Message from the Small Groups Pastor
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Check Out New Additions to the New Cov Web Site
There are two new functions on our web site! You can now submit a Prayer Request by going to the home page and clicking the prayer button. That will take you to the form where you inoput your prayer request.Another new function is our First Time Guest Survey, also on our home page. We are very interested in what impressions a first-time visitor gets when visiting New Cov. We are hoping for some insights that might help us be an even more welcoming church than we already are.
From the Small Group Pastor
Now that the Live Like You Were Dying series is over, - but we hope the impact of it lasts a lifetime - small groups may be looking for other studies to participate in. The next series will address the Beatitudes. We have a number of studies available or able to be ordered if your group is interested. Let me know.Summer is fast approaching! We understand that summer is a time when schedules change, kids are home, etc. Want a few ideas of what to do if you are in a Small Group or a Small Group Leader? Challenge your group to read/study a book of the Bible over the summer - then use it as the topic of discussion for your first few meetings in the Fall. Commit to individual study and spiritual growth by reading current books - just ask any of the staff for some great recommendations. And, of course, I guess you can always get together and just have some fun!
Small Group Summer Ideas
Repeat from last year but worth it!Hebrews 10:24-25: "Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back is drawing near."
Summer fun can casue many people's schsedules to get really crazy, which leads to some of our small groups scaling back their gatherings to once or twice a month or taking the summer off completely. Now, we know Jesus is not just a nine-month-out-of-the-year-kinda Savior, right? RIGHT! He works during the summer as well as the other three seasons.
That being said, summer is a great time to connect in fun ways with those you haven't spent much time during the year. It's a great season to grow deeper in existing relationships and also time to initiate new relationships.
Here are some ideas to keep Christ alive in your relationship with others during the summer months:
- Plan a neighborhood BBQ or picnic or block party and get to know the new folks and reacquaint with the others who were holed up all winter!
- Invite your children's friends and their parents over for dessert to get to know both them and their kids better.
- Do a garage sale with your group and invite others to contribute stuff and participate in pulling it all together - Great Fun! (Of course, that is a matter of opinion!)
- Go to an athletic event or concert and invite someone you haven't been around much this past year, but wish you would have.
- Go fishing with a friend and/or your kids (Holmes Lake is really close) - great source of stories for those cold, dark winter days!
- Take walks and bike rides with family and friends - or even alone and let yourself be awed by God's creation!
- Go to the movies and then out for ice cream - or if you are like me, just go for the ice cream!
There are lots of fun things to do this summer that still create opportunities for you to be used by God to bring Him closer to others and yourself. "...let us not neglect meeting together..." Pray about it, think about it, then DO something about it!
Have any good ideas for summer fun? Let me know and I will send it out to all. Have a great summer!