What is Well-Developed Group Identity based on the Character of Christ?
When you know who you are you know what to do! - @craiggroeschel - Does your group know who they are in relation to one another? What does it look like to live in and as your group? How do you treat one another? How do you love? How do you act when together? How do you have tough conversations? How do you challenge one another?
Continuous Breakthrough: COMMUNE
We celebrate, we confess, we get clarity… and now we commune. We invite the Lord to meet us as we are… with our highs and lows, our successes and our failures. We have celebrated; given thanks and identified the wins. We have confessed and declared and owned where we are struggling. We have asked the Lord to speak to us and we have given him a listening ear. This process may lead us to sorrow, it may lead to lightheartedness, it has likely led us to a bit of breakthrough. But we cannot do it alone. We have a present God who cares about the littlest of things. He desires and promises to be tender with our hearts and meets us with the exact thing and posture we need at the moment. We just often don’t know what that looks like.
Continuous Breakthrough: CLARIFY
Life can be confusing, which often makes us frustrated. Frustration occurs when our expectations are not met. We expect things from ourselves, from our family, from our team, and from our supervisor; even from God. Getting clarity brings about confidence and even a greater sense of peace.
Continuous Breakthrough: CONFESS
Confession is paramount to the follower of Jesus. Confession of sin, confession of Faith, confession of struggles, confession of doubts, confession of hurt… there are so many things to confess. Confession is central to our lives and relationships; with self, with others, and with God. Real relationships thrive when confession is practiced, both individually and corporately.
Continuous Breakthrough: CELEBRATE
It is so easy to complain isn’t it? As humans, we are always tempted to see the negative first, to dwell on it, and to ruminate on it. Did you know that our brains actually wire and rewire it’s neurons based on what we pay attention to most? That means that the more we complain… the more we will complain. The more we focus on what’s wrong… the more we’ll see what’s wrong. I don’t think even the biggest complainers actually want to live in that reality.
Concentric Circles and Mutual Submission
This season of life has had me wrestling through many of the tools, values, vehicles, and language that I have dedicated myself to practicing the last decade. I’ve been asking myself, which of these tools have I understood correctly? Is there another way of understanding them? How does this line up with scripture? How has the practice affected relationships and mission?…