Family Groups

BE WHO YOU ARE, WHERE YOU ARE, TOGETHER IN COMMUNITY

What Is a Family Group?

Family groups are the heart of Refuge Church. They are the main vehicle for discipleship, care, and mission as well as the best way to be involved in the life of Refuge Church.

Family Groups are simply broken people (about 10-15) who have experienced God’s outrageous grace, living life together in order to grow in the gospel (discipleship), care for one another’s needs (pastoral care), both spiritually and physically, and reach each others neighbors, co-workers, friends, family, classmates, etc. with the gospel of Jesus Christ (mission).

We believe that all of these (discipleship, pastoral care, and mission) are best lived out in the context of a family journeying through the brokenness and beauty of life hand-in-hand.

In short, Family Groups are the context in which we as the church live out our identities as worshipers, family, servants, disciples, and witnesses in everyday life in our particular neighborhood/s.

When You Think Community, Think Presence

Ultimately the greatest need people have is for us to be present to God and present to people. Is there a greater act of love and kindness than cultivating a healthy soul by being present with God and bringing your transformed and transforming presence to another? For, seeing Jesus makes us like him and the more pronounced his presence is in our lives, the more others will experience Jesus in our presence.

Being present to God and present to others is what people need, what people remember, and the opportunity we all have before us. We don’t remember what someone said to us years ago, or even last week, but we remember that they were there! We remember and cherish the fact that they were there when we were broken in a million pieces on the ground, they were there when we lost our job, they were there to celebrate our first born, they were there when we needed someone to listen, they were there! This is what community is all about, presence with God and presence with others.

We are not meant to go at life alone. We were created for more. God created us to live life with others and he has made this possible through the saving and unifying work of Jesus Christ. In Jesus, we are now family.

What a joy and privilege it is for us to go through the hardness of life with God and with others as we learn how to live our new lives in Christ!

Why Have Family Groups?

We are passionate about Family Groups for six biblical reasons:

1. We are created for community. As people made in God’s image, we are made for relationships—with God and others. We were created to live life together. (Genesis 2)

2. We show off the beauty, power, and saving grace of God in community. Community is one of the most palpable expressions of the saving power and unifying power of the gospel to an onlooking world. (Ephesians 2:7, 11-22)

3. We are restored to live life in community. Sin distorts and destroys community and leads to isolation from God and others (Gen. 3:7-13). Our Relationships are full of brokenness , conflict, division, and chaos. However, as people saved by grace, we are made new and restored to live life as it was meant to be lived, together as part of the family of God. Community is a blood bought gift of God’s grace and Jesus gives us the ability to experience life as God intended, in real community with Him and one another. (1 Peter 2:9-12; Acts 2:38-47)

4. We are cared for in community. As people cared for and comforted by our heavenly Father, we are compelled to love others in the same manner. Community is best context to live out the “one another” commands of the New Testament. How could we love one another…serve one another…be patient with one another…” without being deeply invested in ones another’s lives? (Ephesians 5:1)

5. We are transformed in community. As people who are on a journey of change, we are transformed by the grace of God through caring relationships found in community. (James 5:16)

6. We are released on mission into the world in community. As people who have received the redeeming love of Christ, we show our love of God through sharing the good news and doing good deeds so that others may praise Him. (Ephesians 2:10; 1 Thess. 2:8)

What To Expect?

Family Groups normally consist of 10-15 people (yes, kids are most definitely welcome). They will meet one night a week or on the weekend. To be clear community groups are not merely a bible study or a once a week small group. Though they do include these elements, community groups are all about life-on-life.