OSLC Small Groups

Welcome to this blog dedicated to small groups at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church. In this blog I hope to provide resources and guidance for leaders and members of small groups. Central to this blog is the belief that small groups provide us with an immediate access to spiritual growth. Ideally, if we are a member of a church and are seeking to grow in our faith then we should be members of a small group.

This is the belonging part of small groups. As Christians, we do want to experience connectedness with each other, a sense that we have something in common that unites us. You see this in virtually every aspect of life; in our work places people are satisfied when they feel that they are part of the organisation, that they can make a contribution. Members of successful sporting teams know that their success is due to more than the raw ability of the players; rather, it is the commitment to excellence, to supporting each other with their specific gifts and abilities, working together as a ‘unit’. When a new player in a team is asked to reflect on a good performance, he or she often says that the quality of the performance made them feel like they ‘belonged.’

This belonging is closely connected to sharing. Our membership is often confirmed and affirmed when we share ourselves in a group. Sharing is partly about bringing along our experiences and our willingness to be involved in what happens. In this sense, sharing can also be understood as part of serving.

Through our belonging and sharing, we are committing ourselves to growing. Growth is essential to being and feeling healthy. A Christian and a Christian community (such as a church) must be committed to growing. A useful thing for a person and a group to do is to identify some goals for growth. These goals, as we now know from the fitness and health industry, must realistic and achievable.