Welcome to the Mariner's Church Life Group Leader Podcast. This weekly conversation is designed to equip and resource youth to build a healthy life group community that studies God's word, practices spiritual rhythms, and changes the world together. Hello and welcome to the Life Group Leader Podcast. My name is Kirby Wood and I am the Group's Pastor here at Mariner's Church and we are so glad to have with us today our online pastor, Paul Hahn.
I'm excited to be here with you guys. We're so glad to have you. We're so also so excited to have a great conversation today about how to equip you for our new series to have big problems, bigger God, as we prepare you guys to be prepared to have great conversations around these incredible topics that we know the people of our church experience, but also can find truth and relief and comfort in the fact that God is bigger than all of our problems. That's right.
I think I'm really excited for you guys as groups to be able to discuss these real life issues that we all deal with, whether that's anxiety or fear or we're going to cover loneliness today. I feel like our discussions as we go through this series are going to be really rich and meaningful as you guys get to dive into what that looks like in each of your lives. So true. And if you want to hear more about the hard behind big problems bigger God and how Eric really came to pick these specific topics, please go ahead and listen back to last week's podcast as Jared and Eric talked about the setup for this incredible series.
So as we jump into it, we have with us in our hands a very cool and very beautiful, very nice magazine. It is so beautiful. I love the cover. It is so soft.
Absolutely. And what I love about it is that it was put together by an incredible team of volunteers who love our church and want to serve our church with their gifts. And so I really want to encourage you guys to pick one up, look through it. There's beautiful poetry.
There's artwork, just so much content in here that will help us as we go through the series. So true, Paul. I absolutely love what our volunteers have done. And as you guys know, volunteers are what drive our church volunteers just like you.
And so while you have a beautiful gift of leadership or shepherding or all kinds of things I know God has given you, there are opportunities for everyone and all of their gifts and talents to serve the church. And so we have incredible creative volunteers that were able to contribute with their gifts in creativity and art and photography as all that Paul just shared and be able to share them with us. So this is a very, very special magazine. I would say the best one yet.
What do you think, Paul? It's so exciting. We get better every time. But as always, luckily and luckily for us, unfortunately for us, there is life group discussion questions in here, which was written by our team here, the groups past, and here, the groups team at Mariners.
And we hope that these questions would be intentional to inspire rich conversations for you guys as well as an ability for you and the people of your group to hear from God. That is why we do these lean in, look out, look down, look around, you know, look around as Ken's would probably say, it's just the intentional ways that we can read and interpret scripture for ourselves. We've actually been listening to a sermon from someone else or reading someone else's book about God's Word. This is how we can make God's Word the focus of our group.
So know that as you step through this sermon aligned content that you are prompting individual and personal reflection for your people. And that is such an important skill and focus of our groups. So as we jump in, we're actually starting here on page 16, which I hope and pray that you guys have your books with us, especially as you prepare. Everyone has this content, which is a little different typically when we prepare you guys with a life group leader content.
You're the only ones that have this. Now, in now a ways, they will have this in their hands as well. So they can write little notes and you can do a little bit more reflection in groups this time, which is super helpful. But you can see here the main topic of this and it's really well.
It's all about loneliness. Right, Paul? And loneliness is just so prevalent in our culture and community right now. But we have a God that is the creator of community.
What do you think about this right now, Paul? Yeah, I think what came to mind was that we really as a society with technology, with social media apps, with so many ways to connect. And yet we still experience loneliness, which is kind of crazy to me that we can have so many quote unquote friends on our Instagram and yet feel so alone when we're at home. But what I love is the encouragement of one that you are never alone.
We have Jesus and the Holy Spirit with us. But also, as you guys are talking about this in groups, you have your life groups. And that is the most beautiful picture of community that God has provided for us in this season. So beautiful.
I so love that. And I love that it really is embedded in here. It really just sets the tone that we know that it's not just something that God asks us to participate in, but it's a reflection of himself. So there's some really great teaching for your groups as you think about why did God create us in community or why did God create us for community?
For he himself exists in himself, a community in himself. So as a trying of God. So I think that's such for me more recently than such a reminder of God's intentionality as he creates us. And so I absolutely love that.
And I find that to be more confirming and inspires more faith in myself to know that he is with me because he intentionally, you know, he intentionally plays himself with me, but also he himself desires and longs are created in himself community. Yeah. And I hope you guys feel even like more loved in that truth that God didn't create us because he was lonely. Like we see that he's already in community, right?
He has that beautiful divine community. And yet he still wanted to create us for relationship with him. And so I hope that you feel loved and specially created for that. That's so good.
Oh, all right, guys. I hope you're feeling encouraged because I know I am. But as we get into a little bit more fun here, the lead in today is so, so silly, but so, so good. I love it.
Yeah. List out as many songs as you can about loneliness, which is so great. I think as we just kind of tried to demystify a little bit or, you know, just make sure it's not super, we could just get really heavy as we're talking about loneliness already. And I think we're starting off on like a really easy like, Hey, what, literally the songs about loneliness, why do you think they're so many?
