Easter is approaching fast! This weeks discussion continues to focus on the last days of Jesus' earthly life and ministry. We will discuss Jesus' last meal with his disciples before his betrayal. We'll talk about how the Lord's Supper points to our hope in the finished work of Christ, and spend some time praying for this Easter season in Tallahassee.
Thank you for your leadership of your groups. City Church couldn't have the ministry it does without your valued labors.
We are hearing some great things about our City Groups! One group organized a tour of both The Women's Pregnancy Center and The PHI Center here in Tallahassee (both dedicated to helping women and families through pregnancies and post-natal family life) to better learn how they could partner with one of these organizations. Another group leader cooks dinner most every Sunday night and those who want to show up to eat can and do. We've heard of some great theological discussions that are happening and tremendous growth in knowledge of God's Word just from these dinners. And many members of another City Group attended disaster relief training last Saturday. Thank you all for being wonderful examples of faithful service. God is using your sacrifice of time and resources to reach and grow so many! We hope these stories will encourage you as much as it encourages us.
Please keep in mind that it is Spring Break this week. Proactively communicate details with your group about your plans for meeting this week. We realize that some (many even) of your groups may not meet due to many members being out of town. If that is the case, try going out for dinner or dessert with those still in town and enjoy a night of fun and fellowship instead. Be creative, but be in community and be encouraging one another!
We echo Paul's sentiments to the believers in Philippi as we thank God for each one of you and joyfully pray for you and your groups as we serve our Lord together!
This week, we will get to discuss faithful endurance in our spiritual lives as we consider some passages in Hebrews based on Sunday’s sermon by missionary Thomas West. How convicting and encouraging both at the same time! Take some time before your group meets and read through Hebrews 11 and be encouraged by the many men and women, sinners just like each one of us, who placed their faith in God and endured until the end.
The discussion guide ends with a challenge to memorize Hebrews 12:2. Let’s all encourage one another within our groups to commit this portion of God’s word to our memories!
And speaking of faithful endurance, thank you to each one of our group leaders and co-leaders and hosts for faithfully serving and leading in these capacities! We are so thankful for you all!
Discussion Guide here
Another resource we’d love for you to take a look at on your own time this week (and e-mail out to your group attendees) is a fantastic recap video of what we’ve covered in Mark up to this point. It’s about 10 minutes long and well worth your time!
What the Mark recap video here
Hello City Group Leaders,
After a great weekend with Dr. Whitney, we are now back in Mark 13. This week we will look at Jesus' words about his second coming and his call to us to be his workers while we wait for him.
We hope you really enjoyed the time with Dr. Whitney last weekend. Thank you for your leadership and engagement in your groups!
Resources: Below you will find resources for this week:
Hello Again City Group Leaders,
We're hearing great reports on groups this semester. Thank you for continuing to update us!
This weeks discussion focuses on Mark 13:1-27 where Jesus prophesies of coming persecution, the destruction of the temple, and his return. What a passage to dive into together! We will observe together how we can hope in Christ no matter what our circumstances are, and how Jesus calls us to live faithfully in light of his return.
We are praying for your meetings. Thank you for your continued leadership.
Resources: Below you will find resources for this week:
Greetings City Group Leaders,
We're now off to a great start of our discussion of Mark's gospel in our groups. Thank you for you continued efforts to lead your groups and encourage our church toward maturity in Christ.
This week we will be focusing on the widow's offering in Mark 12:41-44 and the implications for our generosity today.
Also, we will be adding in a special time of prayer in our groups this week that align with our emphasis in the service next Sunday (February 17th).
Please let us know how your groups are going. We will be making our way around to visit you and your group soon. Thank you for your leadership.
Gratefully,
Joe and Kaylan
Resources: Below you will find resources for this week:
Greetings City Group Leaders,
We're hearing great reports of starting discussions in Mark. This week we are continuing our Mark series looking at Mark 12:38-40. We will focus on how faith in Jesus allows us to surpass the religion of the scribes.
We've included a few reminders on this week's discussion guide. Most notably among them, our Faith and Work lunch is coming up this Wednesday, February 6th from 12:00-1:00 and Equip Classes start Sunday, February 10th. Please encourage your group members to sign up.
Thank you for you commitment to lead your groups and your service to our church.
Resources: Below you will find resources for this week:
City Group Leaders,
Thank you for a great start to City Groups this semester! It has been SO encouraging to hear about so many “new to groups” people getting plugged in this past week. Don’t forget to take a selfie of your group and post to social media with #citygroupstally if you are able!
We probably will still be having new people reach out over the course of the next couple of weeks. Thank you for responding quickly to their inquiries. If you have any questions or need assistance with anything, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We have lots of fantastic events on the horizon and you can check out those details in the discussion guide. And now that we’re back in the book of Mark, we also have an accompanying video which is a great tool to use with your group if you are able.
We appreciate you all so very much!
Resources: Below you will find resources for this week:
Greetings City Group Leaders!
We hope you and your families had a wonderful holiday season and that the transition back into “normal” schedules has been a smooth one! This is the last week of our New series as we continue to learn how we have been made new in Christ. We have some important announcements in the Group Discussion Guide so we appreciate your attention to those. Thank you for your service to the church in leading your groups!
