What is a Life Group?
A Life Group (LG) is a discipleship group of 4-5 people that focuses on sharing our lives with one another for the purpose of personal spiritual transformation, deep biblical community, and living a missional lifestyle. It is a forum for what has been called “life-on-life missional discipleship,” which can be described as:
Laboring in the lives of a few with the intention of imparting one’s life, God’s Word
and the gospel in such a way as to see them become mature and equipped
followers of Christ, committed to doing the same in the lives of others.
What is the biblical model behind LG?
Our model for discipleship is Jesus, who came to “seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10) by forming a people for himself who would know him (John 17) and join his mission (John 20:21). These are not two separate purposes. He called his disciples to follow him and fish for people (Mark 1:17), or—as Jesus explained later in Mark’s Gospel—to be with him (Up), together as a community (In), so that he might send them out in mission (Out; Mark 3:13-15). After his resurrection he commissioned his church to make disciples, which included teaching them to obey everything he commanded the first disciples (Matt 28:18-20). The Apostle Paul followed the same approach (see 1 Thess 2:7-12; 2 Tim 2:2). Jesus’ and the apostles’ approach consisted of modeling, coaching & equipping, high “touch,” and high accountability. Their pattern of life was with (Jesus and one another) and sent (on mission).
LGs are unique from other groups at GRC in that they are typically more:
- Intensive—weekly meetings with homework and expectations for activity and one-on-one meetings
outside of group time - Intimate—a smaller number of same gender participants creates a context for more personal sharing
- Accountable—participants share how they are repenting, trusting in the gospel, and seeking to change
- Missional—while all ministries encourage missional living, LGs expect it as central their purpose
- Temporary—participants are invited to join a group for a limited time (1-3 years) and then move on to
invest in other people - Reproductive—every participant is expected to multiply their lives in others in a similar way, either by leading a LG for others in the future or actively helping to make disciples in other ways.