GROW
GROW together in Spirit filled Christian community.
Knowing the truth and being changed by it are two different things. Truth transforms… let that resonate for a minute. Many of us can explain the Gospel
accurately and still lose our temper in the car on the way home. What you KNOW and what it does to you is where GROW lives.
It is not easy, battling the busyness of life, the pull of the easy path, and the fact that none of this comes naturally.
accurately and still lose our temper in the car on the way home. What you KNOW and what it does to you is where GROW lives.
It is not easy, battling the busyness of life, the pull of the easy path, and the fact that none of this comes naturally.
You cannot do
this part alone
You can learn alone. You can read, listen to a sermon, take notes at your kitchen table. But can you really be changed alone?
Self-deception comes pretty natural. Think about it — patience sounds great until someone tests yours. Forgiveness,
we all need more forgiveness, until you have to extend it to someone who has hurt you.
That is why Paul writes to a church rather than to individuals, and why nearly everything he tells them to do is something you can only do to one another —
bear with one another, be kind to one another, forgive one another, build one another up. None of it works by yourself.
Self-deception comes pretty natural. Think about it — patience sounds great until someone tests yours. Forgiveness,
we all need more forgiveness, until you have to extend it to someone who has hurt you.
That is why Paul writes to a church rather than to individuals, and why nearly everything he tells them to do is something you can only do to one another —
bear with one another, be kind to one another, forgive one another, build one another up. None of it works by yourself.
What Spirit filled
community actually means
Four things make community the place where change happens:
The Holy Spirit does the changing. This is His work, not yours and not ours. He is the one working in you, putting off the old self
and putting on the new self. The Bible is not a self-help book, it is a book that teaches the transformation of self through the Spirit.
People who know your name. Here you are not a number, but a child loved by God. Here are people who notice when you are missing,
who remember what you asked prayer for last month, and who care enough to ask you about it again.
Repetition, not events. Change comes from showing up over and over, not from one powerful evening.
A group that meets for two years does something a retreat cannot.
When you can remove the mask. Most of us have plenty of people to be fine around and very few we can be honest with. Imagine how refreshing it would be to be part of a community where the real version of your life is welcome. Where you are not identified by your failures, but by what Christ has done for you.
The Holy Spirit does the changing. This is His work, not yours and not ours. He is the one working in you, putting off the old self
and putting on the new self. The Bible is not a self-help book, it is a book that teaches the transformation of self through the Spirit.
People who know your name. Here you are not a number, but a child loved by God. Here are people who notice when you are missing,
who remember what you asked prayer for last month, and who care enough to ask you about it again.
Repetition, not events. Change comes from showing up over and over, not from one powerful evening.
A group that meets for two years does something a retreat cannot.
When you can remove the mask. Most of us have plenty of people to be fine around and very few we can be honest with. Imagine how refreshing it would be to be part of a community where the real version of your life is welcome. Where you are not identified by your failures, but by what Christ has done for you.
You told us this is
where you need help
When we surveyed the congregation, more of you asked for help with relationships than with everything else combined.
It was also the one area of life where Abiding Savior scored below the national average. We are not going to pretend
that was a surprise, it mirrors national and global trends.
It is the clearest thing our congregation has said to us, and GROW is our answer to it. For the next several years, community
is the thread running through everything we do. God designed us to be in community for a reason.
It was also the one area of life where Abiding Savior scored below the national average. We are not going to pretend
that was a surprise, it mirrors national and global trends.
It is the clearest thing our congregation has said to us, and GROW is our answer to it. For the next several years, community
is the thread running through everything we do. God designed us to be in community for a reason.
What we offer
Two different things, built for two different purposes. Friendship is where this starts, and depth grows out of it — so begin wherever you actually are.
CoMMUNITY GROUPS
Available now
Finding a group of friends who share your interests. This is about building real relationships
inside the church — people you enjoy, doing something you enjoy together.
This is where we started, and we intend to keep building it out.
Finding a group of friends who share your interests. This is about building real relationships
inside the church — people you enjoy, doing something you enjoy together.
This is where we started, and we intend to keep building it out.
SMALL GROUPS
The next phase
Different from a community group. Small groups are where you spend time together learning the Word of God,
applying it to your lives, and going out together to use what you have learned.
Over the next year we are investing in the people who lead them — real training, clear expectations, and support —
because a group with a well-supported leader stays intentional, active, and engaged.
Different from a community group. Small groups are where you spend time together learning the Word of God,
applying it to your lives, and going out together to use what you have learned.
Over the next year we are investing in the people who lead them — real training, clear expectations, and support —
because a group with a well-supported leader stays intentional, active, and engaged.
It would be beautiful and enriching to see small group gatherings that mix people who would not otherwise meet — different generations,
different circles, pouring into one another. Sunday morning alone cannot introduce you to the people you would most benefit from knowing.
One honest note: we are building this in stages rather than launching everything at once.
We would rather offer you a few things that are ready than a long list that is not.
different circles, pouring into one another. Sunday morning alone cannot introduce you to the people you would most benefit from knowing.
One honest note: we are building this in stages rather than launching everything at once.
We would rather offer you a few things that are ready than a long list that is not.
What we are
asking of you
There are a couple of asks. One is immediate, the others are for down the road.
Right now: Join a community group and make being active in it a priority. That is the whole ask. It is not hard —
you are getting together with some new friends around something you already enjoy. You can find our groups on our groups page,
or if you would like to lead one, reach out to us at info@abidingsaviorsf.org
Down the road: Would you join a small group, or lead one? Leaders get training and every material they need;
members get a leader who will carry the study. What we are asking from both is the same — pray over this next year about
whether God is prompting you, and then stay with it longer than feels comfortable. Most people leave a group right before it
|becomes the thing they were hoping for.
Right now: Join a community group and make being active in it a priority. That is the whole ask. It is not hard —
you are getting together with some new friends around something you already enjoy. You can find our groups on our groups page,
or if you would like to lead one, reach out to us at info@abidingsaviorsf.org
Down the road: Would you join a small group, or lead one? Leaders get training and every material they need;
members get a leader who will carry the study. What we are asking from both is the same — pray over this next year about
whether God is prompting you, and then stay with it longer than feels comfortable. Most people leave a group right before it
|becomes the thing they were hoping for.
And then?
Somewhere along the way, you stop being the one who needs carrying and start being the one who carries. That is GO —
serving with what God has grown in you, and walking beside someone who is only beginning. You will not be able to name the day it happened.
It will simply become true.
And when it does, you will find yourself back at KNOW, because nothing exposes how much more of
God there is to learn like trying to hand Him to someone else.
serving with what God has grown in you, and walking beside someone who is only beginning. You will not be able to name the day it happened.
It will simply become true.
And when it does, you will find yourself back at KNOW, because nothing exposes how much more of
God there is to learn like trying to hand Him to someone else.