Growth Groups
Our Growth Group ministry here at New Village is one of the primary avenues for ministry and spiritual growth together outside of our weekly worship service. We encourage all those who attend, and certainly, everyone who is a member, to participate in a local home-based Growth Group. Spiritual growth is no easy task and neither is being a positive Christian example and minister of the Gospel among our own spheres of influence.Our Growth Group ministry was born out of this context and our goals for all who participate in this ministry can be summarized from the borrowed Goals of a Small Group that follows:
The Three Goals of a Small group
A. Relationships
The Christian Life is not solitary. God calls us to live out our lives with him in the context of relationships—especially those with the members of our local church. We are called to walk out our relationship with Jesus linked arm to arm with brothers and sisters. One of the primary purposes of the small group structure is to provide a context where we can establish real and lasting relationships. The small group provides a context to:
- Develop friendships.
- Care for one another with practical help and personal encouragement as we walk through trials.
- Celebrate joyful occasions, and have fun together.
- Encourage outreach into our communities with the light of the gospel.
- Serve side by side with other group members as we seek to assist our local church.
B. Spiritual Life
The small group should be a place of spiritual activity. Our meetings should allow for time to cultivate an awareness of the Holy Spirit’s presence and activity, expressed as we encourage each other through Scripture, pray together, and seek the ministry of the Spirit among us as a group.
C. Fellowship
Gospel-centered believers mature as they walk out their Christian lives with one another. The small group setting is a place where men and women can:
- Share their lives with each other with a desire to grow in conformity to Jesus Christ.
- Speak the truth of the gospel to one another.
- Overcome sin by understanding it from Scripture and exploring its relationship to the thoughts and motives of the heart and inviting others to correct our thinking when it deviates from Scripture.
- Help each other change through confessing our sins to each other and seeking to repent, with accountability to each other for our change.