25 Feb Life Group Leader Meeting – february 24, 2020

Life Group Leader Meeting

February 24, 2020

13 tables – 100 People

Tim

This ministry empowers Waters Church to grow large but feel small.  Without you people don’t feel like they are home.

Crystal Hoyt- stepping out in faith, she and Tim said that God is just leading us… The world was closed off to their lives and they did not open their home to others, just their family.  They did not feel comfortable leading but by saying “yes”, God has moved powerfully.  They are expanding their family and not losing family.  God is blessing them.

You only grow when you move.  If God is pressing on you to move, then you better move because growth is on the other side of the movement.  If you are thinking how are I going to be able to lead a group.  Through challenge, you will grow.

Mehdi Chniouli- They have a lot of children and his wife brings the children to where they need to be.  Mehdi is home by himself for a few hours.  Every single day we have small group, I really don’t want to have small group… by the time you clean the house and gets ready… but every time God shows up and we end up being changed and are blessed. They spoke with a couple that was not attending regularly, but after speaking said they felt like they were really and truly cared for.  Sometimes don’t be afraid of nudging people to commit.  We tell people to plan around small group time.  Mehdi tells people to think about the time in the same way as tithing… You just need to trust, show up, and be available. 

Our lives are defined by the nudges by the Holy Spirit.  You are here tonight because you are the recipient to the response to someone else’s nudge.  When you read the book of Acts you see people who were not part of the original 12 become powerful leaders for Christ.  We have seen the nudges of Gods in places you did not imagine affect others in ways we could not imagaine.

Michelle Braddock- She and Brandon are going to Guatemala to be Campus Pastors.  When we first went to Guatemala, she fell in love with the Country when she was typically a person who did not like to leave the house.  Then they came back and encouraged Tim to go.  When they returned they really felt like they were being nudged to have their time used better for God.  She wanted to give up her big house and leave to learn about a new culture.  They are drawn back over and over again.

That’s how it works in the Church.  God works through those little moments that lead to greater things.  Don’t ignore it.  At least do the service of praying over it… Maybe it’s “God I’m not interested…” but maybe in the conversation things are revealed so that things are moved and you are able to respond to the nudge.

Jim Minolio- It’s been amazing. I had a lot of Bible training and was saved at 24.  I went through a tough time through a divorce and when I came to Waters Church it was baby steps.  I started out in the Café.  I said I love you Lord and I will take this one step at a time.  Then I moved to the prayer team and now we are small group leaders.  Our group has really grown together.  We have found people just really need to be loved and have connection

The Bible says we need to encourage one another as we see the day approaching.  We need to let each other know how good God is and how good their sheep is.  Tim has seen many pastors enjoy talking about the failures of the sheep instead of how good the shepherd is.  The Lord released the 12 to go out and when they returned unsure He said don’t worry about it, your name is written the Book of Life.  Find the good in your group and talk about how amazing it is to see God working through them.  Tim “flies” over the congregation and drops the bombs and Life Group Leaders pick up the pieces.  A powerful things happens when you believe in someone.  They are forced to do something they don’t want to do.  The sheep are very stubborn and don’t want to move.  Sometimes they have to be forced to move to new places.  Make an excuse to not be there and ask someone to fill in… before you know it they feel God move. Good leadership is defined by the ability of an organization to run without the leader. 

Jesus was on this world for 33 years and only 3 years was involved with leading the 12.  After that time, they were left.  It’s not set on one person… It works through ordinary people filled with supernatural gifts of wisdom.  It’s good to have people doubt themselves; they end up doing the best work.  Jesus opened the Sermon on the Mount is blessed is the poor in Spirit= the resources of heaven are ready to come into being.

There is an idol in church ministry that Tim would like to crush:  a man and a woman ministering together is the ideal form of ministry. For many years, Tim and Cheryl would look at Christian couples who operated in ministry and measure themselves against them.  They wasted 10 years falling under this idol that there is only one “holy” way to lead.  The pastoral epistles written to Timothy, whole movement by Paul, Peter’s wife we don’t even know her name… The thing we have to check ourselves is are we putting ourselves under a burden that we think is a special kind of leader or are we free to be a leader as God designed us. 

Some of the ladies also need to let go of the co-ministry idea.  If it works well for you both then great. But perhaps you need to reconsider if perhaps he may need a men’s group more than a couple’s group.  It’s not an affront to your giftedness and maybe ladies need a ladies group more than a couple’s group. Sometimes we do better in same gender groups where we can talk about things that perhaps are better talked about in the same gender.  We need to be careful that the Devil does not open doors and created temptation.

