Five Reasons You Need A Group

God did not create us or save us only as individuals, he made us to be relational beings with others. When Adam was created, God said, “It is not good that man should be alone.”

And when it comes to our faith journey, including other people is a big deal. It was for every Bible character and every strong Christian I’ve ever known. Our spiritual lives are inspired by, supported by, and strengthened by others. So we encourage everyone at The Bridge to join a group.

Here’s five reasons why…

• To learn better. I love to read and study alone. I tend to be an introvert. But I learn better when I’m challenged and interacting with others who are studying the same material. We’re all like that. Even with the explosion of online classrooms in recent years, professors have seen the need for student interaction, so online students participate in discussion boards. We learn better in community.
• To live better. It’s easy for me to read or study something and then walk away and forget about it. But with a group discussion on how it applies to “us”, and knowing that I have relationships with guys who won’t mind holding me accountable to living out the things we just learned, it makes a difference. Including others in my growth helps me do the things I want to do anyway. A good group provides accountability and helps us to grow and practice the faith we profess.
• To love and encourage others. God has called us to love and serve others. But those instructions can be pretty nebulous if we don’t have real people in our lives who are right there for us, to connect with and care for. A group provides those people for you to practice Jesus’ commands.
• To be loved and encouraged. You may not want to admit it, but you crave love and encouragement from others, just like everyone else. No matter how hard-nosed or thick-skinned you are, God made you with a desire to be loved. When you have a group to love and encourage, you also have a group to love and encourage you.
• To help you help others. You have coworkers, family, neighbors or friends that you’d love to see come to Christ. Being a witness is important, but involving others usually makes the difference. When you have others praying and encouraging you in your conversations with those you are reaching out to, and then you invite that person to gatherings where some in your group are also there to befriend and reinforce your witness, that is often what makes the difference. You can help others best when you do it as a group.

So, join a group if you haven’t yet! We have three types here at The Bridge: Community Groups (meet in homes), Study Groups (meet at church or various restaurants), and Recovery Groups (Celebrate Recovery, Grief Share, Divorce Care, etc.). Send us an email or talk to Taija, our Groups Coordinator. We’d love to see you take advantage of what a group can do for your journey of faith.