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Care Groups
Care Groups are just as much ‘church’ as meeting for worship on a Sunday! They enable
us to do things that are harder in a bigger group – like get to know a few people
really well, be accountable and pray together, and grow deep relationships of trust
and laughter. Care Groups have been going at St Matthew’s for 6 years, based on
the key passage about the early church: Acts 2:41-
Care groups enable us to:
…remember God cares for us
…care about our faith
…care for one another
…care for our world
The Vision
All involved
Becoming disciples
Creating community
Doing mission
Encountering God
The Values
We use the 4 Ws to structure our meetings, and make sure we have a balance each week.
WELCOME: 10-
This might be an icebreaker question or a game, to help people relax and join in
right from the beginning. Sometimes we find out interesting stuff about each other
that we might not have found out another way.
WORSHIP: 15-
Sometimes we sing, but not always. Care Groups are an ideal size to experiment with other ways of worshipping, which are harder in a big group on Sundays. We might use art or music or a psalm, a meditation, some liturgy or candles. The aim is to encounter God.
WORD: 30-
Our Bible studies follow the themes we are studying on Sundays, giving us the opportunity to discuss what we have heard in the sermon, and look at the scripture passages again together. The questions should help to prompt discussion, inviting us to search the scripture, and be searched by them. In other words, not just study, but asking what it means for our lives.
WITNESS: 10-
This section encourages us to look outwards, to pray regularly for our friends, family and neighbours, and to look for ways to act out Jesus’ love for people in acts of service and kindness. Often a lot of persistence is needed in the same direction!
The Care Groups are encouraged to start and finish at an agreed time, and to use the meeting to encourage the gifts that each member possesses. Regular socials and prayer make up the rest of the programme – Care Groups have fun together, too!
The Meetings
Over the next few months up to advent we will be studying the Old Testament book of Esther in our main services, in the youth work and in the care groups.
What can we learn today from the book of Esther? The account of Esther tells us two great things about God that affect us too:
1) We can trust in God's great providence, that is we can trust that he is ultimately in control. The amazing thing about the book of Esther is that God is not mentioned, there are no great Cecil B DeMille special effects type miracles to be seen, and yet God is clearly working through the affairs of human beings, ordering events, to bring about his purpose in an amazing way.
2) God is for his people. Even a people that rejected him so many times and find themselves living in exile in a foreign land, God loves them all the same. The book of Esther gives account of how through Esther's unique status as queen God rescues the Jewish people from total destruction in the Persian empire. Esther's cousin Mordecai said of Esther, “And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” God is for his people!
These two reasons are good enough to study this gem of a book but there is much much more. Make the most of this over the next couple of months and study this with us in the services and with a youth or care group. for more details click here
Every blessing, Clive
