AaronMarcelli.org

Posted By Aaron Marcelli on December 3, 2009

A couple of months ago my girlfriend and I realized though we were both serving as active volunteers and members of our local church, and though we both were meeting regularly with people we were building relationships with in the community, we were not a part of a church small group.  Feeling we needed to have regular contact with people in similar life situations as us, we contacted our connections pastor about joining a group.  His response was to ask me to start a group instead.

We now have a good group of anywhere from 3 to 8 people who are meeting every Tuesday night to discuss life.  I approached the launching of the group thinking I was going to be able to pour into others but the past few weeks have found the opposite to be true.

In trying to juggle several transitions that are present in my life right now, as well as continuing to work toward church planting and full time ministry, my true routine, planning, perfectionist nature has arisen.  My recent prayer times have turned into me sitting down before God with a pen and a tablet, looking for Him to give me a timeline, a plan of action, or to have Him approve the one I already came up with.

I was struggling with wanting to know what the plan was going to be and the pressure of having everything mapped out as I entered small group this past Tuesday.  I think we were discussing fear and guilt (great motivators, poor masters) and the conversation sidetracked into perfectionist thinking.  I expressed to the group how I think fear causes me to play things safe and only go as far as I had planned or anticipated with things.  The discussion that followed was a tremendous blessing to me and exactly what I needed to hear.

Our friend Jennifer was a first time guest in the group but spoke up, telling of her past imprisonment to her scheduling book.  She talked in a way of being delivered from that and now seeking a daily dependence on God.  I felt convicted as she spoke of sometimes falling back into being very schedule and plan driven but how she hopes to continue living in a way that allows God to interrupt her life with blessings and opportunities.

A guy in our group named Michael then spoke some about stewardship and said two phrases I still cannot get out of my head.  He said, “You have to live in the moment.  Just be faithful with what you have today”.  That was so powerful to me as my current system of living had been to hoard, save, and build up.  Through the discussion of my group it was revealed to me how I was living a life that severally lacked faith.

I honestly believe that one of the most frequent ways God chooses to speak to us is through the council of others, sometimes when they do not even know God is using them.  My small group serves as a reminder of how we all need consistent fellowship and community with those we can open our lives up with and hold each others hand as we do life together.

Thanks guys!

Category: Church Planting, Ministry, My Life / Personal
Tags: