Parents expect their children to grow. As heartwrenching as it might be to see our kids grow so fast, we want to see them grow. We want to see them develop in a variety of ways. We want them to get taller, stronger, and more intelligent as they age. We also want our children to demonstrate social aptitude and spiritual maturity. If a child struggles with deficiencies in any of these areas, parents are usually concerned and will invest whatever it takes to get their child back on track. However, I do wonder at times if parents are as worried about their children’s spiritual development as much as their physical development. It ought not to be this way. Spiritual growth should take precedence over just about any other area in our lives.
I wonder what God thinks about our growth. Do you think He watches to see what we will choose to work on in our lives? As we spend time, money, resources, and brain power to better our physical lives, do you ever wonder if God is waiting patiently to see if we will take any concern over our spiritual growth? I would say He does.
At NHCOC, during our LIFEGroup meetings (1st and 3rd Sunday evenings), we will ask all our members to focus on growing spiritually in various ways. We will challenge you to spend more time reading specific passages of Scripture that will encourage growth in your spiritual lives. Just as much as you might work hard to develop and grow your bank account, physical fitness, intellect, or social life, we are challenging you to work hard to grow spiritually.
The first step in accepting this challenge is to sign up for a LIFEGroup. There are several locations and leaders from which to choose, and even one that will be hosted at the building.
Sign up here by following this link on our website.
This link is under our “I’m a member” section of our website and is password protected. I will send out the password for this, in the daily bread email which goes out to only our members.
Here, you will find a brief form to fill out, including the names of all those in your household who will be committed to attending a LIFEGroup. Here, you will indicate your first, second, and third choices for which LIFEGroup you want to attend. We will accommodate everyone the very best we can. On this page, you will also find the first area of growth listed with the scripture reading assigned with the corresponding discussion questions. The first reading assignment will be the book of Philippians (only four chapters and probably will take you only 15 minutes to read), which will encourage us to grow in positivity.
We also ask all parents to include their children in this spiritual growth. We want the whole family to dedicate themselves to spiritual growth over the next several months. This means that you should read the bible and review the discussion questions together for each pericope of Scripture assigned from the lesson in preparation for each LIFEGroup meeting. When it’s time for your LIFEGroup to meet, please bring your children, no matter their age, including teenagers, with you to the LIFEGroup meeting. We understand that not all children can quietly sit as discussions occur in a LIFEGroup. We are good with that and want them to come anyway, as the leaders and host will be prepared for children to be present. You might be surprised to see how some children want to participate, sometimes even more eagerly than adults.
We are convinced that if individual Christians are committed to growing spiritually, it will result in a church that will also experience significant spiritual growth. As you grow, WE GROW! History tells us that churches also experience significant numerical growth when this happens. This means that souls will be saved through these efforts. Are you ready to grow? We hope so.
If you have any questions, let me know. You can call or text me anytime, and I will gladly help you.
I love you, church family.
Alex Mills
(501) 314-9457