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Aug
6
Jay Fennell , Uncategorized

Iron Sharpens Iron

A Vehicle for Change

By Eric Warren 

I am a recent graduate of The University of Tennessee.  I studied Communication Studies and, because of my area of study, a good chunk of my grades came from group projects and presentations.  I love my school and my area of study, but one aspect of my major that quickly poked and prodded me into discomfort was this notion that I was not only accountable to my own successes and failures, but also to those of my group mates.  I could no longer do work into the wee hours of the morning, I had to have my work ready and available to my team so that they could be on the same page, contribute, and correct when necessary.  However, looking back on my experiences, I see the merit in being prodded so.
LIFE Groups are made available to bring about change in our daily lives.  Through community and friends, lives are changed as we walk together and stride hand in hand toward Christlikeness.  As you very well know, as we share life together in these small group settings, we grow intimately together.  We come out of the darkness and step more and more into the light and sometimes that light exposes parts of our lives that we once wished to keep stowed away in secret.  But, the beauty of LIFE Group is that these communities provide areas of safety in which we all can come in, participate, and know that those around us care only for us to be more like Christ that day than we were the day before.  So, while being poked and prodded is initially uncomfortable, while it may hurt at times, we all know that it is only to our benefit to have these areas of life that are out of alignment brought back into the straight and narrow that points to Christ.

 17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.                         Proverbs 27:17

 So often we find ourselves in “defense mode,” putting up a front in hopes of others not being able to catch a glimpse of who we really are inside.  This happens in the work world, around other friend groups, even among families.  The beauty of LIFE Groups is the safe environment provided to plumb the depths of life’s issues, the curveballs thrown our way on an all too regular basis.  This is all stuff that you already know.  We as a church want you to help us through prayer in sparking desire throughout everyone hungering for such interaction.  We want you to help us pray that a fire be lit in the hearts of many as they yearn to do real life with others.  We want you to pray for a need to be revealed among the unreached to dive in and bring their lives out into the light, so that parts of life that are out of alignment may be shaped, chiseled and polished more and more towards Christlikeness.  We want you to pray that the revelation be opened up to Group Seekers that this life is not meant to be done alone, and that is what we are here for.  So again, we invite you to relentlessly pray along with us for those who are desperately in need of a community to do life with.
Things to Pray for:

  • For the unreached to not be satisfied with the status quo.
  • That they would desire real life, real conversation, and real relationships.
  • That despite the difficulty of making oneself vulnerable, they see the immense benefit in being real with one another.

 
 
 

Aug
1
Jay Fennell , Uncategorized

Strength in Numbers

Community, Accountability, Family

By Eric Warren 

It’s no secret that Brentwood Baptist is a large church setting.  For some, it is all too easy to slip in and out of our church building without making a meaningful connection with anyone.  We are here to remedy that as quickly and as passionately as possible.  While corporate worship is shared among many, we aim to make this big church setting feel smaller and more intimate, which is one of the countless benefits of LIFE Groups.  We are so thankful for you, the leaders, for helping facilitate such intimacy throughout the many people that make their way in for LIFE Groups on Sundays, during the week, on campus, and off campus.  But the goal is still out there for us to keep striving forward.

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.                                                                                                Acts 2:42-47

 
What a fantastic scene being painted here, of the once downtrodden, the once defeated, now redeemed by the resurrection of Christ.  Here, a watershed moment where Christ issued His Helper upon his followers and thousands came to professing Jesus as Savior.  The journey for these multitudes of people didn’t stop at their decisions for salvation in Christ, they continued on in fellowship with one another, to teaching, to caring for one another.  Just as these masses were struck with awe, we pray with every fiber of our being that all who step foot in Brentwood Baptist would be struck with that same awe because they have a people so ready and so willing to love them and care for them to ends unknown.  That is why we do LIFE Groups.  We hear words like “community” and phrases like “building relationships” and perhaps after hearing them over and over, they tend to lose a bit of their zeal.  Let this be a time where you are refreshed in their meaning and struck with awe and wonder at the family you have found here with your brothers and sisters in Christ.  Know that that is our call to discipleship, to provide this sense of family and community for everyone as we encourage growth and advancement towards Christlikeness.  LIFE Groups are such a wonderful tool that we get to utilize to breed such growth, love, and care.
Again, with Group Connect on the horizon, we are asking you, our leaders, to come alongside of us in prayer and support as we pray that so many would come thirsty for life abundant, and that they would find Jesus through the teaching offered in LIFE Groups and the intimate community to be had.  We ask you to look at your own experiences, your own blessings that you have found through LIFE Groups and know that those same blessings are to be had by so many.  So, pray for boldness, that many would step out and be vulnerable for a bit, only to find the open arms of Jesus waiting on them through the small group LIFE Group communities and families.
Things to Pray For:

  • For many to find home here at Brentwood Baptist through LIFE Groups.
  • For feelings of boldness in Group Seekers to step out of their comfort zone and plug in.
  • For Group Connectors, for discernment on their part in helping our Seekers find rich community.
  • For LIFE Groups to continue on as a vehicle that breeds true, genuine, and Christlike relationships between people here at Brentwood Baptist.