A Vehicle for Change
By Eric WarrenI 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.