Someone else asks “why do we take time to read the announcements?” and someone else wants to know “why didn’t I heard about ______?”

Some may think we are choosing favorites … and everyone thinks that “fair” is a biblical mandate! (NOT!)

How we connect to the people we want to get our message to is important to all of us, and it’s becoming harder and harder to break through all the noise and clutter in life.

Whatever you believe, we all know this; the way we communicate is changing, and it’s changing fast. This video shows how change is making it easier to reach a wider audience, but harder than ever to actually connect to it.

click here if the video does not appear above…

People interested in finding a LifeGroup pre-registered for the short get together held immediatly after the Sunday morning service.  Everyone was seated at tables and were asked to share answers to a couple simple ‘ice breaker” questions.

A simplified version of our vision and purpose for LifeGroups was shared with everyone and then people at each table “voted” for what the best day of the week worked for each of them.  If you were not available that day you could move to another table.

After a few minutes of negotiations we had three new groups ready to meet, a host location agreed upon, and 30 new people excited to step into the small group world.

Training will be held for the hosts and facilitators later this week.

Many of these people were people who had tried to connect with another group unsuccessfully prior to this.  For what ever reason, it appears that starting new groups may be a far more productive way of getting people into the small group setting than other methods.  Once a group has started and is healthly growing, it does not seem to want to divide.  And if it’s growing it is also soon too big for new people.

What do you think?

I keep hearing people talk about kids and their video games like it’s some kind of plague.  But in my opinion, the games kids (and many adults too) are playing are much more than simple distractions.  They are much more social than you would think.

And a new study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project proves it.  Game playing is a social activity.  Only 11% of teens that play video games play them alone.

Video games are just a different type of game than you grew up playing.  Their forts are no longer made of cardboard boxes (Second Life) and are now connected to other players over distances you would have never taken you kids on a play date for.  And some of today’s video games have the ability to teach valuable skills; communications, graphics arts, economics, business administration, etc.

Sure, some games may be too graphic or violent, and you should make sure your kids are playing age appropriate games, but that’s no different than it was when you were a kid either.  Don’t you think a game of house ever went too far in your neighborhood?

[Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked]

We’ll have LifeGroups meeting in homes and special events through the series in support of marriages.

My wife and I got to see the movie in advance a couple weeks ago.  I have to say, it was very well done and should inspire more churches to reach higher.

I believe that one of the greatest threats to being successful (in whatever you are doing, or trying to do) is not a lack of knowledge, but a lack of doing. This applies as much to getting small groups going as anything else.

Think about all of the books you have read, the classes you have taken, and the Bible you have studied. Consider every lesson you have learned up to date. Now ask yourself – how often do you actually do what you know is best?

• You know you should exercise, but do you?
• You know you should get more sleep, but do you get to bed earlier?
• You’ve heard the principal of compounded interest, but do you consistently put money in savings?
• You know what the Bible says, but do you always obey it?

So how does one learn to “just do it?” Several tips that might help are:

1. Cut
   If you find that you are having trouble doing something new, look for things that might be getting in the way. Cut out stumbling blocks, unnecessary activities, and distractions that keep you from focusing on what you need to do.
2. Narrow Your Focus
   If pruning is not enough, narrow your focus so you concentrate more on the most important thing that you need to learn to do.
3. Commit
   Plain and simple – you need to commit, stay focused, and just do it.  There may be times when no one comes, but if you keep changing the schedule or canceling meetings because you think no one will come, then no one can.
4. Make it Reflex
   Do not stop focusing until you begin to do by reflex. Once it becomes habit, you can switch your focus onto the next thing. However, always be mindful, and refocus if you begin to slip out of habit.

If you believe that small group were important enough to start, then they’re important enough to keep doing.  Sometimes the only difference between success and failure is “just doing it” enough to let it happen.