This week in worship. Our church is in a worship series called The Good Life. Your group works great on its own, and you are always welcome Sunday at 8:30 or 10:15 AM. Worship is also online at mcphersonfirst.org.
A Grace Group is six to eight people who meet about an hour each week to grow in faith and care for one another. There is no homework and nothing to prepare. We talk honestly, ask a few questions, and pray. You only need to show up and be honest, and everyone is welcome.
A Methodist Way of Making Disciples
Grace Groups recover one of the oldest Methodist practices. Almost three hundred years ago, John Wesley gathered Methodists into small weekly groups that asked one another, “How is it with your soul?” and watched over one another in love. A Grace Group is that same way of making disciples, brought back for today.
The Five Promises
Our five membership promises are also a simple way to talk about our faith journey:
Prayers: connecting with God through prayer, scripture, and listening
Presence: showing up for worship and the life of the church
Gifts: giving to support the church’s mission
Service: finding where you are called to serve
Witness: sharing your faith in word and action
This Week’s Practice, 19 of 25, Service: Justice and Advocacy. The gospel is personal and public. Wesley visited prisoners, started clinics, opposed the slave trade, and advocated for the poor. Ways to try it. Pick one issue and stay with it for a year. Listen to those closest to the problem before you speak. Bring it to Soul Tending. Share the issue God has put on your heart and what you’re doing about it (or wrestling with).
Your Hour Together
Everything for your hour together. The times are a guide, not a rule.
Our Covenant (0 min)
Each time we meet, we say yes to these together.
Show up. Come each week. Your presence is part of the gift.
Be honest. Bring your real self, questions and all.
Keep it private. Keep confidences. Names and stories stay in this room.
Give everyone space. Share, then leave room for the next voice.
We Begin (2 min)
We’ll begin with a moment of quiet, and then we’ll pray together.
Holy God, your grace arrives before we ask. Let us receive it here, and let it make us honest and unhurried with one another. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Getting to Know One Another (5 min)
We’ll go around the circle. Share your name, then pick one of these to answer.
What is your go-to comfort food?
What is a hidden talent or odd skill you have?
The Three Questions
These three questions are the heart of our time. We’ll move through them in order, and everyone gets a turn. The smaller questions underneath are just to help, and there are no wrong answers.
Soul Tending. How is your faith journey going? (10 min)
Where is your faith more honest than it was?
What has been hard to bring to God?
Now we’ll notice where God has been showing up.
God Sightings. Where do you see God at work in your life? (25 min)
Where did you see God provide something you needed?
What good thing happened that you had nothing to do with?
Now we’ll name what we want to hand to God.
Growing in Grace. What challenge are you giving to God? (40 min)
What would you like prayed for that you rarely ask about?
Where do you sense God asking for more trust?
Connect Back (optional, only if time allows): anyone may briefly name something they heard today that stayed with them. Keep it short, for connection, not advice.
We Close (55 min)
We’ll keep a few moments of quiet now, space to allow what you shared and heard, and how God has been speaking, to settle in your soul, so you can carry it into the days ahead.
. . . a few moments of silence . . .
Faithful God, we leave here carrying less than we brought. Thank you for taking the weight. Walk with us this week. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
McPherson First United Methodist Church · mcphersonfirst.org/gracegroups