STEP THREE – GROW

 
 
 
 

GROW With Jesus

At Hope Church, meeting together with others in small groups are our strategy to help you Grow with Jesus, to live in the freedom that God intended for us. We call these groups, Group Grows.


ATTRIBUTES OF GROW GROUPS

1. CONNECT RELATIONALLY - We must connect relationally so that you can learn to trust one another to offer and receive help and accountability. 

2. GROW SPIRITUALLY - In the context of your Grow Group, our hope is that you learn to cultivate a relationship with God by learning and practicing spiritual disciplines or habits. A spiritual habit is any activity that helps you gain the power to live life in freedom. For example: 

  • DISCIPLESHIP – members watch and learn from other believers who have learned how to apply Biblical principles to their lives.

  • ACCOUNTABILITY – members gain relationships with people that encourage and challenge them to pursue personal spiritual development.

  • PRAYER – members learn to hear what God has to say to them.

  • APPLICATION – members learn to study the Bible and begin to understand how it applies to their life.

3. SERVE OTHERS - Grow Groups are the vehicle through which we provide care:

  • To each other – We do this by intentionally praying for and practically helping one another as needs come up.

  • To the community – We ask every Grow Group find a way to serve others outside the group at least 3X a year.


HOW GROW GROUPS WORK

At Hope, there is key terminology you need to know regarding our Grow Groups.

  • FREE MARKET GROUPS – Free market groups empower our Grow Group leaders to use their unique gifts and passions to create their groups. In the same way, we empower members to choose what Grow Group they want to join.

  • THREE SEMESTERS – We realize that it can be challenging for schedules to always be able to accommodate a weekly meeting. Therefore, we operate our Grow Groups in three semesters a year with a short break in between.

  • LEADING A GROW GROUP - Because of the responsibilities that fall upon the Grow Group leader and the culture we are trying to replicate, we have two prerequisites prior to leading. First, you must participate in a Grow Group for at least one semester. Second, you must lead under the oversight of a Grow Group leader for at least one semester; we call this Apprenticeship. This is just a simple way to empower our leaders to lead.

  • JOINING A GROW GROUP - Because our groups follow a trimester schedule, it is best to wait until the start of the next trimester, or shortly thereafter, to join one. How?