Yeah. Are you going to sing for us though? I was hoping we'd get a little, little track here. What songs is coming in your mind?
You know, a classic. Yes. Oh, by myself. I love it.
I will cut it there. But yes, I think, I think there are so many songs because it's such a common human experience. So true. So true.
And I hope that, you know, that's what the main point of getting this question out is as you try to lean into what everyone is saying is you hope to hear, yes, loneliness is a singular feeling that someone feels, but it's actually one of the most universal experiences that we would all feel lonely at some point in our life. Regardless of gender, regardless of age group. Yeah. Beautiful.
So as we look down at God's word and we read Genesis, I love this. This really sets up the main point here is what you learn about God's intention for community. And we start to really see, hopefully, as you guys dissect this scripture, call out the things that stick out to you. You'll really start to see, you know, where and how and why God in the very beginning created us for community.
So good. We always like to take a moment, especially for starting a new series. I would really encourage you guys to pray before starting this conversation. Maybe right here after the lean in, you go ahead and pray before you read God's word.
I know that sometimes we can get out of rhythm and we just pray at the end during prayer requests, which is always, of course, a huge and important time, but never hesitate to pray multiple times throughout group. You know, this is a spiritual discussion and that should be thwarted with spiritual practices. And one of the major ones we can do is through prayers and we're asking God to reveal things to us. Let's pray.
Let's listen to the spirit and ask that to reveal. And even for you guys, we're believing and we're trusting that you as shepherds for your group, you're aware of some of the stories of the members in your group where man, loneliness might have been a really, or could still be a really big part of someone's story. So as you're praying, even internally, you can ask God to give you the wisdom, give you his heart for your group as you leave them through this discussion in a really pastoral and caring way. So good.
So as we look out, we have two good questions here that aren't going to be too on the nose about loneliness, but are going to help us start to recognize where in the world that we can see things that may look like loneliness or are the opposite of loneliness. So the first question here, what are the key components to experiencing healthy community? And this is just helping us think, okay, so how are we, how do people combat this? How do people see this?
Or how do we stay out of this? And then here again, as more than the negative flip, we're outside of the church, do people see community and how do these places fall short? Yeah. I think the first thing that sticks out to me when I think about where outside of the church people experience community right now, I don't know why it's just coming to mind, it's just the gym.
I definitely thought CrossFit. Right. I heard a quote actually from Kim Kardashian that she was talking about how every single day she has to work out. And I was like, that's probably what like a believer says about like their quiet time, you know, like there's something about exercise which is obviously very important to take care of your body and be healthy, but also that just can very easily be switched out for like spiritual disciplines, I think, you know, because it is such a discipline practice.
But I'm like, I don't know, I can see it so much in gym community. If you've ever been a part of a gym, it can be so rich and so bold, but also very quickly fall short when nobody comes to your barbecue because they have the workout in the morning, you know, or what have you. So that's something that stuck out to me. What do you think about some of this healthy community?
What do you think kind of the purpose of asking that question, Paul, will reveal in the groups? I mean, I hope that that's an opportunity for you guys to, I know later on in the page, it reminds you of the Seven Rhythms of Rooted. But I feel like it is a good reminder of maybe even some of the values that you guys agreed upon when you first started out as a life group to kind of reaffirm those things to remind yourself of like, hey, we committed to consistency. I think that's an element of healthy community of just like showing up for people, whether you feel like it or not.
I know that when you show up on those days, God will bless you. And so I feel like this is a good question to almost recalibrate the group of, yeah, this is what we appreciate about our community and the values that we're kind of doubling down on to be a healthy community. Absolutely. And I love that you were even bringing up values that aren't explicitly extended like in a root experience, like consistency.
That's exactly what I think that this question is fishing for. It's like, okay, what makes experiencing healthy community like sing for you as individuals in this group, giving everybody buy in and stake in this group is saying like, we want to shape this, we want to be a part of this healthy community. And like this is, you know, my encouragement to you leaders, healthy community cannot be just the burden that you have for the group. You know, like it has to be a mutual experience that everyone in your group is striving for, is longing for and is speaking after.
And you know, you know, you can't do the prayer experiences and the surf experiences and the snacks and the dinner and the hosting. I mean, there's just so many roles that go into a life group and you as the leader can't hold all of that. And I think that this is such a great way or great place to re-remind your group and allow people to really share and say, guys, how can we all contribute to healthy community here in this group and in our other places of community outside of this life group? Alright, friends, as we look on to look in, we have a couple of questions here as we really help our group members and ourselves be more introspective of where this scripture and where the teaching from the weekend can really hit home and what next steps we want to take.
So look in for us, especially in this magazine is going to act both as a look in, but also as a live it out. So you can see yourself, yeah, like looking in and then looking how you can really act this out. So first up, you see what have been the barriers in your life that prevent you from practicing biblical community? Oh, I love this question because rather than just saying like, let's do this, like, no, let's talk about the obstacles, right?
