What are Community Groups? The Vision of our Community Groups is simple: We want to live grow in deeper love for Jesus, living in authentic Christian community, mutually discipling one another, and living on mission together in our neighborhoods and reproducting throughout the Jersey Shore.
1) Community
We seek to live in intentional community with one another. In the book of Acts, we see the early church gathering regularly to worship, to learn about the Gospel, to share meals with one another, and to pray with one another (Acts 2:42). We also see them taking care of each other's needs as they arose (Acts 2:44-45). It is in this level of community that hope can take place within our Community Groups.
2) Discipleship
When we become Christians at the moment of salvation, Jesus is not done with us. He desires to purge out of us all the idols within our hearts, and any roots of sin that have grown deep within us (Galatians 2:20, Colossians 3:1-25). Within our Community Groups, we strive to grow to be like Jesus, with love calling each other to repentance, and rejoicing when sin is defeated in our lives. Our hope is that we can all be further conformed to be image of Jesus as we live out the implications of the Gospel together in community. We should be spurring one another on to grow in our love for Jesus.
3) Mission
We live in a mission field. Most of us live in close proximity to others, and a majority of our neighbors do not know Jesus, or only attend church a few times a year. Not only do many of them not know the Gospel, but also many have never even heard it before. The last words of Jesus on this earth were very clear: "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). We pray that each of our Community Groups can, together, reach their neighborhoods and city with the Gospel and expand so that we can see many Gospel Centered churches up and down the Jersey Shore.
Getting involved: It is easy to get involved, and there are many ways to get involved in a community group. If you are reading through this website and have any questions about how to get plugged in, email one of our pastors. Or you can come up and grab one of us on Sunday morning, call the office, or email one of the group leaders on the community group page. We would love to help you get involved in a group where you can experience the life of the church in community with other Christians.
And OF COURSE as with everything we do, kids are welcome. We offer a safe environment for kids to connect with other friends and learn about Jesus and be just as much a part of the group as anyone else- like it should be.