Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the Living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. – Hebrews 3:12-14
There are many ways to honor this admonition and every Christian person is responsible to take this to heart on their own. But as a class of fifty or so people, Small Groups are our way of helping encourage and facilitate the kind of care-taking and faithfulness-exhorting that every Christian needs but that can be difficult to foster when our gatherings are only as a large group.
Our Small Group ministry has a relatively simple format. Every week our Small Groups meet after Dr. Wellum’s teaching for about 20 minutes to discuss the Scriptures and pray with one another for matters of gospel concern, both personal and global. In addition to this weekly interaction, our small groups meet once per month throughout the community, giving us a chance to show one another Christian hospitality in the intimate settings of our own homes. Small groups also help us ensure a hospitable visit for our guests and a natural point of entry into the life of our class should they decide to stay. For five of our families, the Small Group format provides an opportunity to pray for and watch over several families in a more focused and intentional fashion as Small Group Leaders.
Following are a list of our five Small Groups with small group leader contact information:
The Mathis’ Small Group
Leaders: Wade and Rebecca Mathis
Contact: wadeandrebecca[at]gmail[dot]com
The Patterson’s Small Group
Leaders: Robert and Jennifer Patterson
Contact: 502.810.4430 or robert[at]robertpatterson[dot]us
The Perz’s Small Group
Leaders: Ryan and Emily Perz
Contact: 502.381.5420 or trperz[at]gmail[dot]com
The Ryan’s Small Group
Leaders: Scott and Chrisina Ryan
Contact: 937.681.9710 or scott[dot]ryan77[at]gmail[dot]com