Sometimes we need to open up and consider Galatians chapter 5 things where the struggles of the flesh need to be discussed in a safe space.  They need to be able to say they need help and become a band of brothers together.  This type of change is not saying you are better apart but rather multiplication.  It will help the singles and the younger generation in our church.  We have to be able that we don’t paint the picture of man, woman, 3 kids, dog, white picket fence… We need to release people in to real ministry. 

It took Cheryl and I 15 to work things out regarding small group.  We also don’t have mixed gender singles small groups.  The impetus for this conversation was in the Leadership Class so that we can be more gender specific and more relatable ways.

MaryAnn

1. Thank you for filling out the surveys
2. New Coach dynamics: 
   1. Coaches coach Life Group Leaders
      1. Provide information to leaders
      1. Help, pray, equip
   1. Head Coaches coach Coaches
      1. Provide information to Coaches
      1. Broken down by campuses
3. Please register at least one week in advance of Life Group Leader meetings
4. Action Group Update:
   1. Not
      1. To do list groups
      1. Moving list
      1. See your small group first
   1. Are
      1. Relationships growing in Christ
      1. Disciple people into community service that makes an impact
      1. Looking for men
      1. Meet together several times a month to do some active outreach in the community
      1. Hands on tradesmen
5. eFam Group Update: 
   1. needed nudging to do eFam Group
   1. it has become one of the best things they have done
   1. they pray for each other and there has been many answered prayers
   1. you need to step out in faith knowing God is preparing the way
   1. they thought with technology they would not have the same connection but in fact we have been growing in fellowship and have only met one of the members in person
   1. God has been moving greatly through eFams
   1. If you have friends or relatives who live far away, encourage them to watch online
6. Jody Bowden, Executive Pastor of NextGen
   1. Spoke about the Egg Drop
   1. Looking for help to go and stake out areas with temporary fencing for the Egg Drop
7. Testimonies
   1. Nathan gave a testimony that a person who came to their small group who had injured their knee.  They prayed over her on Sunday and on Monday she was walking normal and back to work. They have another young person who is a student who has been consistently over-tired.  They prayed over him and he felt restored.
   1. Lauren said there was a young girl in her group who had a difficult time sharing her faith.  They encouraged her that the Lord would provide an opportunity for her to witness.  They meet at Panera Bread  and a panhandler came in after their meeting.  His name was Jeff and they prayed over him.  We witnessed to him about Jesus and bought him a meal.  The young girl started crying and said she asked a question and God provided a visual answer right before her eyes.
   1. Kelly told us Becca Nordest 26 years old served in the Café and had a stroke in May. The entire church prayed for her and against all odds and what her doctors thought, she lived and started to recover.  As a small group we went to the hospital and prayed and continued to pray.  Last week she started driving and this week she started back part-time at work.
   1. Lindsey shared a testimony from Kim Fears… Testimony from Aleesha Campbell that she has been having a struggle with her step-mother.  The situation became dangerous and they prayed during small group for her to have a place to live.  During prayer she heard God say that she was going to live there and Kim didn’t want her to.  Kim’s parents brought her in to their house and has been living with them since.  Kim and her parents said she is such a blessing.  They feel like they have a second daughter/sister.  She came down with pneumonia and was so sick they were not sure if she would recover. They went in to strong prayer.   They contacted the stepmother and they have since healed their reconciled their relationship.  She still lives with the Fears but the Lord has restored her.
   1. Deb gave a testimony that she was very introverted but she decided to open a small group.  They said to her in the beginning that they were so excited that they she was going to be a small group leader. She used to think she could do it all on her own and wasn’t sure how she felt about prayer. She saw it in action when they prayed over a man with a brain tumor and he recovered.  She had a lady in her small group who was estranged from her daughter.  The daughter went through a breast cancer scare and called her mom.  Her daughter testified that she had never seen her mother not angry.  Her daughter has since started coming to Waters and small group.  I no longer want to grow through pain, now she listens to God and does it.
8. Baptism:  Part of being a life group leader is moving people into the waters of baptisms. Tal had a testimony about an ER doctor named Len who changed his work schedule to come to church and attend small group.  He has also opened an addiction clinic.  He always had questions about baptism and now he has moved into the process and attended class and filmed his testimony to get baptized.
9. Action Group:  Robin told us about Marge’s Action group they have been going to nursing homes.  She met a lady in the lobby who plays piano. Together they have been able to get into the nursing home.  Many women have signed up and after going in to the nursing home, one of the residents got saved.  Action Groups are necessary and how we are supposed to be out in the community.
10. Amazon gift cards were given out to people who registered early.

Paul Escobar Cloded in prayer,