Summary of October 21 Care Group

We enjoyed a smorgasbord of desserts to start off the evening! Then Tony read to us from Psalm 9:1-2 "I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High." We finished sharing our personal testimonies to events or seasons in our lives where we knew God cared for us and showed his lovingkindness. Here are some comments:
-All our sharing of these stories are like sermons that keep repeating in my soul and I benefit from them through the week.
-God has used His church as an amazing, constant source of provision, encouragement and comfort through all the "stuff" of life.
-He is an ever-present help in trouble - much bigger than we ever imagined.
-We sometimes have scars after a trial as a memorial of His goodness and faithfulness to us.
-It's OK to have a scar, Jesus has them.
-We can profoundly affect younger believers by our testimonies of trusting God's sovereignty.
-What we believe about God is the most important thing, being able to trust that He is still faithful no matter the situation.

Summary of October 7 Care Group

Thanks to Sue for the pumpkin squares! We sang "How can I thank you, oh Lord, for taking my place on the cross? As long as I have breath I will praise you..." Then we began by relating how our children are doing. We realized that our well-being is integrally connected to what our children are going through. It is good for us as a group to be aware of how we can support each other an pray for all our children.

We continued to discuss events in our lives when we knew that God's hand was sustaining us and leading us, even if it was a long, difficult trial. These are the ideas that were presented:

-God is so kind, so wise and ready to help when we cry out for Him. He uses our friends to help us and encourage us.
-If we have God, nothing else matters. Like Spurgeon, we can say "I've given God everything else, He can have my reputation as well."
-Just how do we thank Him for His incredible love and mercy toward us??
-It's wonderful to lose our inflated sense of self-esteem and gain Christ!