Connection Group Questions, September 25

Connection Group Questions
September 25, 2011
Opening
Feel free to spend the bulk of your first gathering meeting one another. 

 To begin, play a “get to know you” game. Nothing too hard to start. Maybe share your most awesome adventure of the summer. Or get creative: you could put people into pairs, give them a moment to talk, then take turns introducing the other person to the group. It’s funny to hear how other people can describe us.

After introductions go over the “Connection Group Commitment.” Address any questions and go over childcare needs if applicable. This is a very vital part of the group experience. Give folks a week to think about their commitment. Then next week, have participants sign the Commitment if they plan to stick with the group.

Other things to consider:

• Co-Leaders. Maybe there is a person/couple in the group who want to become group leaders themselves. Let them be “co-leaders” and take a few turns during the semester to lead the meeting. 
• Maybe your group is already pretty big (over 12 adults). If so, perhaps you need to consider dividing into two smaller groups. That could open the doors for even more people to join a group, and more leaders to grow! 
• Perhaps your group is a little slim (less than 10). Prayerfully think about who you could invite to join your gathering. 
• Maybe one person can be the group secretary. They could send out a weekly reminder, and a list of prayer requests and updates. 
• It’s also a good pan to send around a snack sign-up. Maybe turn it into a friendly competition: Who has the best banana bread recipe? Who can bring the most exotic dish? Go ahead, get creative! 

Discussion
If you have time get into a bible study and discussion.
Read Matthew 3:13-17 and Romans 6:1-4.

If someone has a great baptism story, and they are willing to share it, that would be awesome!

Maybe you have not been baptized. If so, and if you have any questions about it, maybe you could ask the group, and hear what they think/believe.

Maybe you know it’s time for you to be baptized. Share what God has done in your life that has brought you to this step of faith. Maybe you were baptized as an infant. Would it be meaningful for you as an adult to now affirm the baptismal vows for yourself? 

 (At Connections we believe that it’s biblically faithful to baptize babies and pray for their adult affirmation of faith; AND we think it’s awesome when adults want to publicly affirm their faith through the re-affirmation of the baptismal covenant. Basically, we take a broad position on this matter, so that it might not be divisive in the church. No baptism, infant or adult, is what saves us. We are saved only by grace through faith in Jesus!)

Close with a time of prayerPraying together is as important as studying the bible together. Both are ways that we affirm our faith is not just personal, but profoundly communal. Your leader will lead the prayer, but you will be invited to participate: maybe by sharing a request, maybe by praying out loud. Feel free to ask any questions about how and why we pray as a group. 

 Maybe read Acts 2:42-47.