Hello, I'm a Life Group!

Recently I was on vacation in the Bay Area with my family, which presented me with a unique opportunity. See, while the Golden Gate Bridge and Monterey Bay Aquarium are definitely remarkable and worth seeing, I march to a different beat

You may already be aware of my somewhat fanatical love for a certain company named Apple? Well, their headquarters are not far from San Francisco, and they have a store on campus that sells t-shirts, hats, etc. Needless to say, I felt compelled to make a pilgrimage to 'The Mother Ship' (they even have shirts that call it that!).

I browsed the mousepads, mugs, pens, etc. until I found an item that I felt was just right for me: a shirt that says 'Hello, I'm a Mac!' It's pictured here:


Unfortunately, on my return home, I discovered that I had grabbed the wrong size shirt! As these items are not available in any other Apple Store on the planet, I called the 'Company Store' as they call it, and inquired about sending my shirt in for exchange. The associate on the phone said it was no problem, and this morning I found my new shirt in a box outside my house.

I was so excited, I opened the box, ironed the wrinkles out of my precious garment, and put it on immediately. I'm sporting it even as I type these words...

My point? Apple's customer service and product quality is highly regarded in the business community and they have developed a unique culture of loyal users and consumers in the computing world. They are so good at this, in fact, that I couldn't wait another minute to put my t-shirt on! In addition, the prospect of owning a shirt that expresses my excitement for Apple and their products was enough to warrant an extra stop during our family vacation.

In the 1980's, Ford Motor Company ran an ad campaign with the slogan, "Quality is Job 1". I think Apple could say, "Service is Job 1". As a Pastor of groups first and media second, I believe it's safe to say our slogan for Life Groups could be "Caring is Job 1"!

But the real question is: do we care? Are we showing Christ's love to those in our groups and around us? Are we developing a culture that causes people to stop and ask, "How can I help this person right now?", "Can I pray for you?", or, "Is my comfort more important than this person's need?"

I'd like to think so, but it's a question worth asking again and again. Do we care? Do we truly, passionately, wholeheartedly care in ways that make a tangible, practical and relational difference?

If we created a t-shirt that said, "Hello, I'm a Life Group!", would others be so excited about what Christ is doing through this ministry that their vacation plans were changed, their boxes ripped open and the shirts put on without hesitation? I hope so...

Bright Ideas: 10 Commandments

I met briefly with a Life Group Leader today who shared with me that he's feeling led to have his group study the 10 Commandments. I told him I thought this was a great idea!

While we emphasize following the Sunday sermon series in our groups, I've always granted leaders freedom to select something unique for their flock if they felt the need. This frees leaders up and allows for variety that is absolutely necessary to keep group life fresh.

As we prepare to launch the Fall session, what are you planning to study with your group? Will you use our Group Guide, following the sermon series, study a book of the Bible or possibly select a video series to do?

Speaking of video series, the conversation I had with that leader reminded me of a very cool video I came across about the 10 Commandments:

The Ten Commandments - motion (kinetic) typography from Vit Ryznar on Vimeo.