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WHAT IS A COMMUNITY GROUP?
Gathering for fellowship and accountability, study and prayer, good times and tears, North Church Community Groups are an essential expression of our church’s mission. At the heart of the Community Groups ministry is the desire to see a community of believers who worship Jesus, love one another, and embody the mission of North Church to make disciples. God has called us to a continuous lifestyle of worship and relationship with Himself, which is cultivated and nurtured within the body of Christ. The Church is a people. It is a gift of God. At North Church, community groups are the place where discipleship and care takes place. It is where we encourage one another to be worshipers of our Lord. It is where the body becomes the body, loving, caring and challenging one another. As well, it is within community that we engage culture and incarnate Jesus in the nooks and crannies of our city. We were created to worship Jesus in community in the Image of our Creator, who Himself exists in community. It is our desire to see every member of North Church loved, cared for, and challenged within a thriving community. And it is our desire that our neighbors within this city are blessed and touched by the love of Jesus through the lives of our members.
I AM NEW HERE…AM I READY FOR A COMMUNITY GROUP?
A community group is a gathering of people from the church that get together to share life and support one another. Life is hard. It was never meant to be lived in isolation. Community is a gift of God intended to help us see and experience the good news of Jesus in profound and tangible ways. If you are new to the church this the perfect place for you to belong, ask questions, and wrestle with your faith in a community of people who care for you, not because your life is together, but because you are created in the image of God. It is within community that we exist as true family in a time when the concept of a loving and caring family can seem foreign. It is a place where we encourage and challenge one another in our journey to know Jesus in deeper and more personal ways. In Community Groups, people talk through life issues, eat together, pray together, laugh together, struggle together, and serve others as we are transformed by the grace of God in our lives.
WHY ARE COMMUNITY GROUPS SO IMPORTANT TO NORTH CHURCH?
Getting connected at North Church means participating in both the Sunday service and a Community Group. Sundays are a time for celebrating in worship of Jesus together, hearing the preaching of the Word, and sharing in Communion. Community Groups are the place where the seeds of the preached Word take root and become real. It is the place where we build relationships with one another and live life together. As well, it is within the groups within the neighborhoods of the city that we can participate in the work that God has called us to as a church. Our groups are an opportunity to love and bless the city in unique ways.
WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT WHEN I GO?
Each group is unique and reflects the neighborhood in which it exists. However, you can expect a gathering that involves food, conversation, prayer, discussion for applying the Bible to practical living, and service in the neighborhood. Community Groups are an environment for building relationships with one another, which strongly emphasizes challenging one another to drive God’s Word deeply into our lives. Most Groups follow the Sunday sermon series; although some may choose to work through another book of the Bible. Community groups are much more than a Bible study however, they are community, a place where we can laugh, cry, work and play together for glory of Jesus. This means you could expect BBQ’s, yard work for an elderly neighbor, bowling, working in children’s ministry, visiting people in the hospital, birthday parties, etc.
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