Summary of July 7 Care Group

The DeVivos, Angels, Bennetts and Versaces attended. To begin, Wade encouraged us all with Ephesians 2:13 - But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Thanks Wade!

Tony directed us to Hebrews 10:19-27 and Hebrews 3:12-13 from the Paul Tripp messages that speak about our identities in Christ and the call to godly community embedded in the middle of those verses. Our first identity is as sinners who must grasp the gravity, seriousness, depravity and the destructiveness of sin so that we can appreciate the wonder and magnitude of Christ's gift to us. Transparency is necessary between close brethren where we let our guard down and let others see who we really are and where we struggle. Then we can be helped by their insight and care! We don't want to be people who have one persona in private, and another very different persona in public. Tripp says that "Personal spiritual insight frequently comes in the context of community."

Our second identity in Christ is to be those who have received the glorious grace of God. Tripp says that we Christians should be the saddest and the most celebrant people on earth simultaneously. If we embrace one aspect of our identity without the other, there will be problems. Dennis cautioned us not to let the awareness of sin overwhelm us without letting God reveal His help and His way of escape. He reminded us of the faithfulness of God to never let us be tempted beyond what we are able to handle, but always provides the way of escape (from I Corinthians 10:13). We should always be looking at the cross 10 times, for every 1 look at our sin!

We also discussed that discipline is unpleasant but that we must trust the loving hand of our heavenly father in leading us for His glory. It's healthy to admit when sin has reared its head in us, and that even our clear conscience doesn't acquit us from guilt. We need the constant cleansing of His presence and forgiveness. We can glory in our weaknesses so that His grace can be made strong in us. Gary encouraged us to "Count it all joy" because we can trust God and His sovereignty in all trials. We ended with Romans 12:2 "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

Summary of June 23 Care Group

We were greeted by a delicious pie and some sweet tea that Susan prepared for us when we arrived at the DeVivo's home. We lingered a while on their beautiful deck, chatting and enjoying the lovely weather and the gorgeous plants.
After singing about surrendering our all to the Lord, serving Him with all of our lives and giving Him glory, we discussed the coming care group locations and details. Then we read from I Corinthians 12:4-11 and Romans 12: 3-13 about how God distributes gifts as He desires to each member of the body for serving one another and for His glory. We discussed how God gifts us and how it is important to know how God uses us to benefit the body. Other themes we talked about were:
-being aware of where God has gifted you
-how God has the right to use us however he wants, whenever He wants, even in the mundane moments of our lives
-how sometimes we don't even know He is using us for His glory
-how we need to be available and faithful to serve Him
-how we need to let God show us opportunities that He provides for service
-how important it is to sense His pleasure as we serve Him
-not to compare ourselves with other people and consequently feel like a substandard servant

Topics for next Care Group on July 7: Discuss our identities in Christ as described by Paul Tripp on the first 2 CDs. Refer to questions 12-15 on the list. Also, we will begin to discuss areas of need.

Summary of May 19 Care Group

After enjoying some refreshments lovingly provided by Sue and Doug, we discussed the ESGC meal for May 31st. Here are the details: Meatball Subs - Versaces, Macaroni Salad - Bennetts and Browns, Angels - Veggie Tray, DeVivos - Dessert.

Then we continued to discuss evidences of God's grace in some of our care group members. It was very encouraging to identify the gifts God has placed in each other. It motivated us all to be more like Jesus, and to be quick to recognize His work in others. In doing this we put into practice the community aspect of our walk with God the way that Paul Tripp prescribes.

For our next care group Wade will bring a scripture that all of us can use to pray about, meditate on and hopefully memorize. Also, we will begin to discuss areas of difficulty in our walks with God in an effort to build transparency and provide encouragement and help for our small group.

Summary of May 5 Care Group

After a short time of conversation and apple crisp, we again had an opportunity to point out areas of God's grace in action in some of our members. We realized that our self-perception is usually not the same as what those around us see. We need each other to identify where God is at work in our lives, as well as to see areas where we need to pursue His loving discipline. Everyone was encouraged to see the hand of God moving to encourage each of us.

Scriptures read: Hebrews 3:12-13 "Take, care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." Hebrews 10:24-25 "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."