Join a Growth Group in January!

January is the perfect time to be a part of a Growth Growth.
Pastor Rick Warren would like you to consider six reasons
to be a part of a small group.....

1. A Growth Group moves me out of a self-centered
isolation. It's a lab for practicing unselfish, sympathetic
love. It's a classroom for learning how to get along in
God's family. You learn how to care about others and
share the experiences of others. It's biblical! 1 Cor. 12:26,
Eph. 4:16, Rom. 12: 4-5, Col. 2:19, and 1 Cor. 12:25.

2. A Growth Group helps me develop spiritual
muscle. Being a passive spectator by just attending
worship services will never help us grow to spiritual
maturity. Eph. 4:16 tells the story. If you want to
develop your spiritual muscles be sure to give them
a regular workout by participating in a small group!
Isolation breeds self-deception because we go
unchallenged. Real maturity shows up in relationships.

3.  A Growth Group confirms my identity as a 
genuine believer.  "I can't claim to be following
Christ if I'm not committed to any specific group of
disciples." John 13:35, Gal. 3:28, John 17:21
1 Cor. 12:27 When we come together in love as a
small group from different backgrounds, it's a witness
to the world.

4. A Growth Group is the best way to share my
God-given mission to the world. Think of the model
that Jesus shared with us. Even he had a small group.
Together, we are to spread and share the Good News.
We are his hands, feet, eyes and heart. Eph. 2:10.

5. A Growth Group will keep me from spiritually
backsliding. We help to keep each other on track.
Hebrews 3:13 tells us to 'Encourage one another
daily...so that none of you may be hardened by
sin's deceitfulness.'

6. The Body of Christ needs me! God has a unique
role for each of us to play in his family. This is called
your 'ministry' and God has gifted each of us for
this assignment. 1 Cor. 12:7. Your Growth Group is
the place God designed for you to discover, develop
and use your spiritual gifts and talents.

Micah 6:8 Shoe Box Style

We've come a long way over the years with
our shoe box numbers and our strategy to get
the job done but one thing that has never changed
is the blessings shared and received for the
givers and the receivers!

This year two Growth Groups joined together to
complete our Micah 6:8 projects. We inspected,
sorted, and packed more than 400 shoe boxes,
donated by members of New Life Church,
to be delivered for Operation Christmas Child.

 

 This year we ordered the official Go Boxes and they
 certainly made things so much easier than when
 we first started back in 2001 raiding our closets
 for available shoe boxes to fill and wrap!

Through people's cash donations and bags of
extra goodies, we work filling lots of additional
boxes.

Samaritan's Purse shipping cartons have really
helped with the packing for shipping. Our guys did
a great job assembling, packing and tracking our shoe
box count! By the time we finished, we had filled 28
cartons with 428 shoe boxes from the New Life
Church family and friends.

Check out our teams at work!

Friday morning a new team gathered at church to
load the trailer for delivery!

They may look a bit young but let me assure
you, they are strong and very eager to help!
This special team is Pastor Paul and Ann's
 grandchildren visiting from Costa Rica!

The trailer fully loaded, we all headed out to make
our final delivery for the season.

A special 'Thank you' to everyone who helped us
make this another great success. Each shoebox
if filled with so much more than mere toys, treats
and school supplies. Each box is filled with love,
the love of the person who packed it and the love
of God! It doesn't get any better than that!

Paraphrase It!

The members of our Growth Group are sharing an
exciting adventure together and we're seeing people
change and grow right before our very eyes! Last night
we watched with delight as God continued His great
work in a member of our group during our discussion
time while learning about the Paraphrase method
of Bible meditation. As we read  Hebrews 4:12 over
and over again, thinking about what God was saying to
each of us and putting it into our own words, we
witnessed as God spoke to one gal's very pressing and
personal needs and provided comfort, and reassurance
that He is always with her, at her side, no matter what!
Watching her catch this message that was so personal to
her was inspiring. We Listened as she prayed aloud,
feeling safe and accepted. After a while longer as we
hugged and said our 'good-byes', we agreed that we
are thankful for the opportunity to spend time getting to
know one another and God so much better!
By the way, I checked in with our 'gal' today and she is
still 'pumped' by the work that God did in her last night!
We are truly blessed!