FOUNDATIONS: 2 Making the Most of My Group Times

Dave had been a Christian for many years. He went to church, gave money, and even served in a ministry. But he was not growing spiritually or becoming the Christian man, husband, and father he wanted to be. In fact, being a Christian felt more like a dull duty than a delight.

Dave decided to do two things. First, he began to regularly spend time meditating on Scripture and praying. Secondly, Dave began meeting weekly with three other Christian men who became friends and who prayed and discussed the Bible with him. Both of these commitments were challenging at first. But they became some of the best times during Dave’s week. His life changed and living for Christ became more real and exciting. Dave experienced what God instructs us to do when He says:

Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives.

(Col 3:16)

You learn and live the truth best by investing time with God’s people.

Group times will help you grow

Colossians 3:16 reflects the repeated commandment in God’s word for Christians to “encourage each other and build each other up” (1 Thess 5:11; cf. 1 Thess 4:11; 5:14; Rom 12:8; 2 Cor 13:11; Heb 3:13). To “encourage” means to inspire with courage, strengthen in hope, and motivate to live for God. To “build each other up” is to help them grow. The Greek word used here refers elsewhere to physically building a house (cf. Matt 7:24, 26). It is used in the NT to mean building a person spiritually. All of these things are necessary and wonderful blessings that you desperately need if your Christian life is going to progress and be fruitful.

Where will your needed encouragement come from? Other Christians. And not just the Pastors, but other Christians in your life. God says you need other Christians to “teach,” “counsel,” “encourage,” and “build” you “up.” You cannot do these things by yourself. God created you so you would need other people in your life to grow. You need others to encourage change in your life. God knows how to change your life, and He says you cannot do it alone. This is why the Bible says: “I pray that you will be active in sharing what you believe. Then you will completely understand every good thing we have in Christ” (Plmn 1:6 NIrV).

Proverbs promises: “Spend time with the wise and you will become wise, but the friends of fools will suffer” (Prov 13:20 NCV). Whoever your best friends are, will greatly influence and affect your life. So choose wisely and make time to develop friendships that will help you.

Why does God want you to meet with other Christians to “teach,” “counsel,” “encourage,” and “build up” one another? One reason is this: sharing your life and God’s word with others encourages you to be HUMBLE. God says: “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (1 Pet 5:5-6 NIV). God’s grace not only forgives sinners, but also gives spiritual blessing and growth to His people (cf. Rom 1:7; 12:6). You need God’s grace to grow, and He only gives it to the humble.

How do you know if you are humble toward God? Look at your humility toward people. Do you see the connection in the verse above between having “humility toward one another” and being “humble . . . under God’s mighty hand”? A very important measure of your humility toward people is your willingness and commitment to gather with them, love them, be open with them, encourage them, and letting them encourage you.

It is proud people who try to live the Christian life alone. A commitment to humility will enable you to, “Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives” (Col 3:16). You learn and live the truth best by investing time with God’s people to meditate on, pray about, and live out the truth together.

This is why the Christian Essentials are designed to be used in fellowship with others. Husbands and wives can go through them together. Or a parent with their teen. However, many will study and discuss them in what we call a Barnabas Group.

Barnabas Groups and the FOUNDATIONS study

The term “Barnabas” refers to the early friend and mentor of the Apostle Paul (cf. Acts 9:26-27). He had a lot of influence in Paul’s life (cf. Acts 11:22-25), partnered with him on his first missionary journey (cf. Act 13:1-2). It was for good reason that “the apostles called [him] Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”)” (Acts 5:5). Having a Barnabas or two will be one of the greatest blessings in your life. And a Barnabas Group will help you get the most out of the Christian Essentials studies.

For the purposes of the FOUNDATIONS study, you will be asked to make an 8 week commitment to weekly readings, personal projects, Barnabas Group meetings, and a group project. The readings and personal projects will require 1-1.5 hours per week. It will be helpful if you notice the questions at the beginning of the chapters and mark the answers as you read along because these questions will be discussed in your Barnabas Group. The Barnabas Group will typically consist of 2-4 people of the same gender and will meet for about 90 minutes. So the total weekly time commitment will normally be about 2-3 hours per week.

The agenda of the Barnabas Group will follow the same “P.O.W.E.R. Plan that was discussed in the previous chapter for God Times. This agenda will lead you to Praise God, be Open about your struggles, discuss God’s Word, pray Entreaties for each other, and make Resolutions together.

Therefore, a consistent Barnabas Group will help you in many ways. First, there will be people praying for you and that is worth a lot! Also, preparing for and participating in your Barnabas Group discussion will help you really learn and apply what God is wanting to teach you. This is because your Christian friends will help you memorize, meditate on, and apply the Scriptures you are studying.

In addition, you will be asked join together to plan and accomplish a service project. Your Barnabas Group Project can be something that blesses someone in the church, a friend, or strangers. Your friendships will grow by serving together and this will be another way that you obey God’s word rather than just talking about it.

The Table of Contents for this study also serves as a checklist so you can track your completion of the readings, groups, and projects.

There is a great deal of commitment needed to have “the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives” and to “Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives” (Col 3:16). But you must slow down your life to change your life. Merely busy people never change. You learn and live the truth best by investing time with God’s people to meditate on, pray about, and live out the truth together. Are you willing to do this?

► Return to the beginning and answer the questions there.

► Review the “P.O.W.E.R. Plan” in Appendix B for your Barnabas Group.

► Recite 1 Peter 2:2 from memory.

► Memorize Colossians 3:16 in the translation above or another one.

► Complete Project 2.A on the next page before Barnabas Group this week.

► Complete Project 2.B by reading Appendix C.