Life Groups- It's What We Do!

Last week, my blog was on why we do what we do. This week, I am going to explain how we are going to run Life Groups this fall. Hopefully you will find this helpful and be ready to participate.

The fall Life Groups will run from September 20 to December 6. We will run them 3 times a year, 13 week sessions. There are five Life Groups that you can chose from, each having different topics to study. Each Life Group will have between 15-20 people involved in them. This will allow a good conversation to take place as you deepen your faith in Jesus Christ. Sign-ups for the fall Life Groups will start on August 30 and go to September 13. More information will be coming your way in August and you will be able to access it on our website at www.ucclakemills.org

Life Groups are key to our church fulfilling its vision of “Leading people into a life changing relationship with Jesus Christ.” It is proven that people grow the most/ deepen their faith in Jesus Christ through small groups. Thus, we will have small groups because we are a church that is driven by our Vision.

We do the things we do, so God may receive all of the Glory!

Why do we do the things we do?

Did you ever ask yourself why we do the things we do? I mean, what drives us to wake up in the morning, shower and head off to work? What drives us to apply ourselves at work? Why do we do all the things that we do?

I ask those types of questions from time to time. Lately, I have been asking those questions at the church.

~Why to we worship the way we do?
~Why are we having Kidzfest and pouring so much time and energy into it?
~Why do we need to spend so much time planning?

Each time I ask these questions, the answer is always the same. We do the things we do at the church because God had given us a Vision to do them! Our purpose is to “Lead people into a life changing relationship with Jesus Christ!” That’s our purpose. That’s what we do.

Every decision that is made is based on this Vision. If it doesn’t support the Vision, we won’t do it. We are a church that is driven to help lead people to Jesus Christ. That’s why we do the things we do!

Planning Ahead

One of the areas where I struggle in is planning. I am more likely to think about something for a short amount of time and then jump into it without further planning. It’s all of the little details that I sometimes forget to think about. Since things are done at the last minute, there really isn’t enough time to consider the little details.

Unfortunately, I am not the only one who doesn’t plan well. Most churches across the country don’t plan well. Everything is done at the last minute and there is little prep time or planning time involved. Maybe that’s why the Christian church in America is so ineffective.

We, the staff at First Congregational Church, are changing the way we do things. Instead of last minute planning, we are planning a year to two years out. We are looking at planning events into the future, planning worship six month ahead, and planning Life Groups three to four months ahead. All of this planning is meant to produce more efficiency in carrying out our God given vision and to advance God’s Kingdom.

I hope that you will find things flowing smoother and more effective.

Baptism

I’m excited! Boy am I excited!!!!! On June 21, I had the privilege to baptize two people at Rock Lake. Amanda Johnson and her daughter accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. It was an exciting time to meet the families and baptize them in the lake. Some pictures are here so you can see this exciting event.