Spiritual Growth Through Christian Community

Christian community is essential to grow spiritually. The mark of a growing Christian involves deep love relationships. American individualism hinders this way of life as it prioritizes self above God and others. God's will for His church is to love Him and others by speaking into each others lives, being there to support one another and sharing His good news of forgiveness with those who don't know Him. Being involved in Christian community is necessary to grow spiritually.\r\n

To really grow in our relationship with God, we must forgive. God calls on all of us to forgive. He desires for us to learn this in community. A barrier to forgiveness is unaddressed anger. We must take our anger to God and not allow bitterness and resentment to build up in our hearts.

Crabb teaches about spiritual formation and community. Our self-obsessed nature can get in the way of God's goal for the church. The goal of the church is to transform us to be more like Jesus, to resemble Jesus. Personal transformation happens in community. The trinity relationship is an example of how the church should be in relationship. Because of what God did through Jesus on the cross we can live with the well being of others in view.\r\n

As individual believers, we are God's masterpiece and are called to live a life worthy of the new calling we have received. This calling includes equipping other believers around us and speaking the truth in love. Speaking the truth in love is difficult today, because our culture disregards the reality of truth and the call for people to speak into our lives. But as God's witness and His messengers, we must work to develop churches and communities that do speak the truth in love, for which there are several practical steps.

Motivation is different for Christians than it is for people in the world. Christians need to be convinced and motivated by Biblical truth. To be fruitful in motivating you must instruct, persuade, and convince people of the urgency of Biblical goals. You must also be prepared to speak truth and solve problems that would hinder someone from being motivated. Once someone has committed themselves to the goals of the Bible, it is imperative to continue to nurture ongoing motivation.

Radical commitment to Christ is the substance that attracts people to Him and grows people into maturity. To cultivate commitment in a group it takes creating environments for people to spiritually thrive. The most important element to cultivate commitment is maintaining passionate commitment to Christ in your own life. This is a process that at times calls for challenging conversations and radical dedication to the simplicity of devotion to Christ.

In the Christian life and ministry there is a need for both toughness and tenderness, a paradox that we all face. We need toughness because Christian work is hard. We face attacks from Satan, failure, doubts, people walking away from God, criticism, and much more at times. In order to withstand this, we must learn how to draw near to God for strength. We do this so that we do not become hardened and self-protective, because Christian work involves exercising sacrificial love repeatedly and moving towards people. There are many consequences if we harden our heart in response, but also practical suggestions for how to cultivate this tender heart.

Spiritual gifts are given to members of the church to help build up and cultivate church growth. The primary context in which scripture emphasizes gifts is within a home church setting. Embracing a lifestyle of serving love will reveal personal gifting and should be the reason for using spiritual gifts. Scripture lays out principles we can follow when encouraging and spurring one another on to use their spiritual gifts.

Choosing to make disciples, as Christ calls us to, is a choice that requires personal commitment. Helping a younger believer grow and bear fruit in their life takes casting vision, prayer, and developing friendship. Once you have entered into a discipleship relationship, it is key to ascertain spiritual needs and choose to persuade and meet those needs.

Coaching home group leaders is one of the most important factors in establishing successful home groups. Quality coaching involves six principles: 1) helping people receive from God; 2) helping people be willing to make mistakes; 3) listening to people; 4) serving through encouragement; 5) serving by being a good friend; 6) serving by challenging. We're all works in progress and need coached to keep following God. Coaching is essential and makes a difference in the long haul of ministry.\r\n

Helping people identify and use their God-given spiritual gifts is important. Every believer has at least one gift. The church is impacted by everyone's use of their gift and is to be used for edification. The best way to identify your spiritual gift is to experiment serving in different ways in a small group. It's important to keep Jesus in the center as we learn about our gifting.\r\n

There is a common myth that the problems people face are too much for God's community to counsel. As we look in the Bible we see many examples of how God works with people as the great counselor and we can follow His lead. There are four areas all members of God's community can grow in becoming affective counselors: listening, compassion, speaking the truth, and wisdom. It is also important to navigate when a person should seek professional help.

There are eight habits you can cultivate to become an effective small group leader. They include: dreaming and casting vision; praying for growth; inviting people to come out to Bible studies; following up with people; preparing for your meeting; discipleship; planning fun group activities; and being committed to your own personal growth.