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multiplication

Happy/Sad: Thoughts from a Multiplying LifeGroup

Last Wednesday night my LifeGroup got together for our last meeting before we multiplied and formed two new LifeGroups. We grilled some delicious burgers, did our normal 30-60 minutes of goofing around, and then all circled up. We wanted to celebrate all that Jesus had done in our LifeGroup over the past year or so. It was truly amazing…

  • One guy talked about beginning LifeGroup with the thought that he was "getting his stuff together" and "getting right with God," and ended up discovering more about grace than he ever knew existed.
  • Two couples new to Columbia talked about the difficulties of being married and not knowing anyone outside of their family. LifeGroup helped them not only develop friendships, but meaningful relationships who helped them work through marriage issues.
  • One of our single girls said how much she loved getting a front-row seat to observe what Jesus-centered marriages looked like. She explained how incredible that was and how welcomed she felt as a single girl in a mostly-married LifeGroup.
  • One couple (that has only been around for a couple months) talked about being overwhelmed at first, but then amazed by the amount of honesty in our LifeGroup. They quickly realized that this was a safe place for them to be honest as well.
  • One couple talked about how it had been a rough year with some major health issues, and how Jesus had used our LifeGroup to serve them by doing everyday things for them like cleaning their house and setting up a schedule to bring them dinner once a week.
  • One guy talked about how Jesus has continued to redeem his broken view of family through our LifeGroup becoming his family.
  • I talked about the pressures of feeling like I needed to be a saint since I'm a pastor. I shared how comforting and humbling it was to have a group of guys who I could confess anything to, and they wouldn't look at me any differently because of it.
  • And one girl, when trying to put into words how LifeGroup had been over the past year, finally said "I think 'life-changing' is the best way to say it."

In the midst of all this, I felt myself getting sad. I was sad because these relationships had become so important to me over the past year, and I couldn't imagine half of them being in a different LifeGroup. We had gotten so close, and I didn't want that to change.

But then I got really happy. For a lot of reasons… 

  • Because there are more guys out there who will go from "getting his act together" to discovering grace.
  • Because there are more couples who will go from feeling like they have no friends in Columbia to having meaningful relationships where they can work through issues in their marriage.
  • Because there are more single girls who will get to have front-row seats to Jesus-centered marriages.
  • Because there are more couples who will be overwhelmed, and then amazed by how vulnerable they can be with other people.
  • Because there are more couples struggling that will get to have a LifeGroup clean their house and cook them dinner.
  • Because there are more guys who will have Jesus redeem their broken view of family through LifeGroup.
  • Because I will still need a group of guys who I can confess anything to, and they won't look at me any differently.
  • Because more people will have their life changed through Jesus-centered communities.