Green Way Group

Last Saturday was the Green Way fun nite! We got together at Fish Lake for some food and fun! Scott had his boat out on the lake and gave rides on the innertube. A couple fellows were quite sore in the next few days from hanging on so tight, determined not to be thrown off the tube! We also had a guest family that brought their boat and tube as well.
We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and ate under a big pavillion. We spent time down at the lake swimming too. After supper, there was a big game of volleyball on the beach!
We all had a lot of fun just spending time playing and visiting together. It was a beautiful evening, although we did have a short rain, which ended with a gorgeous rainbow! Thank you God, for the reminder of Your promise! What a sight to behold!
We wrapped up the evening with a campfire until we were urged out by the park ranger right at closing time.:-)
See you all next Saturday at the Gathering at Mattson Park!
-Laura

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Okay, so it’s already Tuesday, I waited too long to update the blog and now I’m drawing blanks…

Let me think. Yes, last Saturday we met at Scott & Tammie’s again, that much I am sure of. We arrived to find Mikey putting his lego creation back together after it apparently had come apart when he was trying to show it to Mark. We greeted and visited while Tammie prepared food and I tried to keep Isaac from snatching Mikey’s legos. I don’t even know what happened to David and Scott, as I remember, I think they disappeared for a while? Hmmm. (sorry guys, seriously, absentmindedness is a symptom of pregnancy, I can’t help it:-)

People arrived and we had a short, before-church meeting and prayer on the deck in the beautiful sunshine! Which, as we will find out later, did not last… And then came one of our favorite parts of the evening, well- mine, and I’m pretty sure most others, though I can’t speak for them for sure- food! Our meal included Maki’s homemade wontons, and an awesome salad by Tammie! Oh, and yes! of course! TWO birthday cakes! Happy birthdays to Brian, Josh and Michelle! How could I forget that?! We sang “Happy Birthday” to them, it was fun.

Worship began by our Josh on the guitar of course- rock on man! And… Isaac on the drum. (Daddy David forgot his, but not little Isaac! He was ready to roll!) After we sang the first worship song, which, not surprisingly, I can’t remember what it was; Scott had a great word about it, which- you guessed it, I can’t remember what it was! arg! (Scott- are you sure you want me to keep doing this blog?:-) (I think I need to start taking notes during church, the experience is really being lost in my hands…)

Okay, announcements came next: next week- FUN NIGHT! yeah! Then we shared how God has been moving in our lives over the past week. We watched the next section of movie clip from the “Book Of John” and then broke off into our study groups. We looked at John chapter 2- Jesus’ first miracle- turning water into wine. David, Muriel and I formed a group. We asked the question, “Why, after Jesus said in verse 4: “Woman, what does your concern have to do with me? Mine hour is not yet come.” did Jesus still go on the perform the miracle?” The answer we came to was because of the faith his mother had in Him, and also so that his dicples would believe in Him, as stated in verse 11. Jesus was just beginning to develop a relationship with His new dicples. This brings us back to our findings from last week- that the purpose for the writing of the book of John is so that we might believe! (John 20:31) And yet, though He did all these amazing miracles when He was here on earth, He still “did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men. And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.” John 2:24-25 This is God- He knows what’s in our hearts.

We came back together as a large group to share our findings- but that was accomplished slowly because of the impending storm! The sky had turned a wicked green and huge, dark, thick, rolling clouds were moving toward us! And here were all of us, out standing on the deck watching funnel clouds form above our heads! Um, everyone kept standing there staring up at this amazing happening, as it moved closer and got stronger and more threatening, and um, everyone kept standing outside watching, um…

Well, the sirens never did come on- surprisingly, and everyone did come back inside- eventually, just as it started to pour down rain and the wind starting whipping like crazy! Poor Tammie was so worried about her trees! The Lord let them stand.:-) And we got to see beautiful pink skies peak through at the end.

Back to our discussion- Another group had gotten into a conversation about whether or not the wine Jesus had made was fermented wine or not? It became a somewhat interesting debate, but we came back to the real purpose of the story- that we might believe.  How could we not?! How else could we explain those amazing storm clouds? or that Spirit that we know lives within us, guiding us and keeping us at every moment of each new day? What an awesome God!

Well, wisely, the men did not end up in the pool this time… infact, I don’t recall that they did anything all that strange at all this night?…. huh, how strange…We shall see what happens at the lake next Saturday!

