"The church, then, is not something additional or optional. It is at the very heart of God's purposes. Jesus came to create a people who would model what it means to live under his rule... This is where the world can see what it means to be truly human."
Total Church, page 50
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Upcoming Events
Monthly Kinship-Wide Meeting
November 1, 5:30pm
Life Group Leader Training Session
November 2, 7:30pm
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"... in the Christian community we belong to one another, and so we are responsible for one another and make decisions together."
Total Church, page 46
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"We find it easier to be radical in our thinking when we transplant ourselves outside our current situation. But we are as much missionaries here and now as we would be if we were part of a cross-cultural team in another part of the world. Mission is central to us wherever we are."
Total Church, page 33
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"We are to reflect God's grace to us in the way we treat the marginalized. We are not to give high priority to our rich neighbors. Our focus is to be on the poor and needy."
Total Church, page 73
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Hailey Ness
Hailey Ness has joined the LCF volunteer staff as the ministry assistant to David Kaufmann, the life group and missions pastor. She will be assisting David with communication, administration, maintaining the life group database, and research.
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Dear Life Group Leaders, Apprentice Leaders, and Coaches,
The Life Group Ministry team at LCF will now be sending out monthly newsletters to help you as you lead your life group! Newsletters will contain reminders about upcoming events, training articles, and more. Please take time each month to read through the newsletter. We hope that it serves to help you lead your life group even more effectively! Thank you!
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Feature Story: Meet Todd Jacobs!
Each month in our newsletter, we will be giving you the opportunity to learn more about one or two of our life group leaders here at LCF!
About Todd: Todd was born in Spokane, WA and grew up in Vancouver, WA. He was the oldest of three kids. He met his wife Emily in high school and they were married in 1991. They have two children, Haley (born in 1993) and Cody (born in 1996), and an Apricot Toy Poodle named Jake. Todd and Emily moved to Nashville in 1994 to pursue a career in music, and started following Jesus in 1996. Todd is an introspective, serious, and compassionate person who also enjoys being out of the ordinary. He is currently employed at Emdeon, a healthcare claims payment and revenue cycle management company, as a Business and Quality Assurance Analyst. He enjoys camping, hiking, racquetball, concerts, and playing and writing music. He and his family enjoy camping together, getting pizza or sushi, watching movies together, and occasionally playing board or card games. Todd began leading his life group a couple months ago.
What He Enjoys About Leading a Life Group: "I specifically enjoy guiding the discussion in a way that keeps everyone engaged. I like to be able to point out to people how I see the scriptures being lived out in their lives and then see them realize the same thing! I also like to see God reveal truths to new believers through his word!"
Encouragement for Other Life Group Leaders: "I encourage all Life Group leaders to be real (with no pretense or images to maintain), to foster an environment where ANYONE (believers, unbelievers, sane, insane, clean, dirty, etc.) is welcome, to encourage your Life Group members to engage and invite people to your Life Group that aren't exactly like you, and to be an example of how to reach out to those people. If we are willing to do that, lives will be changed...ours and theirs."
Favorite Scripture: "My two favorite scriptures passages are Jeremiah 29:11 and Philippians 4:6,7. The Jeremiah passage because I seem to always need the reminder that God's plans include a future to hope for as well as for him to be glorified. The Philippians passage because I've struggled with fear and being overwhelmed for most of my life. When I begin to fear I remind myself of the prescription for peace...pray with gratitude!"
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Vision
 Vision: We believe that God's vision for the life group ministry here at LCF is to spread the gospel in the greater Nashville area.
Strategy: In order to see this vision become reality, life groups must reach out to their surrounding communities. As a result of reaching out, life groups will grow and multiply. Our goal is to go from the current total of 21 life groups to a total of 40 life groups in 2010. Action Steps: How will your group help make this vision a reality? You need a plan! To develop your group's plan: - Each life group leader should discuss the vision and strategy with
their life group members and decide on specific action steps they will
take as a group to accomplish the goal.
- Then, each member of the group should plan specific action steps for himself or herself to help the group accomplish the goal.
Some examples of action steps are hosting a neighborhood block party, inviting people in your neighborhood to a men's or women's movie or game night, having dinner with your neighbors, etc.
Don't forget to make this discussion a priority in your life group meeting! |
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Reality: Genuine Life in an Artificial World
 As you know, our fall/winter sermon series is on the book of Colossians, focusing on genuine life in an artificial world. In order to keep each of the life groups on the same page with the rest of the church, we have asked that all life group leaders discuss the sermon each week in their meetings. We have created a Leaders' Study Guide, which contains study questions and possible answers for your discussion each week. Even if your life group is currently doing a different study, please take some time to discuss the sermon in your weekly meetings. Thank you! Please reply to this email if you do not have a copy of the Leaders' Study Guide and we will get you one as soon as possible. |
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Leader Training: Total Church Video-- Please watch!
 For our current leadership training, the life group leaders, apprentice leaders, and coaches are reading the book Total Church. We will be discussing the first 7 chapters of this book at our upcoming training session on November 2. In addition to reading the book, over the next few months we would also like for all the leaders, apprentices, and coaches to watch three video sessions on the book. The sessions are taught by one of the authors. For this month, please watch Total Church Training-- Session 1. These videos should serve to reinforce and enhance what you are learning in the book. |
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Apprentice Leaders
 Life groups are meant to multiply. In order to reach upward, inward, and outward meaningfully and effectively, groups must multiply when they become large. To prepare for this multiplication, the leader of each life group should constantly be looking out for new apprentice leaders. As the group grows, the apprentice leader is trained in leadership and given some opportunities to lead. When the group is ready to multiply, the apprentice leader is then ready to lead the new life group. Please keep in mind that as a life group leader, you should be looking for a potential apprentice leader. Remember that you're not necessarily looking for someone who can lead a group tomorrow, but rather a humble, teachable person who has the potential to be a great group leader in the future. You will be receiving more information on how to choose and train your apprentice leaders soon! In the meantime, please carefully and prayerfully consider who your apprentice leader could be.
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Mark your calendars: Training Session Nov. 2
 What: Important training session on life group leadership. Will include a discussion on the book Total Church, chapters 1 - 7. Please prepare for this meeting by reading these chapters.
Who: ALL life group leaders, apprentice leaders, and coaches
When: Monday, November 2, 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm (This is after a deacon's meeting.)
Where: Library at Lighthouse |
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Life Group Database
 We are currently working on creating an up-to-date database on all our life groups. This will help us keep track of each life group's growth (looking towards multiplication), determine how many people from our fellowship are currently part of a life group, and connect new people with a group. Most of you have given us an update on your life group recently. In the next day or two, you should all be receiving an email containing a copy of your life group's information. Please watch for this email and take the time to double-check your group's information to make our database as accurate as possible. Thank you!
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Thank you for reading! We want you to know that we really appreciate all that you do to lead your life group! Please let us know if there is anything else we can do to help.
Sincerely,
Hailey Ness
Life Group Ministry Assistant
Lighthouse Christian Fellowship |
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