Why a Life Group? From as far back as the creation story in Genesis, we see that man was created to live in community with others. God created us as relational beings, and community has been engrained in us from the beginning. Depending on where we’ve come from and the way that we’ve seen life modeled for us, we have something informing what life as a follower of Christ should look like. As believers, we are called to live in community with one another to encourage one another and help bear each others’ burdens. ( Acts 2:42-47, Hebrews 10:24-25, Hebrews 3:13, Galatians 6:1-10, Ecclesiastes 4:9-10). We are part of one Body working together to help each another become all God desires us to be (Ephesians 4:4-16).
What is a Life Group? At FBC, the main vehicle through which we experience community is in Life Groups. These are smaller groups of people, generally 8-12 people, that meet regularly to practice the power of Scripture together. To name a few:
-“Be devoted to one another…” (Romans 12:10) -“Love one another…” (John 13:34) -“Honor one another above yourselves…” (Romans 12:10) -“Serve one another in love…” (Galatians 5:13) -“Therefore, confess your sins to each other…” (James 5:16)
Life Groups serve as a “home base” for us and allow us to develop deep relationships with a smaller group and mutually strive to become more like Christ in every aspect of our lives.
In Luke 5, we see the story of Jesus healing the paralytic. As the story comes to an apex, we see that a group of friends do whatever is necessary to get their sick friend in front of Jesus. We see this as an incredible analogy of what happens in Life Groups. In different seasons of our lives, we are going to play one of two parts in this story. At some point, we will be the one “on the mat” who is not well, needing a group of trusted friends to do whatever it takes to get us in front of Christ and help us get well. In other seasons, we will be the one that is “picking up the corner of a mat” for one of our friends to help them get to the feet of Jesus.
In Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, we read that “two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.” We are committed to helping foster these types of relationships through community at FBC.