Bravely Onward!

Imagine this: Crisis strikes your family. You are unsure how things will turn out, but one thing you do know is that you need the Lord's help. Who do you call for prayer? For some, this may be an easy question. For others, this question draws a blank because you don't have a lot of praying friends or family.  This scenario is one of the reasons why it is so important for you to be engaged in a growth group. Growth groups provide an opportunity for Christian community, and this involves praying for one another. You will know if you are in a good group if the members take prayer seriously and regularly and fervently pray for one other (and not just during emergencies). Prayer is talking with God. Prayer is expressing faith. When we pray for each other, we are talking to God for one another. E.M. Bounds says, " Talking to men  for  God  is a great thing, but  talking to God  for  men  is greater still."  When we pray for one another, we show we ...

Church Family,  Tomorrow (Wednesday, December 1st), the supreme court of our country will hear oral arguments for the case of  Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health , which is a challenge against the State of Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban. Those of us who mourn the reality of legal abortion in our country hope that the ban is upheld by the court. Further, we view this case as an opportunity to return decision-making regarding the legality of abortion to the states. Once returned, states could decide for themselves, throug h their own legislative processes, if abortion should be allowed and to what degree. We hope that the decision of the court will allow states to make abortion illegal and save the lives of millions of unborn children.  As believers in Jesus Christ, who trust the Bible for what to believe and how to act, it is clear that children in the womb belong to the Lord and are the result of His creative work. Psalm 139:13-14 says:        ...

Growth is difficult work! This is true if you are trying to learn a new skill, become an expert about some topic, or get in shape. It is very hard to overcome the status quo and rise to new levels. We face tremendous resistance to personal growth because of our comfort. For this reason, many of us fall short in our desires to grow. We are more likely to grow in something if we have accountability built into the process. This is the reason why schools reward grades for performance on assignments. GPA is a great motivator and it helps students to learn. There is a reason why Weight Watchers  works for so many people. Weekly weigh-ins are a part of the program and they compel participants to exchange their comfortable eating habits for ones which support health and wellness. Caring and non-judgmental accountability is an important ingredient for growth. Accountability is also necessary if we want to grow spiritual as Christians. You could argue that this is one of the primary reasons ...

One of my favorite stories in the New Testament is Acts 9:26-30. In it, the apostle Paul is a young believer, having been miraculously converted on the road to Damascus. One problem Paul ran into as a new Christian was that the Christians in Damascus were afraid of him. The reason is obvious, he had been hunting down Christians until his sudden conversion to Christ. Believers were hesitant to believe he was really a changed man. His conversion could have been a trick to lure them out of hiding. When Paul came to Jerusalem to join with the disciples, he ran into the same problem. The Christians did not believe he was a changed man. Paul was stuck. Yet, God brought a person into his life to help him past the obstacles he faced. Barnabas was a generous and godly believer from Cyprus who was well respected in the Jerusalem church. God led him to advocate for Paul.  Barnabas took Paul under his wing, encouraged him in his young faith, and lent him credibility. Ultimately, Barn...

So when we think about small groups, we usually think Bible study first. This is appropriate. In fact, for years people have called small groups Sunday School . A lot of churches simply refer to them as Bible study .  School and study imply learning. In small groups, we learn about the Bible. For those of us who have grown up in church, we would expect that studying a passage of Scripture should be the primary purpose of a small group.  Small groups are the best place to learn to know the Word of God. Most likely you will grow more in your knowledge of the Bible in small groups than you will by only attending the worship service. The reasons for this are that small groups allow more time for digging into passages for meaning and they allow for questions and discussion. Consider that when Jesus taught the crowds about the parable of the sower, the disciples understood it only after they were able to ask Jesus questions in a small group format (Mark 4:1-20). Another benefit of s...

When I pastored in Colorado, I remember visiting one of the families in our church.  The wife and children were very involved on Sundays and throughout the week. On Sunday mornings, they came early to be a part of Sunday school classes (this was our small group ministry). Then they stayed for the worship service.  The husband, however, never participated with the small group ministry. He never was a part of a Sunday school class. Rather, he came later and joined the family in the large-group worship service. While I was at their home, I asked him, "Have you ever thought of joining a small group?" I'll never forget his response. He said, "No, I'm just not a Sunday School guy."  In the years since this visit and the husband's response, I've met countless people who think that small groups are unnecessary in their Christian lives. I've always been baffled by this. The reason is that the New Testament demonstrates that small groups were clearly and r...