Questions and Small Group

We have many family and friends that ask us, "So what is a small group anyways?"

This is a great question! I had it too as small groups were not the norm at the church I grew up in. A small group at EBC is defined as:

Experiencing biblically-functioning community with others.

“Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.” Acts 2:46

So what does this actually look like? Well for our group, it looks like this:

10 of us (it was 12, but one couple left this summer) meet every other Sunday night at Caribou in a meeting room for a 2 hour study. We don't bring kids as we have found that it is tough to really focus on a study with little ones around. These studies are definitely at the foundation of the community we have built. The studies have grown and stretched us in our faith. The conversations, vulnerabilities and encouragement that have happened through these studies have been a major piece of what has created these family like relationships.

Our study history over 2.5 years has been:

Love and Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs

Awakening (EBC study)

James (Led by Heath)

Fireproof (Movie and Group Study)

Genesis (Led by Marklopedia and his TA Nancy)

Not Without You (EBC study)

Crazy Love by Francis Chan (Led by Bryce)

Revelation (Led by Marklopedia and his TA Nancy)

In between studies we started off with a more formal rotation of once a month serving, family an adult outing/fun. We have served in various ways through organizations, but one of my favorite parts of the group is how we serve the people in our everyday lives.

We have spent parent child dedications, Superbowls, holiday weekends, birthdays together. We have welcomed 4 babies (almost 5), experienced 2 job losses, tense marriage times, 1 move, adoption journey and the list goes on.

There have been many tears shared through the life that has happened. But the laughter that this group can create is why I have determined it is the best way to end and start my week on Sunday nights.

One of my most cherished memories our small group has shared was Christmas of 2009. We decided to do a fancy Christmas dinner and our time that night was to be spent sharing our faith stories. We had done this on the very first night we ever met 18 months earlier, but they were the 3-5 sentence long version. This night was perfection in every way. The food, the table, the laughter, the tears...oh the tears. Hearing from one another hearts in such a deep way is something I will not soon forget.

Only God knows what the future of our group looks like. What I do know though is that these relationships are forever whether they are in the structure of a small group or not. If you are not in a small group, I encourage you to start/join one.