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======House Groups 1 - Intro ...======
Monday, Nov 2, 2009. Perhaps you have never heard of
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**house groups**
. What is it?
Usually it is a group of Christians meeting on a regular basis for bible study and
prayer. Often, there are other activities as well, social activities.
There are many different types of such groups. Some focus on
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**bible study**
. They read, for example, one of the biblical books. They go story
by story, chapter by chapter. Usually one of the members prepares a session and
guides the others. There is material which can be ordered from various Christian
publishers, which support such group meetings. It is extremely interesting to
read the bible in larger bits, to understand the background of the books and
learn the different layers of meaning of the stories and parables. Reading the
bible in a group is one of the most rewarding ways of study I know. It does not
remain a dead book, but you can observe its influence in the life of those who
are there that evening. People talk about their experiences, also about their
difficulties in understanding and usually others have found answers when someone
asks questions.
Other groups focus more on prayer. We can collect prayer requests, either
by just asking into the group, or by going one round and everyone brings what
he would like prayer for. Then, the group will pray to the Lord and ask him to
help and guide in the topics which were raised. That may be very personal, like
some illness or personal challenge. It might be a friend or family member which
has problems or is looking for answers to questions of faith. Or we pray for
the Church or our state, that the Lord helps us with good solutions and reasonable
steps in current challenges.
Many house groups have a session of Worship at the beginning or the
end. We sing songs, often led by guitars or a piano. That can be a wonderful time
together, pointing our hearts to the Lord, focusing our minds on his love,
his presence and his goals for our life. There are songs from many centuries today,
and over the last 60 years so many new
Christian songs have been written, that today there is an extremely rich body
of music available for such sessions. Depending on how many musical gifts are
in your group, some groups rather listen to some CD, others tend to have a long
session of self-made music.
Some house groups are a mixture of people, who are Christians, and those who
did not yet come to faith or to a clear commitment to Christ. Discussing the
basics of faith can be great fun and rewarding for everyone. Other groups consist
of people who have been in faith for quite a while. They are discipleship
groups, where we try to move deeper into faith and develop a mature and balanced
life style as followers of Jesus.
House groups can be wonderful. They can be places where a part of the love of
God becomes real and touchable. They can be a platform for exchange, for prayer,
for worship and friendship. They can be a place where the Lord is among us in
a far reaching sense. We will talk more about this, and about experiences with
such groups, difficulties which may arise and how to let a group grow over the
next days.
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