Summary of September 22 Care Group

We met at the DeVivo's home and started the evening with a warm cherry crisp and banana bread brought all the way from Butler by Debbie and Eric. We sang about "How Deep" the love, mercy and grace of Christ are in our lives. From our discussion questions on the Paul Tripp CDs we talked about how none of our lives has gone according to our own plan. God leads us to places and circumstances where we don't want to go in order to accomplish in us what could not be done any other way. His loving purpose in our lives is our sanctification and He accomplishes just that as he "turns up the heat" in our lives and purifies us from our 'ore'-ific state into the likeness of His Son. We discussed how we must trust God's timing with our lives and not question His infinite wisdom.

Maria shared the analogy of the tapestry from Corrie Ten Boom. She said that our lives are a beautifully woven tapestry that, if only viewed from earth, resembles the underside of any embroidered piece with knots, frays, and loose strings. The design is usually unrecognizable from the underside. But when the piece is turned right-side-up we can see the beautiful design from the correct point of view, as we will see our lives from heaven. Only then will we understand all of our "knots, frays, and loose strings" that can baffle us in this earth-life.

Can you relate to some of those knots and loose strings?

And one day we will see...

Summary of September 8 Care Group

We met at the DeVivo's home and began the evening with warm apple crisp lovingly prepared by Cheryl. After a short time of fellowship and singing "I Will Glory in My Redeemer," we discussed how we can be used more effectively in our daily lives for God's glory to share the Gospel and serve the brethren in our church. Tony reminded us of the scripture verse that Cheryl shared with us last month from Psalm 9:10 "And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you." We agreed that it is imperative to put our trust in our God for every situation in life, both those that we face and those that we see our dear friends facing. We also talked about living with a view toward heaven. Wade shared that there aren't many things on this earth that have much allure for him these days. We talked about how to practically live here on earth while preparing to be with our Lord in heaven someday.
Then we took some time to share individual concerns and struggles. We are growing as a caring, redemptive community of believers who want to hold each other accountable, help each other to grow in holiness, and encourage each other to love Him more and more. Thanks everyone for a beautiful time of true fellowship!

Summary of August 4 Care Group

We met at the DeVivo's home. We had a very informal and honest discussion based on the experience of our group members. We talked about our mortality and the effect of contemplating our eventual, and perhaps untimely, deaths. We discussed the ways that we can be more sober in our everyday lives to consider serving the Lord more conscientiously knowing that we are not promised tomorrow. The discussion was grace-driven, faith-filled and Christ-centered.

The Lord encouraged us all to make the most of our time by employing self-discipline as we read the word regularly. Someone shared a quote by J.I. Packer that explained that it would only take 78 hours to read the Bible from cover to cover. This quote inspired us to consider how we spend our time, and in a non-legalistic way we discussed the implications of how we can pray for each other and hold each other accountable in our regular reading of God's word.

Cheryl shared a scripture for us to meditate on this week from Psalm 9:10 "And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you." It's so wonderful to know that we serve a God who never forsakes us no matter what situation we find ourselves in the middle of.

Dennis encouraged us from Isaiah 40:29 "He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted: but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Wade has witnessed eagles taking flight and described it as effortless, magnificent, and powerful. Our God is able to give us the strength to face any kind of situation with his amazing strength!

Summary of July 21 Care Group

We welcomed Eric and Debbie Grubbs while enjoying a lovely picnic dinner provided by everyone. A little lightning and some rain chased us inside the Brown's home for a time, but after dessert we sat on their beautiful deck for the rest of the evening. We filled the Grubbs in on what we have been gleaning from the CDs that we've been listening to by Paul Tripp. We've been applying his messages as we grow as a transparent community of believers.