Life Group Hoedown Hot Dish Throwdown!!!

Come one come all to the September 30th Life Group Hoedown - Hot Dish Throwdown!

In a life group?  Have this be your first meeting of the fall!

Want to join a life group?  Sign up now (in worship, on the web, call the office, see the bulletin boards!) and come to the Hoedown to meet your group!

Just curious about life groups at this point?  Come to the Hoedown and talk with the Life Group Ministry team and others who are in life groups!

And hey, the Hot Dish Throwdown is the most important part!  Bring your best hot dish for tasting and judging - the pastors will be the judges, and there will be prizes!

We'll have games for kids.

RSVP to Deanna (dheise@easter.org) and let us know if you're bringing a hot dish, and how many people will be accompanying you!

SEE YOU ON THE 30TH!!!

A Couple Thoughts about Fall

Hello Easter Life Groups!

Here are a couple things for you and your Life Groups to think about as you gear up for fall:

• We found a great new resource for Bible Studies. Check out www.selectlearning.org.  This is an organization that is associated with the ELCA that provides online training courses.  There's an area on their website that has FREE Bible Studies!  Check it out.  For those groups who like to know that the theology of their Bible Study is in line with the Lutheran faith, this is a resource for you!
• Mark your calendars for September 30th!  We're having the Life Group kickoff that Sunday, from 4:00 - 6:00 at the Lake - it's a Hot Dish Hoedown!!! So get your best hot dish recipes out (the Pastors will be the judges of this contest!), grab your Life Group (perhaps this could be your first regathering of the year!), and come out and have a good time!  Watch for signups at the beginning of September, or drop Mary Kay (marykay@easter.org) or Deanna (dheise@easter.org) an email.

Small Groups Serving

Once the Fourth of July is over, it seems like summer is over - and we begin to plan for fall and the school year, and we think about what our life group/small group is going to tackle for the year.  My life group, which meets 2 times/month, plans to study the book of Job this fall. Yikes!

Easter's mission statement is "to grow in faith and carry on the work of Jesus Christ." Life groups are a perfect way to do both these things.  Sometimes, however, I think we forget about that last part - carrying on Christ's work.  

Here's a challenge for you - Brainstorm with your life group some ways to serve the wider community during this program year.  If you are at a loss, ask an Easter staff person or check the website - there are always ways to serve listed there.  And tell us, through commenting on this blog, what your group plans to do!  We'd love to hear it!

What are your plans?

What are your plans to stay connected to your small group/life group this summer?  What are you gearing up to do next year with your group?  We'd love to hear it - your thoughts might give others ideas!


Blessings on your summer!


The Life Group Ministry Team

Reflections on the Year

This coming Monday, my small group meets for the last time before taking a break for the summer.  I'll miss my Bible study partners during the summer season, but I know the months will pass quickly and we'll be back at it before we know it.


My small group started this past fall - our aim was to study the Bible, more deeply than most of us have done in the past.  I admit that the first thing we chose to do kind of fell flat - that's the learning that accompanies trial and error I guess.  But we stuck with it, had a great conversation about what each of us is looking for, and dug in again.  These last months, we've been reading the book of Esther, with a free study guide that we found on the internet as our guide.  It was GREAT! We loved the story, and we learned so much about the period of time, and about how God works behind the scenes.  


Along the way, I've gotten to know my small group mates, and have grown to love them.  I pray for them, care about them, and I'll miss them, personally, this summer.  This coming Monday, our last time together for the year, we'll celebrate our new-found friendships, our learning during the year, and look forward to fall and what we want to do at that time.  I can't wait!


I pray your small group/life group experiences are similarly as meaningful.  If they are, I thank God for that. If they could be better, let the Small Group Ministry team know, and we can help with a small group "tune up!"  


Blessings on your small group, and on your summer.  


Here's a call out to small groups that meet in the summer - I know some of you do some fun things - tell us what they are, by responding to this post!!!

Small Groups Serving!

I was speaking with someone in a small group the other day, and she said that her small group has decided to be a serving small group - with their kids and all.  Each month, they are choosing an Easter Serves! project (http://easter.org/wordpress/easterserves/).  What a wonderful way to grow in community with each other, teach the kids about service, and serve in the name of Christ!


We love to hear stories about Easter's small groups!  What's your story?

What's Happening in YOUR Small Group?

Are you in a small group (life group)?  We'd love to know what you're doing these days?  Is there a Bible Study you'd highly recommend (or not!)?  Are you doing some fun social or service things?  Please share here, by commenting to this post.  We want to hear from you!

Stephen Ministries in St. Louis has done a lot of research regarding church small groups.  One of the big questions they tried to address was:  “What do these folks really need?”  Here are some of their findings:

•    Spirituality -- helping people experience Jesus and His saving power in their lives

•    Community -- helping people experience Jesus in one another, giving them the sense that they are connected to a “body,” a loving community, as well as to the Creator and Sustainer of all things

•    Care -- helping people experience Jesus in their pain and suffering. When many people are most clearly in need of the gospel and most open to God’s presence and the healing, saving power of Jesus

•    Service -- helping people experience meaning, purpose, and significance by participating in Jesus’ mission in the world and being involved in something that is not only bigger than themselves, but also life-transforming and enduring

So the question Easter's small group team wants to ask YOU is this: What do YOU get out of your small group?  Please share it with us by posting a reply to this blog!