Resources: Below you will find resources for this week:
DISCUSSION GUIDE: New Week 3
Seasons Greetings City Group Leaders!
We're in our last week of Fall City Groups. It's a great week as we start the Advent season as a faith family. Through the Advent season we will be focusing on a collection of prophecies from the book of Isaiah. This week we turn our attention to how the coming of Jesus brought light into the darkness and began to establish a kingdom with no end. We hope its a great week of discussion. Merry Christmas! The King has Come!
Resources: Below you will find resources for this week:
DISCUSSION GUIDE: ADVENT
Greetings City Group Leaders!
We hope you and your families had a wonderful Thanksgiving! This is the last week of our This is Us series, and we're back this week discussing what God had done for us. We will be focusing on how God has delivered us and transformed us to live lives that honor him. Thank you for your service to the church in leading your groups!
Resources: Below you will find resources for this week:
DISCUSSION GUIDE: THIS IS US
Greetings City Group Leaders!
This week we start a new series, This Is Us, where we will look at what defines us as a church. This week we focus on the unity we have in Christ. We will discuss how Jesus reconciles us to God and each other. We will also examine ways the enemy threatens that unity and pray that we would be a unified church.
Resources: Below you will find resources for this week:
DISCUSSION GUIDE: THIS IS US
City Group Leaders,
Thank you for your labors in leading your group. It's hard to believe this semester of groups is almost over.
This week we will be finishing up our perceptions series by discussing Christians and Politics. This week Dean addressed the perception that Christians are "Too Political." In our groups this week we will see how a foundational confession of our faith, "Jesus is Lord," shapes how we engage in politics.
Resources: Below you will find resources for this week:
DISCUSSION GUIDE: PERCEPTIONS
Hello City Group Leaders!
We're in our second week of the Perceptions series. In this series, we're looking at three common "perceptions" of Christians in our cultural context and how Jesus calls us to obedience in spite of those. This week we are focusing on "Hypocrisy." Christians are often accused of being hypocrites by others, especially when our lives don't seem to line up with what's taught in the Bible. This week we will discuss why this is the case and how we can respond to this in light of the Gospel.
Thank you for your continued labors in leading your groups!
Resources: Below you will find resources for this week:
DISCUSSION GUIDE: PERCEPTIONS
Greetings City Group Leaders! This week were starting a new sermon series, Perceptions. This series will address how Christians are perceived in the world and how the scriptures call us to live in light of these "perceptions." Phillip Bethancourt gets this new series kicked off with a sermon on being "Judgemental."
We hope this series helps us to address where these perceptions come from, and how we can live obediently by making disciples in light of these. Thank you for your labors!
Resources: Below you will find resources for this week:
DISCUSSION GUIDE: PERCEPTIONS
We're in week 5 of Fall City Groups. Thank you leaders for your continued ministry to your groups! This week we heard from two church planters, Ryan Rice and/or Matthew Delaughter about "living life on mission." In line with this theme, and continuing our Stamped series, this week's discussion turns our attention to how the Apostle Paul viewed his ministry and mission as arising from the person and work of Christ. We've been given a ministry of "reconciliation" and have been "stamped" to share it with others.
Resources: Below you will find resources for this week:
DISCUSSION GUIDE: STAMPED
We are in Week 4, and the second week of our new sermon series, Stamped. When you send a letter in the mail (yes snail mail), you must first put a stamp on it. That stamp is the authorization and the payment for that letter to be sent. As christians, we are stamped by Jesus, paid for with His blood, empowered by God’s Holy Spirit, and purposefully sent into the world to make disciples of all nations.
Resources: Below you will find resources for this week:
DISCUSSION GUIDE: STAMPED
We are in Week 3, and starting a new sermon series, Stamped. When you send a letter in the mail (yes snail mail), you must first put a stamp on it. That stamp is the authorization and the payment for that letter to be sent. As christians, we are stamped by Jesus, paid for with His blood, empowered by God’s Holy Spirit, and purposefully sent into the world to make disciples of all nations.
Resources: Below you will find resources for this week:
DISCUSSION GUIDE: STAMPED
In Week 2, we come to the end of the Grown Folks series, we encounter a topic that in many ways every other discipline ready’s us for: the task of being sent into the world to find others. These others are like we once also were, lost. They are separated from Our Creator, and just like we once were, condemned. Probably the greatest news of all, is that not only did Jesus die to save us from being condemned for our sin, but he also showed us what it means to reach others in his name. The task is simple.
For our hearts to truly be like Jesus, we also must to our eyes to there people around us, and with a willingness to sacrifice everything, just ask our savior Jesus Christ did for us.
Resources: Below you will find resources for this week:
DISCUSSION GUIDE: GrownFolks | Heart for the Lost
Welcome back City Group Leaders! We hope you had a great August break. We're excited to get groups kicked off for the Fall.
This week's discussion focuses on the importance of sound doctrine for the believer. Our lives, and those of the members in your groups, are filled with many different doctrines vying for attention. With this in mind, Paul calls Timothy to "pay close attention to your life and your teaching." In his sermon, Pastor Dean showed us that maturing christians are anchored in sound doctrine. As we get things kicked off this Fall, let's call our group members to live lives that are devoted to, delight in, and defend right teaching.
Resources: Below you will find resources for this week:
DISCUSSION GUIDE: GrownFolks | Sound Doctrine
