Online Ministry Favorites
Every family, team, group of friends, or job place has their own “lingo.” It can be difficult to enter into a new circle of people, especially if you don’t know the lingo. We want you help you become familiar with some of the most common phrases you will hear us talk about.
Community Group: Community Groups (CG’s) are our midweek gatherings that meet in homes throughout North County. They meet weekly and go through the Community Group Homework (CGHW) that is on the back of the bulletin that everyone receives on Sunday. Our CG’s are the best way in our church for you to further step into finding the kind of friendships you need to pursue Christ in a deeper way.
Disciple: A disciple, of course, is a follower of Christ. We see that the biblical disciple is someone who is “growing in and giving out the grace of God.” Every disciple should be growing in the Gospel, but every disciple should also be a conduit of the Gospel and God’s grace to others.
Fight Club: When it comes to our Gospel community (see definition below), we not only need the larger family to be connected with, but we need deep and personal friendships that point us to the Gospel. At our church, we encourage what we call “Fight Clubs.” Whereas many “accountability partners” will beat the other person up with the Law and condemnation and shame when they fail and sin, we recognize that we need not people to fight against us, but people who will fight with us. We need each other to fight for the Gospel for each other. Fight Clubs are 2 or 3 friends who get together on their own, but with the purpose of encouraging each other in the Gospel as they fight for each other, speaking the truth of God’s grace into each other’s lives.
Gospel-Centered: So much of our faith is not centered around the Gospel, but on our ability to be good people, outer religious actions, or some type of moralism. Our faith is often times driven by what we can do for God, rather than by what He has done for us. We seek to have the Gospel be both the fuel and the goal of our lives and faith.
Gospel Community: The bible shows us that every believer should be a part of a group of other like-minded believers so we can constantly find encouragement, discipleship opportunities, and accountability. We need others who love the Gospel of God’s grace that can lovingly point us towards Christ. Most often we call this “church” (which means “assembly”), and though it does include gathering together with an assembly of believers for hearing the Word and singing, it also goes beyond that. We need a community of Gospel loving people in our lives that we can reach out to in our day to day lives.
Means of Grace: At our church, we recognize that it is God’s grace that is what changes us. In the Word of God, and throughout church history, we see that the three primary “means of grace,” or you may say “conduits” of God’s grace are the Word of God, Prayer, and Gospel Community. What this means that it isn’t necessarily reading the bible, prayer, or going to church (or any other religious activity) that transforms you, but it is that these three “means” serve as the three main “conduits” by which God connects us to His grace. These three things are the three most important pipelines that lead us to the source of our hope and strength: the Gospel.
