Welcome to the Mariners Church Life Group Leader podcast. This weekly conversation is designed to equip and resource you to build a healthy life group community that studies God's word, practices spiritual rhythms, and changes the world together. Well, welcome, welcome, life group leaders. We're so glad that you're here on our Life Group Leader podcast.
If you haven't already guessed, this is not Jared Kirkwood for I Am John Thomas, a pastor on our discipleship team. And so delighted to spend some time with you here today on this great resource, which is a tool to equip you and all the things that you are leading in your groups to create incredible environments of discipleship and growth. I've got a special friend who's joined with me, which we're going to introduce in just a minute, so a bit of a cliffhanger, hold on to that. But before we get to that part of our conversation, man, can we just take a moment collectively?
Maybe you're driving, you're on your treadmill, you're doing whatever you're doing around the house. Can we just take a moment to celebrate all the amazing things that we see God doing through our community? Come on, I can hear your applause, I can hear it right now, I can feel the love, but honestly, absolutely amazing. We just ended this last weekend, our great series on My Anxious Thoughts and just a profound series, really looking at many of the anxieties and worries that we're played with in our everyday thought life and in the reality of just life in Orange County and beyond.
And been looking at how God's word comes to not only address our worries and our fears, but how God's word through the presence of His Holy Spirit comes to bring us relief and peace. And we've seen the power of that in our life group communities as we've gathered around the truth of God's word to be reminded who we are and just a powerful, powerful series. And then of course, this last weekend was our rooted celebration, unbelievable. We saw many stand to say, I believe for the first time we had baptisms happening after all of our services, recent rooted grads, we commissioned you and we equipped you for all that's to come, the next part of your journey.
I mean, God is doing amazing things. And we know right now we have brand new, life group leaders coming out of this rooted course that are listening and we're so glad to have you a part of this journey and look forward to equipping you and hearing the great stories of what God is doing in your group. So just so much richness, so much of the movement of God's spirit happening in His church here and you life group leaders, you are on the really the front ground of that and we wanna say thank you again to all that you're doing. We also know that we're heading into the Thanksgiving season.
It's a busy season as the holidays are ramping up here and it creates some great opportunities and some unique challenges within our groups of how do we maintain just a healthy ongoing rhythm of connection during the holiday season? What are some things that we can orient ourselves around? We're gonna talk a little bit about that and the power of service during the holiday season. But before we jump into that part, just real practically we do wanna let you know that this podcast is coming out obviously today and then we won't have a podcast coming for the next week because that will be happening during the Thanksgiving break.
So this podcast is gonna live for a couple of weeks and then we're gonna jump back in after the Thanksgiving season there, the first part of December as we kick into our new series looking at the Christmas season. It's gonna be a great series called Angels We Have Heard on High. So again, this week you're gonna have a Kenton B-Shore doing his great talk on gratitude and Thanksgiving and then we'll have our post Thanksgiving message and then we'll jump into our Christmas series after that. So that does mean that you won't get the full sermon discussion questions over the next couple of weeks.
So we encourage you guys to, you can have just a conversation about takeaways of what you heard from God's word from the teaching, where you were challenged, you can lead your groups to that end, but we won't have the formalized sermon discussion questions for the next couple of weeks, which is why we're gonna talk today about how to maximize the time, how do we do, what can we do, how can we stay connected during the holiday season? And if you've been through it and you're a part of the Mariners community, you know that deeply embedded in who we are as a church is that we are a church that's passionate about not just experiencing God's grace, but expressing God's grace practically through service. Remember one of those anchor rhythms of rooted. It's a spiritual practice that we want to engage on a regular basis is that we would lead groups that are outwardly facing looking to serve the community, the marginalized, those in need in our county and beyond.
And so during the holidays, we have a unique season to do that through our Love OC holiday serve campaign, which is why I've delayed it enough. I've got a good friend of mine here from the outreach team to talk a little bit about some holiday outresearves and what to look to. So can we welcome live to the podcast. This is my friend, Ma Ray U.
What's up, man? Thanks John. Thanks for having me. Big shout out to the new Life Group leaders.
Thanks for saying yes to a big challenge. So kudos to you guys. And again, like John said, congratulations to all the rooted grants. It's an amazing thing seeing those who had the cardboard testimonies, man, that's one of the best services we have all year.
So I'm pretty excited for all of you. My name is Morale. Like John said, I actually work with our global team on the outreach team. And if you are detecting a slight accent, you don't need to adjust your radio.
