Community Groups
WHAT ARE COMMUNITY GROUPS?
Depending on your background, when you hear about COMMUNITY GROUPS there may be several things which come to mind. Is it just a trendy way of saying Bible study? Is it a place to meet new people and make friends? If you have no church background you might wonder what kind of freaky gathering is this?
For us at CrossPointe it's the primary way to GROW IN GOSPEL COMMUNITY, FOR THE COMMUNITY. Let us unpack that to shed some light on what a group is and is not.
It's first of all a weekly gathering where people come together to grow in the GOSPEL. Since we believe the Gospel is more than just how one gets saved, but it's the means by which we continue to grow as Christians, then we never move away from it. We are people with a huge problem...namely that we look to everything but Jesus for our identities. We need constant reminders of who we are in Jesus because of what He has done for us on the cross. I may cognitively know I am a new creation, but I don't always experience that. I need a community that will remind me of my true identity and help me experience this truth. However, it is not enough to simply gather. We don't naturally have Gospel conversations where we delve into the mystery of the Gospel and its implications for our lives. You may think that you will, but you usually won't. You and I need some guidance in this and that is where our study materials come in. Though there is nothing magical about these studies, they do bring intentionality to our conversations. They invite us to look to the Bible, where the Gospel message is revealed to us. They discipline us to ask the tough questions, to get below the surface. To allow us a few moments to pause and reflect on the goodness of God, despite what our circumstances sometimes feel like.
As we begin to grow in our new identities as followers of Jesus, we then have the spiritual resources to sacrifice for others. At the heart of the Gospel message is a sinless man sacrificing for a people that our naturally his enemies. As we dwell on that reality we can begin to love others genuinely and more fully. We can truly develop community with the people in our groups because we will begin sacrificing for one another. I would contend that Gospel community is not always the people you would naturally hang out with. You and I tend to hang out with people who are like us and share similar interests or passions. There is nothing wrong with that, but we shouldn't mistake a similar age and stage in life as the prerequisite for Gospel community. Sometimes this happens, but that is not the goal. The goal is to be a people who are maturing in Christ together.
Which brings us to the last part of growing in Gospel community, for the community. To be maturing in the Gospel can never be divorced from loving the community that is not connected to the church or your group. The love of Christ that we are experiencing together, as we dwell on the beauty of the Gospel, should compel us to seek ways to serve and love others who have not experienced the love of Jesus. This does not mean you wait for the church leadership to organize a service project of some type (not that these are bad, or that we don't do them), but that you seek ways to show the love of Christ in the everyday rhythms of life. We try and love people in the ordinary and the mundane with Gospel intentionality. If we are truly growing in the Gospel then we will be humbled by a message that tells us we were nobodies, but we have only been made somebody because of Jesus. So we will have no reason to look down our nose at anybody else. We have no reason to boast, except in the cross of Jesus. Yet if we are growing in the Gospel, then we will simultaneously be growing in confidence as well. Confidence in who Jesus is and what He has accomplished, and this will give us strength and power to actually love those who don't believe what we believe.
Get connected into the life of CrossPointe by joining a community group. These groups serve as great opportunities to discuss the teachings from Sunday mornings through a coinciding curriculum while also getting to grow in relationship with other people.
Community groups are open to everyone, so you can join one at anytime.
Please email Brian Sullivan at brian@crosspointewinterpark.com with your name, contact info, and the group(s) you are interested in. Brian will then help connect you with the group leaders. Please let us know if you have any questions.
:: the format ::
We will arrive and hang out ~ 30 minutes
We will gather everyone together to discuss the first part of the study ~ 45 minutes
We will then split up the men and women to discuss the second part of the study and share prayer requests ~ 45 minutes
Please make every attempt to finish the study beforehand as it will best serve you and the rest of the group.