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A Balanced and Healthy Diet

Many of us have those memories as a child.  Memories of sitting at the dinner table, working through your plate only to encounter something so disgusting, so abhorrent, that even to this day, the very sight of a particular food brings about a churning stomach.  For me, I vividly remember sitting at my Nanny’s (grandmother’s) dinner table, young enough to warrant my dad fixing my plate for me, surveying all of the great cooking that laid before me.  Cornbread, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, sitting here thinking about it all only makes my stomach growl, and then there were those pickled beets.  My dad loved them and could woof them down without a second thought but, for me, the very sight of them struck terror into my bones.  For you, it may be broccoli, asparagus, whatever, but at some point or another, I bet you can think of some healthy food or vegetable that made you weak in the stomach.  What I did not understand at my young age was the importance of a balanced diet.  Life couldn’t be all about Nanny’s cookies, brownies, cakes, and sweets.  I needed a full plate, loaded with all the stuff that would help me grow up big and strong like Popeye (that was always the sales pitch thrown my way).

¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it ¹⁵ and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.       – 2 Timothy 3:14-17

 There are so, so many who step foot in this church on a weekly basis that suffer from spiritual anemia due to a lack of being fed properly.  It is so wonderful to be able to receive rich teaching and participate in solid corporate worship, but the opportunity afforded to those in LIFE Groups to dive intimately into God’s sovereign exhalings is invaluable.  Again, there are simply too many out there who are satisfied with coming in, hearing a message, and going on about their way, keeping intimacy with Jesus an arm’s distance away.  That is why we invite you once again to come alongside us in prayer and meditation as we consider those who are not plugged into LIFE Group families here at Brentwood Baptist.
As Paul states here, God’s perfect and inspired Word is profitable for teaching, for correction, for training in righteousness, which are all admirable endeavors in this process of sanctification; but sometimes correction, training and teachings are difficult, sometimes its a little tough to swallow.  However, as you well know, though God’s words aren’t always like red velvet cake or cookies, it is always for the good of our souls.  So we ask you to pray that a passion to be healthy be instilled in the Group Seekers that will arrive here on August 23 at Group Connect.  That a realization that life cannot be lived on sweets alone, but that true life, true spiritual health lies in diving into God’s perfect Word intimately.
Things to Pray for:

• A realization to come to those who are not connected, that there is something missing, that God has so much more planned for them through the rich community and teaching offered in LIFE Groups.

• That Church isn’t meant to be done privately, that we all come together here to do life fully, richly, and grow.

• That those who are unconnected would quickly come and quickly be welcomed and loved.

A Vehicle for Change

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.