Recapping the Porter Home Group

Overall, home group was a huge blessing.  Our home group had a core group of 6-8 people (young families or couples) that were very faithful to meet up every Tuesday evening.  There was an open invitation to meet up anytime after 6 pm with light snacks and drinks.  At 6:45 we moved into a time of announcements, sharing personal prayer requests and the church’s mission prayer point, and then spent time praying for those requests.  Discussion took place until 8 pm, and we were very diligent to end promptly at 8 pm in order to allow the young families to get their children home.

I believe the main thing that God taught me through home groups is the value of spending lots of time with people to grow deeper relationships with the members of the church.  I am a firm believer that you cannot have a relationship with someone if you only see them once a week, and so the additional touch point of Tuesday night was essential in building relationships with those in our group. A family in our group also hosted a few Friday game nights throughout the year, which helped us to connect in a different environment.

Another high point was the ability to hear what God is doing in everyone’s lives.  The time of personal prayer requests allowed us to share what we were struggling with, what God was teaching us, and to praise God for his blessings. The Revelation study was also great subject matter, as it usually led to lively discussion – we often had the opportunity to challenge each other’s different viewpoints and practice doing it with grace and love.  I am really looking forward to building on the relationships we made during the official home group season, and look forward to home groups starting back up in the fall!

– Stephen Porter