-Laura

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Our last meeting was just as interesting as usual. When we arrived at Scott & Tammie’s house, we were presented with eleven-year-old, Mikey’s, lego creation- quite impressive, he’d been working on it all week! Oh, and not to mention, as usual, we were also greeted by Molly, the golden retriever- the highlight for our toddler, Isaac.

As everyone arrived, we enjoyed visiting and snitching from the selection of foods brought together, including Tammie’s yummy homemade salsa! We caught up and joked around and eventually moved into worship lead by Joshua on guitar and David on his drum. A talented couple of young men with great hearts!

Announcements were announced with a wonderful intro from Josh on guitar.:-) Then shared were testimonies about people’s weeks and how God had presented Himself and blessed them.  Can’t really give any details cause I had to go change a diaper and missed a lot of what was said. Our blog may always be a bit spotty for reasons such as these! This is real life.

We decided at our last meeting that we were going to get back into studying the book of John. We began in chapter one- a logical place to start. Scott presented us with a clip from the movie “The Book of John” that covered chapter one. It was quite interesting and helped give us a good picture of what really took place when John the Baptist was doing his thing.

We broke off into smaller groups to maximize our studying potential. I ended up with three other ladies. We went down into the basement and sat on the comfy couches while the little one played. We took the first chapter and answered the “five W’s” about it: What is the chapter about? Our answer- John prophesying the Messiah; Who are the main characters? John and Jesus, later joined by the priests, levites, and then the first disciples; When does this event take place? Around 80AD according to Alyson’s introduction to the book of John; Where did this happen? In Ephesus (a city in today’s Turkey); and Why is this being done or said? To lay the foundation for what is to come, and to teach us who Jesus is so that we may believe. Shenae also made a connection with John 20:30-31, key verses in the book of John. The whole reason the book was written was so that we might believe!

All the groups then came back together in the living room to share our findings and insights. I missed most of it again because I was slightly distracted by Isaac’s business, as well as my unborn son kicking around trying to expand his uterine fortress. I caught something about baptism and then Zacharias?… (someone else who was there, feel free to fill in…)

We broke off once again into our prayer groups- guys went outside and girls relaxed inside, and shared our ministry and prayer needs. By the time we were finishing we were made aware of a commotion outside- men yelling and laughing quite loudly! Upon investigating, we found our men in the pool having chicken fights, fully clothed!…. As I said before, there is no lack of entertainment with a group of goofy husbands together! J What’ll they end up doing next week?….

~Laura

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Last Saturday night we got together at Scott & Tammie’s house. The evening started off as it always does: we greet and visit as people arrive. The men were swapping fishing stories and the women, well, we chat too about the stuff women usually chat about, but usually get caught up listening to the guys’ conversations and laughing at… I mean, with them.  They are really funny to listen to! Who really needs entertainment when you’ve got a few husbands together to observe?!

Anyway, so what might any of that have to do with church you ask? My answer: everything! This is church, we are the church, and this is how we live it out! We are real with each other, we share the serious and not so serious things, we learn and grow with each other, we’re accountable to each other, we listen, we pray, we screw up and succeed, we worship  and fellowship together as Jesus Christ walks with us in that house, laughing and encouraging right alongside us!

We stuffed our faces with burgers,  hotdogs and chips, “drinkable” brownies and Live Wire Mt. Dew. That’s how our prelude rolls! Then Scott turned up the worship dvd and we all come together and stand in prayer and praise to our Great King! Even one-and-a-half year-old Isaac shouts out his “yeahs!” and “amens.”

“Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3-4

Tammie did a short lesson with the kids and then we began our new study for the month.  We are learning “How to Study the Bible” and looking at Luke. Interestingly enough, we had a few new people join our group last night, (we love new people!) and one of them happen to have written a book about how to study the Bible….hmmm…coincidence? I think not. I love how God does that! Why are we ever surprised by His blessings?:-) We have a great God!

We used the “five W’s” to help us understand the text: Who? Where? What? When? Why? …Oh, and How? We also looked at some of the other tools: Vine’s Dictionary, The Harmony of the Gospels and others. We discussed the characters mentioned in the first 38 verses of Luke: Zacharias and Elizabeth in Judea, both from priestly lines; the angel of the Lord, then Mary and Gabriel in Galilee. We found out what it was that was happening, approximate timelines, and the reason for the information. It went very well and I think we all learned a lot. I know I did, especially since I was actually able to sit (okay well, except when Isaac decided he need some “chip”) and listen in the whole time. Usually I’m chasing him around the house all evening… kids are great!

