Great Small Group Opportunities This Week!

We have two small groups at Ridge Church. They are our first small groups, and they've been meeting for about a month... They're awesome!

One thing that we believe is very important as part of our small group concept is "knowing and being known." They idea is that when you participate in a small group, and really buy into the concept of living as part of a community of Christ-followers, you will know others, and you will be known by them as well.

It's a cyclical, building-on-itself process. As you share about yourself, you show you trust others, and they get to know you. As others share about themselves, they show that they trust you and you get to know them. All the time that this sharing is going on, you are building community.

As trust is built in Christian community, people allow others to be God's "broken tools" that He uses to help us fix our brokenness. As wild as it sounds, God is glorified when we help each other, even though none of us are anywhere near perfect. This is part of God's plan of helping us to grow spiritually. It is part of the "discipleship process" which means that you are becoming a more devoted follower (disciple) of Christ.

Things work really well in relationships when we consider others as more important than ourselves (Philipppians 2:1-11), when we "speak the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15-16), when we don't make assumptions about folks and try to fix their problems while ours are obviously hindering us (Matthew 7:1-5), and we truly submit to the useful assistance others can provide us in our lives (Proverbs 27:17).

In Ridge Church small groups, we love the verses above (and other verses), because they guide our behavior and attitudes in our small groups, and they show us how God wants to work in our lives.

Of course, part of "knowing and being known" is having fun together! Fun is even one of our Ridge Church core values! So, each of our small groups has a "fun night" each month.

This week, the Alice Bell small group, (led by Bill and Sue Irving) is meeting at Bill and Sue Irving's house at 6:30 pm on Thursday night. Everyone is welcome! You can click here for directions to the house. Their small group's fun night is coming up soon, and I've heard something about a watermelon slicing!

The Gibbs small group (led by Kevin and Emily Layne) is having a night of Lunar Golf at Knoxville Center Mall this Wednesday night at 7 pm. Anyone is welcome to come to this group, as well. Click here for more info on Lunar Golf.

If you're not involved in a small group, this week is a great time to jump in! It's also a great time to bring a friend to check out your group and make some new friends.

Have a great week!