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A Community Group is like spaghetti. Huh?
1) Through Membership. This is the most basic way for the leaders of the church to know you and fulfill their call to equip and encourage you. Take advantage of this opportunity to be in relationship with the leaders by communicating with them."
The Unseen Sea from Simon Christen on Vimeo.
Here are some ways you can be discipled:
1) Through Membership. This is the most basic way for the leaders of the church to know you and fulfill their call to equip and encourage you. Take advantage of this opportunity to be in relationship with the leaders by communicating with them.
2) Through the Worship Service. Make weekly worship your top priority (even if you’re traveling). Also, come to the worship service as a worshiper, not a consumer. Pray for God to meet us there and expect He will. Come looking for opportunities to listen and love others.
3) Through Community Groups. Community Groups are the primary context for discipleship at Grace Silicon Valley. They are the place where we unpack our Sunday worship, share the means of grace, bring our joys and burdens, and come to know others and be known (confessing, confronting, supporting and encouraging one another). The pastors/elders at Grace Silicon Valley oversee, encourage and equip the Group leaders so they can encourage and equip others. Community Groups are also the “front lines” for pastoral care, and the place where the leadership learns of pastoral needs.
4) Through Prayer. The entire Christian life intersects with prayer. Our hearts and minds are shaped through prayer. Our relationships deepen as we rejoice over answered prayers and present one another’s needs to God. Vision for Kingdom work is inspired and triggered in prayer. And, the strength of God’s Spirit comes to us in prayer. We pray before and during worship, in Community Groups, in ministry teams and in special times set aside just for prayer.
5) Through Service. Jesus’ parable of the sheep and goats, and also the book of James, teach that when we face the Lord, He won’t need to test us on our theology. He’ll simply look at our deeds, which serve as the true story of our theology. Discipleship which only occurs over conversation and books pretends that we are disembodied minds and is a commitment to a theoretical life only (not whole-life). Jesus opposed this kind of religion. Through serving one another and our city the life of Jesus is at work in us.
6) Through Education. We are not opposed to discipleship of the mind! It is critical. Here are some of the ways you can grow in knowledge at Grace Silicon Valley:
The church is God’s incarnation today. The church is Jesus’ body on earth. The church is the temple of the Spirit. The church is not a helpful thing for just an individual spiritual journey. The church is the journey. The church is not a collection of “soul-winners” all seeking to tell unbelievers “the Way” to God. The church is the way to God. To be part of the church is to be part of God—to be part of God’s Communion and to be part of God’s ministry. To belong to the people of God is to enjoy relationship with God and live out the purposes of God. The church is God’s present-day word and witness to an unbelieving world. And, most importantly, the church is the only true means to be transformed into the likeness of God. —Todd Bolsinger, It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian
Leadership Summits are for all ministry leaders at Grace Church (especially Community Groups, ministry teams, outreach, mercy, missions). These Summits help keep our leadership community growing in Christ and close together. Are they dry, boring lectures? No! Expect music, testimonies, prayer, short talks, group exercises, food. Afterwards… continue to hang out on California Ave. We want this time to be valuable for our leaders' personal and ministry life.
Date | Theme | Bonus |
September 14 | Helping People Grow as Christians | What’s New at Grace Church |
October 12 | What Makes a Christian Leader? | Survey: Tell Us What You Need to Grow |
November 16 | You Decide! (results of a leadership study) | Preview of Vision Sunday |
January 18 | Asking Powerful Questions | Case Study: Guilt |
February 15 | Loving Jesus More than Everything Else | Case Study: Depression |
March 15 | God’s Gifts, Talents and Resources For His Kingdom | Preview of Grace Church’s 10thAnniversary |
May 10 | You Decide! (results of a leadership study) | Celebrate the Ministry Year |
Time: 7:30-9:00 PM
Location: Grace Church offices, 2431 Park Boulevard, Palo Alto, CA