sitters, who have friends that have sitters, and so on.

• Work that network. We’ve used sitters from the neighborhood where our group meets, to personal sitters of parents in other groups. We continue to do all we can to exhaust those connections and create new ones whenever possible.

• Don’t stop. Each person in the group is continually on the look-out for potential sitters. We have found that you can’t stop doing that. Sitters get other jobs, go off to school, have extracurricular activities to attend, etc. So, you need to constantly look for sitters. We continue to ask ourselves, even when we have sitters in place, who do we know that are potential sitters for our group?

• Do what it takes. Once we identify sitters we do whatever is needed in order to get them to the group. If their parents can’t drive them, someone from the group picks them up. If their parents can’t pick them up, we drive them home. We try to remove whatever barriers are in the way.

How to Pull it Off

One of the biggest mistakes that a small group leader makes is trying to do everything on their own. When I first started leading a group I did it all. And as you probably guessed, not only did I suffer, so did the group. It is critical that as the leader of the group you involve others, especially in this area.

• To be honest, one of the main reasons we have made this work in our group is because I’ve stayed away from it and have empowered others to lead. Our group has two people who lead our childcare coordination. One oversees the finances, the other sets up the schedule with the sitters–and they do an awesome job! I am confident that most groups have capable people who can handle this area of group life.  Keep in mind that everyone in the group is very involved in making sure that the childcare is the best it can be—you’ll notice that throughout this guide.

• We have found it best to have everyone pay in advance for at least two months. This keeps us from having to remember  to bring cash or our checkbooks with us each week. It simplifies things nicely.

• When we pay in advance we all pay the same amount even if we won’t be there on a particular week. In reality, we are paying for the opportunity to have sitters. This ensures that the sitters are getting paid appropriately and keeps our costs the same. If there is ever a week where we need only one sitter, we save the extra money for future childcare needs.

In the next post we’ll talk about childcare options, maintaining order, and how to treat sitters.

What childcare suggestions do you have?

What’s worked for your group, what hasn’t?

 

GroupServe

GroupServe is all about linking your group with opportunities to serve together. Serving together as a group accomplishes at least a few of things: First, serving together as a group acts as a kind of lab for what we are learning. It’s a truth meets life environment and it’s an essential part of discipleship. Second, serving together builds community. Something powerful happens when a group of people come together to accomplish a task they couldn’t do alone. Third, it’s good stewardship. God has entrusted to us the gift of community and the grace of growth in Christ. It only makes sense that we leverage those things to make a difference in the lives of others.

With that in mind, here are just a few great GroupServe opportunities for your group this holiday season.

NESAP: Holiday Family Sponsorship –Your group can sponsor a family, or families, for the holidays (Thanksgiving and/or Christmas).

NESAP: Christmas Gifts –Your group can purchase gift and/or food cards for needy families in our community.

Mwamba Children’s Choir—Your Group can take a meal to the choir at the Brethren Center in New Windsor, host them in your home for a meal, drop off food, or provide transportation.

For detailed information about all three of these, as well as other terrific GroupServe opportunities, hover over the GroupServe tab above. NESAP is listed under “Serve Our Community” and the Mwamba Children’s Choir is listed under “Serve Our World.”

You may want to identify one or two people in your group to act as your GroupServe point person. You could ask those in your group who is passionate about serving others and present the idea to them. Once they are in place they can assist your group in finding GroupServe projects and help you be sure that serving together is a priority.

How has your group served together in the past?

Why do you think it’s a good idea to serve together?

Adam Workman

 

ServePoint – Three Week Curriculum

You’ve heard it announced… you’ve seen it in the bulletin – ServePoint. What exactly is ServePoint and how does it relate to Small Groups?

ServePoint is a workshop that presents a biblical view of serving and assists participants in discovering their God-given passions and gifts so that they can become active influencers at LifePoint and beyond.

The benefits are obvious: you already have a set meeting time and place, you don’t have to give up your Saturday, or figure out what to do with all those kids! In addition, it can be more effective to do a self-evaluative curriculum with those who know you best.

We are excited to announce that  “ServePoint for Small Groups” in available via video curriculum. We have already had TEN groups complete ServePoint. Here is one leader’s description of their group’s experience.

Going through ServePoint as a community group was an amazing experience for our group.  As we invest in each others lives, it only seemed fitting to learn more about one another and how God has gifted each and every one of us.  In some cases it confirmed some things that we already knew and in other cases were able to learn something new about each other.  It was also an opportunity for us to encourage one another and point out to one another how we see God working in each of our lives.  As we continue to grow, having attended ServePoint together, we now have the opportunity to hold each other accountable and continue to encourage one another…..what a blessing! ~ Nina Dukes

Here is the format for the 3-week series:

Session One: Learn the Biblical perspective on serving and how your individual passions intersect with your spiritual gifts.

Session Two: Learn about the spiritual gifts presented in the Bible and explore how to discover and unwrap your personal spiritual gifts.

Session Three: Learn how to connect your passions and spiritual gifts to real ministry opportunities.
Note:  Session three is presented by a Serve Team member. This gives us an opportunity to answer any questions your group members may have, as well as giving you up-to-date information on current ministry opportunities.

The curriculum is very user-friendly and includes a leader’s kit with assessments, workbooks and clear instructions for the Small Group Leader.

We believe the ServePoint curriculum is valuable for every member of LifePoint. Even those who already serve will benefit from taking a closer look at the many aspects of this curriculum, including the ever-evolving ministry opportunities offered through LifePoint Church.

Contact  Jodie Zorbaugh at: jodiezorbaugh@lifepointchurch.us to schedule your dates and receive materials. It’s that simple!