LIFE GROUPS

We believe that Life Groups are one of the best settings for cultivating friendships and fulfilling our vision of belonging. 

We can lean into discipleship by choosing to belong to our church family and as we take responsibility to grow. One way to lean into belonging is to connect in groups. Jesus connected in different sized groups: the crowd, the 72 he sent out (Luke 10), the 12 disciples, and his three closest disciples (Peter, James, and John).

At Macquarie we encourage everyone to connect in different sized groups. There is the big crowd during our Sunday Services, but we also encourage both large and small groups for you to connect in. The smaller groups include:

LIfe GROUPS

These groups ideally have three to twelve people who connect, grow in faith together, pray for one another. They include social/sporting interest groups.

EQUIPPING GROUPS

This style of group is designed to equip the members in a specific area. They include course material that will teach and enable you to move forward. They run for a set number of weeks only and will be advertised on a Sunday and on the church website.


Some more about Life Groups ….

Life Groups provide an opportunity in a small group setting of three to twelve people, to fulfil our vision of “Look Up; Lean In; Reach Out”. Just as God created us each uniquely with a specific purpose and spiritual gifts, so too each Life Group fulfils this vision in a unique way, including each aspect of the vision, but often emphasising one component.

Some Life Groups focus primarily on Look Up. For example, doing in-depth Bible studies; undertaking online courses relating to areas of Christian Living (eg prayer; relationships); facilitating discusssion on the Sunday sermon and how to apply the teaching. Fellowship happens in these Life Groups too, but it is mainly centred around growing in your understanding of Christianity.

For other Life Groups the main emphasis is on building strong supporting relationships, encouraging one another to grow in faith and commiting to pray for one another. Often people in the group share the ways they are personally growing in their walk with Jesus (eg Devotions; Podcasts; Books).

Other Life Groups focus on gathering people who don’t yet know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour - the Reach Out. These groups are about connecting and developing relationships. They are often centred around an activity such as cycling; golf; tennis and creative hobbies. There are no intentional Christian study/discussion activities in these groups, however aspects of Christian living (eg Church & prayer) may naturally come up in the conversation.

In all these Life Group ‘flavours’ the vision of “Look Up; Lean In; Reach Out” are worked out in different ways, always with the underlying mission of helping people move “Toward Christ,” no matter where their starting place is.