When our family prepares for vacation, we don't start by asking what our next step is. We start by asking where our next destination is! It usually includes a beach for us!
What if we approached our spiritual lives that way?
What do you want your life as a Jesus follower to look like?
What if a year from now your life looked radically different? What if it looked a lot more like Jesus? What if Jesus had plans for your life in the next year that were far better than the ones you had for yourself?
At Christ Community, we're encouraging people to lead lives that are joining Jesus in going out to make more disciples. We believe he writes the best stories of life change as we commit to joining him!
Once we decide on the destination of our vacation, we decide how we're going to get there. Car or plane, straight through or slow and steady, the journey can vary. But we always have a map guiding the way.
In our spiritual lives, how we get to our destination of being Christians who join Jesus in going out to make disciples may vary, but our map is the same.
Discipleship groups at Christ Community have proven to be a really effective vehicle to connect people to the "map" of Scripture.
Discipleship groups - or D-groups as they've more commonly been called - formally began at Christ Community in 2020. A small group of leaders recognized a growing hunger and need for more bible engagement in our church family's every day lives.
Since then, many d-groups have been replicated and we still see that growing hunger and need for God's Word in our people!
A d-group is a group of 3-5 people of the same gender who commit to one year of focused spiritual growth as they HEAR from God's Word, share with one another what God's teaching them, and work to live obediently to what God's telling them to do.
What started out formally has grown more and more informal as God's people have taken on the responsibility of making disciples. More simply, that means if God is stirring that hunger in you for his word and disciplemaking, you don't need our permission to start!
For those who might be new to reading God's Word, we recommend you find a group to be in first before starting one of your own. But even in that, we suggest you ask the people who love God's Word and have helped stir that hunger in you. It might be someone in your Community Group, or that invited you to church, or sits near you at the Gathering. Don't be afraid to ask them to start a d-group with you! Many of them would probably be excited you asked.
For those who have had a season in your life where you've been in God's Word, let me encourage you that starting a d-group is one of the easiest and most fulfilling ways to "get in the game" of disciplemaking. Pray and ask if there are people that God has put in your path that you can be meeting with regularly; they don't have to attend our church or any church. In fact, you might be surprised how hungry your unchurched friends are for God's truth!
Visit loveshelbyville.com/discipleship, check out some of the reading plans and jump in! There's even a guide there to help you get a group started. Blake or Kenny would also be glad to meet with you if you have questions about starting or leading a group.
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