Groups Spring '20 - Week 11

Greetings Leaders,

This week, we turn to 1 Corinthians 3:18-23. As we round out chapter 3, Paul reminds the Corinthians of the ways they profess. The wisdom of God is foolishness to the world. Though we've seen they were, and we are, still inclined to divide over human matters, Paul reminds them and us why this is foolish. Chapter 3 ends with a bang! We're reminded that "all things are yours...and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's."

We hope this discussion enriches your walk with God and that of your groups.

Gratefully,
Joe and Kaylan

Groups Spring '20 - Week 10

Greetings Leaders,

We're continuing our discussion of 1 Corinthians 3 this week. In verses 5-17 Paul draws our attention to the work of God in salvation and building up the church. We'll see how we participate with God on his mission to build up his church. We hope this discussion and your meetings remain fruitful.

Thank you all for you service to the church.

Gratefully,
Joe and Kaylan

Groups Spring '20 - Week 9

Groups Spring '20 - Week 9

Greetings Leaders,

We've heard several encouraging updates from you and your groups. We hope you have been encouraged by the Lord's work this term.

This week we're back in our study of 1 Corinthians. We will study 1 Corinthians 2:10-3:4 together. There we will see what it means to be a spiritual person and how we are to seek the things of the Lord above the things of the world. We are praying for you and your groups and hope this study is encouraging and edifying for you and your groups.

Gratefully,
Joe and Kaylan

Groups Spring '20 - Week 8

Greetings City Group Leaders,

We hope this finds you well. As you likely know, this week we will deviate from our regular study of 1 Corinthians to complement the sermon we will hear from Dr. Russell Moore this Sunday. Our study will focus on Paul's words in the book of Romans. We will study what God has to say to us about how we are to treat one another and model the love of Christ in the midst of disagreement. We will see how the call to model love is connected to how we should view government. We hope this is a fruitful discussion for you and your groups.

Gratefully,
Joe and Kaylan

Groups Spring '20 - Week 7

Groups Spring '20 - Week 7

Greetings Group Leaders,

What an exciting passage of Scripture we have to study this week as we are reminded how incredibly powerful the message of the Gospel is in our lives!  It's life-giving, it's transformative, it provides purpose.  Praise God for how He graciously works in our lives.  We hope that your time together in groups will be an encouraging time of growth and excited praise as we study together about the power of the cross.

Gratefully, 
Joe and Kaylan

Groups Spring '20 - Week 6

Greetings Group Leaders,

We hope your groups are enjoying time in the Word and spiritually growing as we dive in to 1 Corinthians. This week is an excellent reminder that in and of ourselves, we can’t accomplish anything. Our weakness should not discourage us, but rather propel us to give all the glory to God and what a joy that is to be able to do so!!!

We are so grateful for all that you!

Blessings,
Joe and Kaylan

Groups Spring '20 - Week 5

Groups Spring '20 - Week 5

Greetings Leaders,

We hope you've had a great week. Next week's guide is attached. 

We will also be sending a newsletter out in the next few days. That will contain a few important dates and reminders for you and your groups. 


We're continuing our study of 1 Corinthians looking at verses 10-17. Here Paul is addressing divisions in the church at Corinth. He tell that Christ is not divided and neither should his church be. We hope this discussion helps you and your group better see the unity we have together in Christ. 

Thank you for your continued leadership of your groups.

Gratefully,
Joe and Kaylan

Groups Spring '20 - Week 4

Greeting Leaders,

This week we're kicking off our study of 1 Corinthians. We'll start by looking at the first 9 verses of Paul's letter. Here we'll see Paul's basis for giving thanks for the Corinthians. 

We hope you and your groups are blessed by this study and are enriched through our study of 1 Corinthians. 

Gratefully,
Joe and Kaylan

Groups Spring '20 - Week 3

Greetings Leaders,

This week we're wrapping up our series of "New Year, Same Church" by looking at our commitment to growth through personal discipleship.

Like we've done the last two weeks, we're encouraging you to lead a discussion in your group that helps your group think through these commitments together. This week, we hope you have fruitful discussions on what spiritual growth looks like individual and corporately. 

Our prayer is that these discussions help you and your groups set a vision for the term ahead. Please let us know if you have any questions. We will start 1 Corinthians next week.

Grace and Peace,
Joe and Kaylan

Groups Spring '20 - Week 2

By way of reminder, we will use the first 3 weeks of 2020 adjusting the normal flow of discussions. We’ll be back to the normal discussion guides starting January 26th—when we begin our study of 1 Corinthians.

The goal of these three weeks is to have you and your group members clarify what your group is committed to doing together and identify how that fuels our mission and helps us grow more like Jesus.

We’re encouraging you to lead these discussions in you group in order to have group members prioritize their commitments this new year. The first week we’re considering our commitment to the local church, the second week—our commitment to mission and evangelism, the third—our commitment to personal discipleship and growth. You’re encouraged to adjust these discussions to your groups as you see fit. Thank you for your commitment!

Gratefully,
Joe and Kaylan

Groups Spring 2020 - Week 1

Greetings Leaders,

As we discussed in our City Group Leader training yesterday. These first few weeks, we'd like for you and your groups to discuss what you'd like to see in your groups this term.