Let's like be real and say, hey, this is not easy. Absolutely. Yeah. And I think it's a really good encouragement even as your group to acknowledge like the place that accountability has, right?
If it's someone's like, yeah, I know that, you know, XYZ reasons are the biggest things that you know, hinder me from showing up for group. Then the next time you might be able to know exactly what to address with that person, if they haven't been showing up consistently. And, you know, I think it's a really good place, like Kirby said, with honesty and authenticity within your group to go over these. That's so good.
And I think one of the ones that I think will come up very often, especially in our current culture, but especially in Orange County is a sense of busyness. And, you know, I just, I've just got so much going on. You know, and I would really encourage you as the leader and shepherd of this group to really consider a past while response to that. You know, as you start to think, okay, we're not going to try to fix one another and the answer is that people may provide, you know, it's like, you know, if someone says, you know, well, I have this barrier, you're like, well, you shouldn't, you know, like, we're all busy.
You know, like, I can hear, you know, I can imagine some of the conversations that might be ahead, but my encouragement to you guys is really thinking, consider what's a gentle, gracious, but honest way to really, yeah, inspire real reflection and contemplation over busyness and rushness as you think about the importance of the Biblical community. And that's hopefully what we've kind of been, you know, painting throughout this discussion before you get to this question is this is so important. This is so good for us, you know, oh, I love that. So very affirming tone of the conversation.
And then as you get closer to one of the barriers, you can kind of turn into more of the pastoral, encouraging, sweet parts of the time, because we're allowing the Holy Spirit to do the convicting here, you know what I mean? We're not, we're not going to be the convictors, but still I love the point you made about accountability because there's a difference between trying to give a mix on one or correct, and then still holding them accountable. And I think one of the strongest things that I've heard about accountability is you can't hold something, someone accountability to something they have asked for. So when someone shares, you know, I just, I have a really hard time showing up every week.
Do you want us to check in with you? Right? That's good. That invitation is the invitation into accountability rather than if feeling like an overhandedness.
Right? Yeah, we don't want anyone to feel shame, but we want the motivation to be loved. Like we love having you in our group. Beautiful.
And that being the posture and motivation for sure. It's so good. And that's just one of the examples as kind of like the way the conversations can go up around busyness, but I'm sure there's lots of other barriers that people will come up with. And like we said, this is a really great opportunity to allow the people of your group to really reflect on where God is convicting them and how you can encourage each other along the map process.
So now we kind of take some little action steps here. How have you experienced healthy community in your group? And so this is, I know it doesn't sound like an action step, but truly this is a way that we start to tangibly see what we can do. Right?
How have you experienced your looking back at what community business and that will start to paint the picture forward of what you want to continue to involve in your daily life and also in your community, which is really good. Anything else you're seeing there Paul? I mean, I think I know one of the rhythms of rooted is a sense of celebration and even worship. And I feel like that's another good place to invite that into the conversation is as you celebrate the ways that you've experienced healthy community within your group, that can become an active worship.
It's an invitation to thank God for the ways that he has provided this community for you and how it's been a blessing in each of your lives. So good. So I'm going to talk about that. Yeah.
And if you didn't already take time to pause and reflect on the last message series, you know, this is the week one of a new series. This is going to go on for about six weeks, I believe. So you're going to kind of be hitting, you know, a little stride here. So if you haven't taken time to reflect and enjoy and celebrate, you know, how the summer went or how your last study was, make sure that you create a little space in the tank today.
But last up on here is the seven rhythms of rooted. We are going through six weeks here with a series, but we'll be hitting at five of the different seven rhythms of rooted through each discussion. And we want to really encourage you guys to really see and embed these rooted rhythms into the life of the group. I highly recommend reading these ahead of time before you get to the discussion.
So it's not just at the bottom here, even though that's where we placed it, but we hope that you take them and read this little side. But one of the key components that we really see that makes a really healthy and long lasting life group are those that practice these rhythms and rooted in me. We might hear a say, but all the time. But and but you really don't know exactly what they are.
And so I just want to kind of call those out to you right now. Oops. Sorry. I want to call those what to call those out to you right now.
I'm just so you know what they are. And so Paul and I are going to do a little ad lib here to see if we can remember all seven rhythms of rooted. So first up, daily devotion. Prayer, beautiful prayer, serve, serve experience, repentance, beautiful worship, giving, giving, yeah, good.
Sharing your story. That was seven. Sharing your story. Yeah, worship.
That was seven. That was it. Those are the seven right there. So you guys out of those seven, those are things that we know were experiential and discussional things that you experienced in your root experience.
As you continue as a life group, you know, they're coming back to those practices and experiences will really help you stay rooted and stay rooted, love it and will help you stay connected to one another and also connected to God's intention for community. So you guys this week, we are praying and hope that you have a great first week in this new series. If you need another magazine and you're not able to get one, please come and find myself or one of our affinity pastors or adult ministry pastors on the patio. We as your groups team would love to make sure that every person in your group is able to step through the life group discussion with you.
So let us know if you need anything we are praying for you and with you.