Hi Group Leaders,

Thanks for taking a minute to stay-up-to date on what's happening in Community Groups at Northridge!

Communion Reminder

We would love all groups to pick a week to celebrate communion together the 1st or 2nd week of May.

We have a supply of communion elements for any group that would like some. Just reply to this email if you'd like some for your group and we'll get them to you. First come, first serve.

Do Community Group Relationships Really Make a Difference?

A few weeks ago I raised this question, "Do Community Group Relationships Really Make a Difference?". Maybe you've found yourself wondering whether it is worth your time to attend or lead a Community Group, especially when you already have other good relationships in your life outside of group.

In my first post, I talked about 1 reason Community Groups relationships are not very effective: We focus on meetings over relationships.

Read Part 1 HERE. In the article I emphasize the importance of connecting relationally both inside and outside of group meetings.

I think we would all agree, the more time we spend with someone, the more of an impact they will have in our lives, positively or negatively.

"We can impress people from a distance, but we can only impact them up close." - Howard Hendricks

We see the impact of close relationships throughout scripture:

The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray. - Proverbs 12:26

As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.- Proverbs 27:17

Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble. - Proverbs 13:20

The difference your group relationships will make is going to be limited if:

your group meetings are infrequent (reconsider canceling that meeting)
group attendance is inconsistent (which has been more of the case for many groups since COVID)
you don't talk outside group
you don't text
you don't see each other on Sundays
you don't get together outside of group

So, when we ask the question, "Do Community Group relationships make a difference?," much of the answer to that question depends upon how much time we are spending with each other!

If you are seeing limited fruit and life change inside your group, it could be do to the lack of relational connection outside of group.

But here you may be raising the tension:

"I get it, if I don't spend much time with my group members, our relationships are not going to be as impactful, but who has that much time? I've already got other good relationships with family and friends. Why shouldn't I just focus on those relationships instead of trying to spend more time with the people in my group?"

That's what we'll discuss next time.

What do you think? Do Community Group relationships make a difference? Are they worth our time and investment? What would you say?

I'd love to hear your thoughts as I attempt to answer those questions. Email me HERE.