For Small Groups to be encouraging, inspiring and disciple-making, we need to learn from Jesus' way of relating to people in different settings. Today's story is from Luke 7:36-50, and in it we find key principles for small groups. A pharisee that challenges everyone in the room, a loving leader, and a broken woman who understood how grace, love and truth work.
Small Groups are intended to be a place to rest, to connect and be part of what God is doing in others. However, we struggle to find small groups inspiring and encouraging because we tend to see them as another program or another thing in our calendar. This message encourages us to think of small groups as a family that is organically learning to love each other beyond the meetings.
Today's message encourages us to learn from the New Testament church in how they interact with their faith. The Book of Acts show us that the church was excited and dedicated to the gospel, meeting throughout the week with a clear purpose. What can we learn from them?
One of the main needs every person has is to connect with others. Small groups provide a community where we all can feel connected, known and be able to know others.
This message includes three short messages on Jesus' birth: The role of the angels, the humility of God, and his love.
How is it that we are supposed to have Joy and sing "Joy to the World" when the world and life is painful? We all would want to have that sense of Joy in our hearts and in order to have that Joy we need to understand that JOY IS FOUND IN THE THINGS THAT WE DEPEND UPON. The Christmas story teaches us that Joy is possible!
The coming of Jesus brings Peace. Sometimes we have the idea that Peace is a passive thing that all of the sudden will come to us. However, Peace won't just happen, Peace must be pursued. How do we experience Peace in all circumstances?
One of the worst things in live is having no hope. We all tend to look at circumstances to gain hope but, when things don't work out or when we don't see a change, that hope starts to fade away. This is why we put our hopes in things that we can control. The Advent season invite us to put our hope in Jesus because no thing can be eternally reliable but God.
The Advent season invites us to acknowledge that we all have stories to look back on, and a future to look forward to. Our stories of sorrow, pain and injustice are there to remind us of our need of someone or something that would come to change things and to give us hope of a better future. During this season we are preparing and longing for the coming of the Messiah as Israel did in the past to come to bring hope, love, joy, and peace.
Many of us find purpose in what we do for work. Some really love what they do while others struggle to experience fulfillment and are unhappy with their jobs. Christians are challenged to be salt and light, but how can this be possible when you are struggling to like your job?