The reality is that I am an African. And because of that, I have the unfair advantage of leading our global efforts and relationships with our African partners. But nothing else you get to do is over CRFEG ministry here at Marianas. And so it's a fun job.
I enjoy it. I love being able to show off what God is doing in Africa and telling the people at home about what God is doing here at Marianas. So it's a great thing that I get to do. That's right.
And we also support the same soccer team, IE football team, don't we? We sure do. Awesome. The best football soccer team out there.
So and 75% of the podcast just tuned out. Like what are you talking about? What does this thing? If you're an Arsenal fan, we're with you.
Yes, exactly. Well, Morale, why don't you just talk just a little bit about the heart of service and why we think this is such a big deal to celebrate and compel our groups to lead them towards service together. Oh, man. Well, one of the things that is important about serving is on top of it being an opportunity for us to express our obedience in God, God asking us to look and serve and really just care about the things beyond ourselves.
It really is a wonderful opportunity for us to actually practice being a body. You know, when Paul talks about being a body, he really points out that every individual brings something to the table. Now, in your groups, this is going out to the leaders, like group leaders, right? Yeah.
As a life group leaders, guys, you guys get to curate that body. You guys get to lead that body to be able to be that group, that God has called them to be. And when they serve, you get to see the talents that people have, you get to see the passions that people have. And more than that, you get to see things in people awakened, that they didn't even know existed in so many ways.
And that's one of the main reasons why serving such a big deal. You get to see all these things happen by being a body in Christ and being able to express our obedience. That's good, man. And we see it time and time again.
It rings true that the groups that are serving together are often the groups that are most vibrant, the groups that are able to push through difficult seasons of maybe conflict or different things that happen in the group when they make the central focus of the group, not just about their own care, but actually about the care of others that actually God's kingdom breaks through in some pretty amazing ways. We see groups that serve together, or groups that really thrive together. Yeah. And especially when you think about the idea of what it means to serve, to be a part of what God is doing among the communities that are often overlooked, it really gives us a heart for one another.
And as a group, you have people in your group beginning to learn that God has called us to look beyond ourselves. And they begin to love one another in a very, very special way. And I think it's just a beautiful thing when groups get to serve together and when they leave and they learn to be a little more focused on what God is doing amongst themselves versus just in themselves. That's right.
And one of the things we often say is transformation happens as we're actually activating, putting our faith into practice, right? That we can have great robust conversations about theology and God's, and we should be engaged in all those things all day long. But actually, it is activated through us going and do the stuff that we grow by going and doing the stuff that Jesus did. And of course, serving is one of those things.
I love that, Maria. Well, I love for you just to highlight some of the opportunities that we have going on through the holiday season and ways that groups can get involved. There's loads of opportunities and we want to make sure people know what those are, they're accessible, and they can jump in, serve during the holidays. Yeah, there's a bunch of things going on.
So I'm going to highlight four of our Christmas parties, John. There's four parties that everybody needs to be a part of. And they're on different dates, so feel free to sign up for all of them. It's going to be fantastic.
And I said, come with your group. There's going to be fantastic things for you to do with your group if you come to any of these parties. So the first one is a military Christmas party. This is going to be a drive-through Christmas party where we're going to be honoring and acknowledging just the sacrifices that so many of these military families make.
Many of these Marines down at Camp Pendleton are young men, probably just 10, 18 or barely over 25, who sometimes have young families. And when they're deployed, these families are left to end. We get to wrap around them and care for them and remind them, hey, you're not forgotten. We really do care about who you are and what God is doing in your life, even though you have a family member of yours who's observing the military.
And so there'll be Christmas gifts, there'll be food, there'll be burgers. Oh my goodness, the military team knows how to throw a good barbecue. So that's one. A second one is going to be the Foster Family Christmas party.
And when you think about Christmas, this is a difficult time for foster kids. But as a community that tends to be overlooked, we want to say, you know what? We care about you. We really do want to see a fun time for the party done up for the foster kids.
And we get to share gifts. We get to hear stories. We get to fellowship. We get to see joy happen.
I really do have a significant heart for this one, because at any event like this is actually where my wife came to meet the Lord. Being able to see the reconciliation, the families come together, connecting with two brothers, seeing them be able to be together there was where she honestly met the Lord. And so some big things could happen in your community during that time. Next one is the LCC Christmas party.
