Adults

F Leader , L Leader , Susan Hill

Praying for the Spiritual Growth of Those You Lead

By Susan Hill

Experienced LIFE Group leaders know that each new week brings a variety of prayer requests vocalized by group members. All of us would agree it’s important to intercede on behalf of those we lead and many of us have seen extraordinary answers to prayer.
But how often are we praying for the spiritual growth of those God has entrusted to our leadership? Are we praying as fervently for their spiritual growth as we are their temporal circumstances? The prayers of Paul recorded in Scripture reveal how often he prayed for the spiritual growth of those he led.
Here are just a few examples of Paul’s prayer requests:

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. (Ephesians 1:17)
And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment. (Philippians 1:9)
For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. (Colossians 1:9)
And in view of this, we always pray for you that our God will consider you worthy of His calling, and will, by His power, fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith. (2 Thessalonians 1:11)

In biblical community, it is both appropriate and necessary to pray for one another’s temporal circumstances. However, as leaders we will be wise if we look to Paul to gain insight into how he prayed for those entrusted to his spiritual leadership. Spiritual growth is dependent on prayer. While it’s important to pray for good test results, approved mortgages, traveling mercies, and a variety of other requests, it’s crucial we pray for the spiritual growth of those we are called to serve.

F Leader , Jay Fennell

The Benefit of LIFE Groups in a New World Reality

By Jay Fennell

I think it’s obvious to everyone that popular culture is changing rapidly. Instead of the culture leaning in toward God, it leans in the opposite direction, away from God and against Biblical values and worldview. We have known that the world is in darkness, blinded by sin and thus cannot see the Light, which is Jesus Christ. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, “And even if this gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” This is not new. The enemy is active and seeks to kill, steal and destroy. We look around and confirm that he is good at what he does.
But as the world continues to drift more and more into darkness, as Christ followers we are called more than ever to be a light. As we embark on the day, God is sending us out as missionaries in our own context, to demonstrate and communicate the redemptive grace of God wherever we go. We participate in His Kingdom by being His ambassador, a messenger with good news, and reflecting the glory of Jesus Christ by the things we say, do and think. And this work is not easy. In fact, it is extremely difficult. Darkness doesn’t understand the Light (John 1:5). As we go out as Christ’s ambassadors, we will undoubtedly face ridicule and persecution and conflict. We will be depleted and poured out as we interface with a lost world. There is war going on for the souls of men and we are on the frontline of that war, engaged in battles that will at times discourage and exhaust us to the point of giving up.
That’s where the LIFE Group community comes in… to be a community of encouragement and refuge where Christ followers come to be filled up so that they can go back out and get depleted all over again. LIFE Groups are not the destination. They’re not to be “holy huddles” removed from the world. They are to be a place where Christ followers gather to mutually encourage and build each other up; to receive the nourishment of God’s Word; to pray and enjoy community with others who have trusted Christ and are saved by His grace; so that they can be sent out like sheep among wolves to engage the culture with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. A LIFE Group is an interdependent community of people who are all on mission to love Jesus and reach a lost world together.
Yes, we are in different times. Yes, we look around and can become discouraged by what e see in the world. But the mandate remains: we are to go and make disciples of Jesus in this world. And LIFE Groups are designed to be Christ-centered environments where people are empowered, equipped and encouraged to do that.
My encouragement to you is to position your group this way. Don’t settle for laissez-faire expression of LIFE Group. Keep the mission of Jesus front and center… to seek and save he lost.