Ok it probably isn’t. I’m sure your small group, if you are involved in one, is fine too. I’m just really loving my small group right now.
In case you don’t know what I mean when I say small group is is church talk for a group of people who get together regularly and discuss how our faith affects and interacts with our lives. We help each other follow Jesus. Some churches call them “grow groups”, or “life groups”, or “DLT – Doing Life Together”, or any number of other names that I’m not cool enough to come up with. They were called “small groups” when I first experienced one in the late 80s/early 90s and thus they are still small groups to me. I believe they are incredibly helpful and I personally encourage every believer in Jesus as Lord to have a group of people that they regularly meet with to talk about faith.
Pam and I have been a part of this group for around 10 years and while we have loved it for a long time (I’ve posted about it before here and in several other posts). We usually swap between reading through a book of the Bible (right now we are reading through 2 Samuel) and reading some devotional writing together (for example Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “Life Together“). I have loved our small group in the past but a couple of things have happened over the past 6 months that have caused me to love it all the more. They are:
- We started eating a common meal together. Not really a potluck as much as a themed meal. We pick a theme and everyone brings a part of the meal. For example, yesterday the theme was pulled pork, which Pam fixed, someone brought buns, another person brought chips, another coleslaw, etc, etc. We meet at 6 so the meal is always nice and easy so no one has to rush to make something complicated. Eating a meal together with this group is one of my favorite parts of the week.
- We have a great deal of diversity in age ad experience. From almost retired to born only a few months ago. Our kids, well except for our youngest group member, contribute to the conversation. I print out kid bulletins pertaining to the passages we are reading (we typically read 3 chapters a week from a book of the Bible to discuss) so they have something to do if they get bored, but usually they sit with us and add to the conversation about the subject.
This group of friends is fun to hangout with but they also help me to think about, know, and, more importantly, follow God better. During this Summer we have usually sat outside on our patio, eaten together, talked about scripture and faith, prayed with and for each other, and then often cooked smores together. I appreciate them so much.
I hope you have such a group. If not I hope you find one. If you are in the Point area you are welcome to join us. You may even get the Special Red Plate and therefore get to wear the small group crown that we have (yep we have a crown. It is pictured above)
SIDE NOTE – I think one of the most beautiful things in faith is a diverse group formed around nothing other than their common Lord eating together. I don’t mean friends, though that too is beautiful in a different manner, but instead people who aren’t eating together because they like each other’s company but because they love their Lord. Friends get together because they like spending time together. The Church gets together because we have a common Lord and there is something very beautiful when believers share a meal together. We grow to like each other because we realize Jesus loves the other person and we need to love the ones that Jesus loves. It is a different kind of meal.