Can I say I was skeptical about hosting a life group in our home? I mean our house is too small, we don’t have enough parking, I’m not a Bible Study leader…who will even show up?

My wife and I contemplated all those questions before taking on the task for the first time this past semester. There was no doubting though that God had called us to lead and we put aside those questions and committed.

The first Sunday evening we met there were 8 couples, 3 babysitters and nearly 20 kids at the house. Mass chaos may be an accurate description, but it worked. We had fun. We laughed. We ate. The kids made new friends.

As the weeks have gone on, I still have knots in my stomach each week as we rush to clean the house, but it always comes together. Is it easy? No, but are we needed…definitely.

Our typical Sunday afternoon –

4 pm – Clean the house
5 pm – Eat dinner as a group
6 pm – Bible study and prayer time
7 pm – Dismiss
8 pm – House is back to normal

During the week I coordinate who is bringing food, who’s coming and who isn’t, so we have enough food. I also send out our weekly prayer requests. There were a couple times where someone in our family was sick, so we didn’t meet that week. Everyone understood!

All in all, it takes about 5 hours a week to be a life group leader. The video and leader guides are very self-explanatory and I’m learning at the same time as the group. I’ll ask the questions in the guide and sometimes we chase rabbits, but we are always learning, and always investing time in each other.

If you’ve ever considered being a life group leader and you keep coming up with excuses, let me encourage you to just do it. You’ll be surprised to see how God can use you, your home and your family together.

To learn more about hosting a life group, contact PJ Beaver. He can answer any questions and help you to get started!