To help with that, the first few guides will remain brief and high level to arm you with a few questions to help you and your groups get on the same page. Please feel free to use those provided here, add to, or subtract from them. 

We want these discussions and scripture passages to lay a good foundation for your groups this term.

Gratefully,
Joe and Kaylan

Groups Fall '19 - Week 15

Greetings Leaders,

You'll notice a change to this week's guide. We decided to make this one more informal. As we just finished Ecclesiastes and are gearing up for a new Christmas sermon series, we've provided some questions to help foster a general discussion in you group.

If you can, make sure to take some time to pray for one another specifically for the Christmas season ahead, that we would be good witnesses.

Thank you all for your continued leadership of your groups.

Gratefully,
Joe and Kaylan

Groups Fall '19 - Week 14

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Unless you’ve already pre-determined to do so with your group, there will be no City Groups meeting this week. We hope this is a relaxing time with friends and family and pray for productive Gospel conversations with those around you.

We are thankful for each one of you and your servant’s hearts.

Gratefully,
Joe and Kaylan

Groups Fall '19 - Week 13

Greetings Leaders,

As you will note this weeks guide has us look at both the vanity of power and prosperity. We will observe together how the shortcomings of this world and the injustice we see drive us to Christ who displays perfect power and uses his riches to lift up the lowly.

We hope it's a great discussion for you and your groups.

Gratefully,
Joe and Kaylan

Groups Fall '19 - Week 12

The first eight verses of Ecclesiastes 3 present a poem using opposites to show that God is in control of both the positive and the negative aspects of time. It is clear from this statement that the Teacher means to communicate the totality of life, from birth and death, to human emotions, and to world affairs. All of these things are under the control of the sovereign God. This sovereignty of God should make humans stand in “awe of Him.”

We hope that your time together will propel those in your groups to stand in awe of God! We appreciate you all so much!

Gratefully,
Joe and Kaylan

Groups Fall '19 - Week 11

Greetings leaders,

We live in a society that looks at all that surrounds us to find meaning and purpose in life. We have unparalleled access to everything our hearts desire and yet our society is still miserable. The world around us searches for purpose and meaning in temporal things and still comes up empty, because they’re looking in the wrong places.

But we know that all of that purpose and meaning is in Christ. Instead of being told who we are by society, we know who we are by what Christ has done on our behalf. We have been made in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26). We have sinned and fallen, alienating ourselves from the God who’s image we bare. There was nothing we could do or no amount of good deeds to erase our sins. We were without hope (Eph 2:12), children of wrath (2:3), enemies of God (Rom 5:10). But God loved us enough to send His one and only Son that we might be saved (John 3:16), that we might be reconciled (Rom 5:10-11), that we might be justified and accounted righteous (Rom 3:21-25). We are not doctors, or mechanics, or teachers; we are a men and women made in God’s image, marred by sin, but redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, adopted into the family of God. We are children of the Most High. Our meaning, our value, our worth are all wrapped up in Jesus. Not in what we do, but what He did on our behalf.

What a tremendous truth we get to share with our groups this week. Thank you for your consistent and faithful service to others!

Gratefully,
Joe and Kaylan

Groups Fall '19 - Week 10

We are beginning our series on the book of Ecclesiastes and on this quick tour of Ecclesiastes, we will see several themes that speak directly to the questions and longings many feel today: what is the significance of life, does anything matter, should I pursue power and prosperity? Pondering these questions and others while seeing the futility of godless answers prepares our hearts to rejoice in the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Praying for you all as we begin this church-wide study of Ecclesiastes!

Gratefully,
Joe and Kaylan

Groups Fall '19 - Week 9

Greetings Leaders,

Thank you to all who showed up to the Leader Meeting Sunday. We had a great time discussing our upcoming Ecclesiastes study.

This week we finish up our Unsaved Christian series. We will be discussion Matthew 25:31-46 where Jesus tells his followers that he will separate the sheep and the goats in the final judgment. We will be looking at how this text gives us hope and security while also calling us to urgently share they good news of Jesus with those who need to hear it or think they already know it.

We hope it's a great week for you and your groups!

Gratefully,
Joe and Kaylan

Groups Fall '19 - Week 8

Greetings Group Leaders,

As we continue our discussion on the “unsaved Christian” or those who rely on cultural morality, we’re praying that these discussions are equipping you for discussions with those God has placed in your life that might fall into this category. What an eye-opening thing to consider a soul who might attend religious activities their whole life but never make Jesus Christ their Treasure.

We are praying for you all and are very thankful for all that you do as servants of Christ!

Gratefully,

Joe and Kaylan

Groups Fall '19 - Week 7

Fellow leaders,

We want to thank you for the consistency with which you lead. Thank you for taking the time to read and pray over the Scriptures used in facilitating Biblical discussion in your groups.

And what a comfort it is to see from God’s very Word this week, that Jesus’ role as the Good Shepherd is not only to go out and find His lost sheep, but that He also eternally secures each one that He knows. What a promise!

Stay tuned for more information about our upcoming training for our sermon series through the book of Ecclesiastes!

Gratefully,
Joe and Kaylan