LifeGroup & LifeMission Pastor Blog

Just thought I’d share a staggering number with you.  On the LG curriculum video this week we talk about the number of people who die every day without knowing Jesus.  That number is in the neighborhood of 13.9 million.

That’s roughly the entire population of New York City, Los Angeles, and Houston combined.  Every day the entire population of three of the largest cities in the U.S. dies without Jesus!  That’s exactly why we do what we do.  It’s also why LifeReach is so important to our LifeGroup ministry as well.

Just a reminder that getting people out of the living room is a battlefield we should all be willing to die on!  Pick up your water pistols…there are the gates of Hell…let’s storm them!!!!!!

David Foster wrote a blog post about a great group hot button.  You can read it by clicking here.

Essentially what he says is that group ministry is failing in many churches because our purpose for groups is wrong.  In his estimation healthy groups serve the church (serving teams).

I think that he’s right to a certain extent.  Serving is the most important thing groups do, but I don’t think it’s serving the church…it’s serving the world.  (Can anyone say “LifeReach”?)

Here’s what I posted as a response on his site.  Tell me what you think.

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Thanks for pushing this hot button David. On one hand I agree with you: Groups should serve. On the other hand I disagree. If I’m hearing you correctly, a win for small groups is serving the church (greeting, driving carts, etc.). I believe that a good group serves the community not just the church. God created us to change the world so like David said, “Rethink your small groups”. I’d like to encourage all of us take things a step further and
get our groups off the couch and into the community. That’s where our groups should be found…after all that’s where Jesus led his Group.

The exception for Jesus and his group was to meet in a house or an “upper room” (living room in our culture). It was also not the norm for his group to meet in the Temple. Jesus’ group was most readily found on the street touching the untouchable and loving the unlovable.

Serving the Body of Christ is a start, and a good one. Serving the world is where we all need to wind up!

Love Ya David!

Alan Danielson,
LifeGroups Team Leader
LifeChurch.tv