After the great lesson, we split into two groups: guys and girls, for ministry/prayer time.  The guys headed out to the trampoline and us ladies got comfortable in the living room. When we were through praying, we wrapped up the evening by watching our grown men play games on the trampoline.  (thank God for chiropractors and insurance) Real church? You bet!

~Laura

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So much has happened in our house church since I last blogged! We have experienced tremendous growth both personally and in numbers – so much so that in January we will be branching out and forming a new house church group! That is very exciting to us as it is evident to us that this is Gods hand moving the hearts of His church! We are seeing so much fruit coming through the relationships we have grown with one another since we ventured into this “Journey”!

Currently we are in the middle of a study in Spiritual Warfare and how we are to use our weapons that God gave us! We are recognizing strongholds that we may have in our lives and learning how to give it up to Jesus. This Saturday we meet at Scott and Tammie’s house again for a last lesson in Spiritual Warfare before we meet for our Large Group gathering on the 28th at Lake side Church in Cambridge where we will kick off our new study in Grace!

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The draw for most of us in stepping into this new venture of home churches was to see if we could experience the Church the way Jesus intended it!  We wanted to develop closer relationships with others in Christ’s body and really have a chance to walk through life along side one another.   Last weekend I felt the interaction of our group impressed upon me a deeper connection as we talked through the scriptures for the topic The Mission of Those Born of God.  

The discussion went into our ending time so we concluded our study with personal ministry prayers.  We then extended the evening with an outdoor fire for those who chose to stay and continue discussion.   We sat around the fire as we shared some of our life experiences while the kids roasted marshmallows between us on the beautiful late summer evening.  It was humbling to sit beneath the wide open sky lit by it’s stars.  Suddenly, our problems didn’t seem so big anymore.  I took a moment of thought and wondered how many times Jesus must have sat around a fire with his deciples after wrapping up a day of ministry and teachings just as we were doing.  I realized then, that this was what Church was all about!

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Sondra then gathered the kids for a special teaching time as the rest of us sat down for a discussion on this month’s topic of Spiritual Birth: Adopted, or Just “Saved”? We asked the question How do people qualify with God? In Job 25:4 we read How then can a man be righteous before God? How can one born of woman be pure? I think hearing that scripture was difficult for us to hear. How can we of human nature who is easily swayed by sin in this fallen world come into the presence of a perfect God? We looked into Davids hopeful words in the Old Testament in 2 Samuel 22:4 which said I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. These words showed Gods continued mercy and love for us even before Jesus opened His Kingdom to us. Before Jesus came and walked this Earth; people did not have the gift of Gods Holy Spirit to walk with but God’s desire was for us to walk closer to Him as our Father in His Kingdom! Jesus stated in Matthew 11:11 I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. What that was saying was that John was a greatest man to live on this earth before Jesus but those of us now who are born again of Gods Holy Spirit will be even greater then John because of the Holy Spirit who lives within us! We are closer to God then anyone ever was in the days before Jesus saved us! That was comforting to think about but then why we wonder, is this life so hard at times? Jesus warned us that our days would be turbulent and our battles are not always of this world! but to take heart because as He said in Matthew 24:13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

God’s words gave us understanding and hope and it felt so good to study His book in such an intimate setting with His people who all have different gifting to use together in the body!

We completed our discussion and moved on to personal ministry and prayer time before we departed for the evening.

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We began our evening sharing our week’s worth of victories and set backs and all the in -betweens before we gathered to worship our King. The words in the music of ‘Trading our Sorrows” seemed to melt away the world and all it’s turmoil and soften our hearts in preperation of the evening studies.

We focused on the first core value of our church which is Everybody is worth dying for. We went into the Bible verse which supports this in John 3:16 which says God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that who so ever believes in Him shall not parish but have ever lasting life. 
What does this mean for us? We discussed this deeper and realized that Jesus’ answer was clearly “yes”! What does that say for us and how we live our lives? What sort of value does our lives have to the eyes of Christ who knows what sins our hearts carry! It holds our lives accountable to eachother and to Christ who choose to lay down his life so that we could have life as God intended it! In Matthew 10:38-39 it says And who ever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

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