This is an interesting one, because we've been doing this for over two decades. We've been serving amongst the LCC, the lighthouse community centers in Santa Ana for about two decades. And the community, they are partners with Nairanas to put on display just the brilliance that they have going on in their community. And so this is where they celebrate the year that has been.
This is where they show off all their color, palm and circumstance. And it's just, it's fun. You know, I asked a bunch of people who went last year, what's the one thing you took away from it? And they said, it was fun.
You don't even know you're serving. It's a great thing for families. Bring your kids. You have just amazing things for the kids to do.
And I don't give away too much, but it's going to be a fantastic surprise this year that I'm really expecting. And the last one is really close to my heart as well. It's a refugee drive-through party. A lot of the families that we get to serve in our refugee ministry are families that more often than not are overlooked.
And that seems to be the thing. But for refugees, particularly, they have the language barrier that pushes them away from actually being able to engage in community. And then Christmas, for many of them, is not something that they've actually celebrated. So this is a very foreign concept to them.
So on top of just the ring, a fantastic party. This is an opportunity to share what Christmas is about, why we get to do this, and not just talking about it, but actually being it. By throwing a wonderful drive-through Christmas party, we'll get to share presents, we'll get to meet families, we'll get to hear stories, and we'll get to just be a part of some beautiful things that the Lord is doing that. Amazing.
Loads of things going on. So military, lighthouse community centers, foster community. And you are a lovely man. So there's a spot for you to jump in.
And I sense the theme of all these. They are all attached to parties. They are. All right.
And I promise you, you know, John and I have been a man for a bit of time. If there's one thing that we value, it's throwing a good party. So it's going to be fun, food, festivities, amazing things for you to do. But John, let me say one thing about this, that I really want to be highlighted, that is a huge opportunity for you guys as a group.
I believe that the difference between information and transformation is actually reflection, right? As a group, you actually have an unfair advantage, because you already have a group of people who know each other, who are willing to connect with one another and are in relationship, active relationship with one another. When you get to serve and you come back together, the leader would lead and ask the question, Hey, you know, what's going on in your heart? What do you feel the Lord is telling you during this time?
And more often than not, this is where that experience is crystallized. This is where the information that they've been taking in during the party turns into transformation for the individuals in the group to begin to live their lives in a unique and different way. And I do want to invite the life to be to take advantage of these events, take advantage of these events that they may see. Life changed so many of their people during this time because it's a fun thing to do.
And of course, you know, there's a ton of food. Yeah, thanks for highlighting that. I think sometimes it's temptation when we show up to serve opportunities. And it might be dependent upon your personality.
Okay, there's a task at hand. That's true. Let's get this thing done. Let's be efficient, which is so not how we want to enter into this.
This is about being relationally present with those that we serve. And it's not that we come as experts with the solution to all the problems. It's no, we want to come and be present. And this is an opportunity for God to speak to us and for us to learn.
And so it's not just about what we do, but I love what you said. And you might remember this from your rooted experience is so important under the end of your event that you gather together with your life group. And you say, okay, what did you see? What did you learn?
Where was God at work? What next step is he calling you to? Because we can go to an event, have a great time, high five each other, go home, and then we don't think about it. But actually, we believe that God has designed his environments for you to step into, and that he wants to do something transformational in and through your group, not just at the time that you're together, but going forward.
And so that does take time for us to pause, to be present, to ask the question, where's God at work and what is he calling me to? So thanks for highlighting that for us. And it's an exciting season. It's an exciting season.
And so all these environments with the full weight of the gospel, in every environment that we step into, that we would recognize, that we are ambassadors of God's kingdom, and that he wants to use us. He's put us together for a reason, yes, for our growth and our discipleship, but it's so much more beyond that, that we would go, that we would reach out, that we would be the hands and feet of Jesus. And the holiday season is a great time to do that together. So check out all these great serve opportunities that are available on the Mariners app, on the website.
You can always, as always, reach out to our team. Talk to one of your life group coaches, if you need help, looking through these opportunities. We're here to serve you guys. And so we want to make sure that you're aware, and you can take your next step of serving together.
Alright guys, I think that's it for this week. We're here for hanging out with us. Oh man, what a blessing. And I'm really grateful for the time, John.
Alright guys, amazing. We can't wait to hear from you, share your stories with us. We're praying for you, believe in you, and we believe that God wants to do amazing things in and through your life group. God bless you guys.