What's an Action Group?

  Hey everyone,

   Last night was my first Action Group meeting.  What is an Action Group?  Well, as a staff person on the project, I have 5 guys who I am sort of "responsible for" in the sense of investing in their spiritual growth and making sure they are getting the most out of the project.  I live with these guys as well, which is great.  I meet with each of these guys for 2 hours each week one on one to go through a training focus for that week, see how they are doing, and help them learn how to share their faith.

   Once each week on Wednesday evenings, this Action Group meets to discuss some material we are going through as a project.  It is Dwight Edwards' "Experiencing Christ Within" workbook.  It focuses on the relationship between the New Covenant and the Old Covenant and what that means for our spiritual life.  To put it simply, we are no longer under the Old Covenant of being required to perfectly obey all of God's laws to establish our personal goodness; we are under the New Covenant of God's grace through Jesus Christ, and we have the Holy Spirit, God's presence with us, to help make us like Christ and to help us minister to others.  It can be a turning point for many students, as many try to build their spiritual lives by trying to "do spiritual things" in order to "be spiritual".  This is backwards from the way God would like us to live.  We are free to live now without worrying about "being spiritual" because we have been "made spiritual" by Christ.  Instead, we "do spiritual things" and love God and others because of what Christ has done for us, and not to try to gain something for ourselves other than a better relationship with Christ.

    Anyways, I enjoyed our Action Group discussion, and it seems like the guys are really understanding these important biblical principles.