Great Expectations

Last week at lifegroup, we challenged ourselves to be more bold. This week, we all wanted, of course, to forget that we had prayed about that and to just keep on plowing through Acts. I mean, it's all about getting more Bible facts in our brains, right?

Sadly, reminded that the Bible tells us not to be like people who look in mirror and then forget our appearance when we turn away, we went for it. We went around the room to tell what happened. All I gotta say was that it was AWESOME!!!! I'll mention no names to protect the innocent, but here are the stories:

One guy teamed up with another Christian at work to start having lunch with this particularly troubled person no one wants anything to do with. When they raised the idea of getting together with this person to a couple of other non-Christian colleagues, it's caused all kinds of discussions to break out.

One gal told of a young couple who are sort of distant relatives by marriage with whom she's had some recent conversations. The young woman just told her that her boyfriend is moving and has asked her to move in with him in the new location. The way she mentioned this, it was almost like the young girl is inviting a conversation on the topic. So, doors are opening.

One guy had a conversation with a neighbor. As soon as anything about church was mentioned, the neighbor clammed up. So, we kicked around ideas for helping jump start the conversation again.

One gal is moving toward getting into a crafting club to meet people to start conversations.

One guy noted that his neighbors, who have been separated on and off for years are back together. He is determined to strike up a conversation with them this week.

One gal, who was an a vowed atheist before accepting Jesus, has singled out a close friend who is still an atheist, to bodly reach out to.

Some points worth noting. Doing this together was incredibly encouraging. The people in the room are just like me - just people living life, working, eating, sleeping, having the same pressures I do. There was a "we're all in this thing together" feel in the room.

I left feeling like I could do this! I could persevere! These guys have my back!

I also found the accountability rewarding. To have people who know you and love you anyway holding you accountable feels a whole lot different than having it done by some impersonal "boss type." It was a lot of fun.

Finally, it was incredibly helpful. As we shared, others threw out ideas that might work, things that might be said to break through the barriers. And the real benefit was that these comments came often from people with backgrounds similar to those some of us were trying to reach. They had insights into how those people think and how they would respond that I did not.

In the end, I left more equipped for the task this week, feeling like I was part of something much bigger than me, and encouraged that I was not in this alone.

If you're not in a lifegroup, all I can tell you is that you are missing out big time.

I know it's possible that you are just growing and growing, and starting conversations with your unchurched neighbors, and leading people to Jesus all the time. But I know it's more likely that you aren't.

We're gonna be talking about what it means to be on Jesus' team on Sunday at McLean. Team certainly implies connecting. Why not check out the lifegroups, make the time, and be there.

Oh, and you can study up on Jesus' team in Matthew 10 if you want a leg up for Sunday.