Who are you gathering with this term.. groups start this week!

“…strengthen our stakes by growing deeper into His Word and His truth so that we can stand strong amidst many uncertainties the world faces right now.”

Isaiah 54:2 

“Enlarge the place of your tent, 
    stretch your tent curtains wide, 
    do not hold back; 
lengthen your cords, 
    strengthen your stakes.” 

In line with our Kerith-wide vision to enlarge our tent, lengthen our cords and strengthen our stakes, our vision for small groups this term is to increase our capacity and stretch our reach.  

God’s heart is for us to partner with Him and increase His Kingdom and trust in His provision and His promises. We felt this is a time to receive from God, and give out to His people.

A tent provides shelter, security and covering. Enlarging our tent is to welcome more people into our small groups this term, invite them in and making them feel welcome and part of our family.

Our heart is for us to make room for growth in our small groups and prepare the “ground” for the year ahead for more groups to be added to our community. This means having those supporting the leaders this term to lead a small a group next term, we all have a part to play.  

We want to lengthen our cords by extending our reach and we want all tongues and all ages to find a small community to belong to. We want to reach those who are marginalised and who do not know Jesus yet and those who have recently joined us to feel like they are part of the family. A word we had for this term was to move out of our comfort zones and step out in faith.  

Lastly, we want to strengthen our stakes by growing deeper into His Word and His truth so that we can stand strong amidst many uncertainties the world faces right now. In our small groups we want to be intentional about growing and learning the rhythms of grace and spiritual practices both individually and together as a group. This is through the various studies or courses we have chosen to do this term.  

Finally, we are reminded from Mathew 7:24, the ground we are building on is solid ground. Jesus’ teaching and the Bible give us the solid rock foundation to enlarge, stretch and strengthen as we put His words into practice.  

May God equip us with everything good for doing His will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 13:21) as we lead and participate in our small groups this term.  

Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to lead a small group this term, and thank you to everyone who has signed up – may you and your groups be blessed and see great fruit as you journey together this term. 

Tom and Ida Astley, Small Group Co-Ordinators