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Home Groups are small Christian communities made up of 6 to 12 people meeting in individual's homes throughout the North Shelby county area two to four times a month. They are led by trained lay-leaders from the congregation who are given on-going support by the church staff. They are designed to foster community among God’s people, providing an opportunity for intimacy, mutual support, and practical love and service through the study of God’s Word, prayer, and the sharing of God’s work and grace. We also have home groups that meet on Sunday evenings. For more information about where these groups are currently meeting see the chart below. 1. Home Groups are a worshiping community. God's people exist first and foremost to glorify and enjoy Him (Romans 1:18-25; 1 Peter 2:9, Isaiah 43:21). Therefore worship is a foundation to all that occurs within the Home group community. Home groups worship the Lord through prayer, song, the reading and studying of scripture, the sharing of testimonies, and the fellowship of the body. 2. Home Groups are an accepting community. Because God loves His people unconditionally, Home groups should be willing to love and accept others just as they are. They should not be judgmental about other people's sin and weaknesses. Rather they should be quick to extend grace and to welcome outsiders into their fellowship. 3. Home groups are a holy community. Although Home groups should accept people as they are, they should not be content with leaving them there. God's people are called to pursue holiness (Hebrews 12:14). Therefore, Home groups should provide an environment where members are urged to put off the old man, with his sinful attitudes, actions and affections, and to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. 4. Home groups are a transparent community. One of the primary purposes of Home groups is to provide intimate fellowship within the body of Evangel. Because we are accepted in Christ, we should be secure enough to both speak the truth and hear the truth from others. Therefore, Home Groups are to be marked by an openness and transparency that allows members to authentically share their lives with one another. 5. Home groups are an edifying community. As members of a Home group learn to trust and share their lives with one another the result is mutual edification, strengthening, refreshment and instruction. We are told to encourage one another, serve one another, rejoice and weep with one another, correct, instruct, sing to, build up, accept and love one another (1 Thess. 5:11; Eph. 4:15-16). There is no better way to put yourself in a position to fulfill these commandments than by becoming part of a Home Group. 6. Home Groups are a serving community. The church is sometimes compared to a football stadium where you find 22 people who desperately need a rest and thousands of people who desperately need exercise. This is not true in Home Groups. In Home Groups everyone is expected to actively participate. Home groups are a place where spiritual gifts are discovered and exercised within the group itself, within the larger church, and to the world. They are a place where a vision for ministry and service are developed. |