Todd Wagner, Jonathan Pokluda, and Rob Barry collaborated to kick off a new series on community called “Better Together.” Todd explained the importance of being in community, JP showed us how to be accountable to those in your community group, and Rob warned us of “cancers” that can kill relationships within your community.
1. As you may (or may not) already know, the 4B form stands for “Believe, Belong, Be Trained, and Be Strong.” Have you filled out your 4B form? If your entire community group has filled out the 4B form, have each member go through their results and celebrate their growth in 2016 and talk through areas of growth that need to be focused on for 2017.
2. Read Hebrews 10:24–25 and Proverbs 18:1. Where are some areas of your life when you tend to isolate yourself rather than run towards those “trees” who are rooted near the stream of water with you? What are some steps you can take this week to not be like that cow heart that is cut off from the rest of the body?
3. JP taught us that to be accountable to someone else, you need to be able to ask difficult questions, share what God says in the Scriptures, and follow up later with them after the conversation. Out of these three, which one is easiest for you to do? Which one is more difficult for you to do to hold others in your group accountable?
4. To be able to receive accountability in community, you need to not be defensive, you need to share openly, and you need to know how you can be held accountable. When is the last time you received admonishment in community? How was that experience? What can you do better next time you receive admonishment in order to be more accountable to those in your community group?
5. Rob showed us the three “cancers” in community groups are the cancer of indifference, the cancer of “off limits”, and the cancer of apathy. Are any of these “cancers” in your group right now? What can your community group do to be like a surgeon and cut that “cancer” out?
As you community group meets, remember to thank God for the provision that is the local body of believers. Take some time to pray that 2017 will be a year that is marked by deepening your roots with your community by the stream of living water.
