Getting Ready For The Week | Daily Rhythms - Groups Week 1
Getting Ready For The Week | Daily Rhythms - Groups Week 1
Sunday, September 7 2025
Reading For Sunday | Acts 2:42-47 | Colossians 3:12-17
Devoted | Groups
Our lives are not meant to be spent alone or in isolation. God’s creation story in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 was not because He was bored and wanted to fill His time with something. He wanted to share His creativity, love, and vast resources with His creation. Plants, animals, and humans were all crafted out of God’s creative, loving spirit to experience the same creativity, love, and relationships that make up His character. Whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, relationships and community are part of your wiring and makeup. The strong desire we feel to belong, be seen, be known, and to reciprocate all of that is breathed into us from the very beginning. While we live in a broken world where much of that often gets distorted, misused, or broken, there is still a place that aims to foster awareness and holiness of community—an active part of daily life—the Church.
Our Devoted series has focused on Acts 2:42-47, which gives us a glimpse into the early church’s rhythms. The key phrase we are exploring this week is “to fellowship.” The Greek word is koinonia, which translates to English as “sharing, fellowship, or communion”. While later in verse 42, Luke mentions “the breaking of bread” to symbolize Communion, we can infer that his use of koinonia refers to gathering together in fellowship or community. It was a regular practice that they found added immense value to their lives as followers of Jesus.
That’s why, here at Compassion, we take “Groups” very seriously. We know we are a large church, and that if people want to, they can easily come in and out without truly connecting. But when that happens, we are genuinely heartbroken because we understand the life-changing impact that connecting with a group can have on your family, marriage, relationships, and children. Being part of a Group is a small but meaningful example of the early church. It’s also a glimpse of what the future in Heaven will be like. Our Groups consist of followers of Jesus who are pursuing what it looks like to be more like Him each day. No one is perfect or has all the answers, but together, we encourage, correct, and guide one another to become more aligned with Christ’s character.
Our Devoted series has focused on Acts 2:42-47, which gives us a glimpse into the early church’s rhythms. The key phrase we are exploring this week is “to fellowship.” The Greek word is koinonia, which translates to English as “sharing, fellowship, or communion”. While later in verse 42, Luke mentions “the breaking of bread” to symbolize Communion, we can infer that his use of koinonia refers to gathering together in fellowship or community. It was a regular practice that they found added immense value to their lives as followers of Jesus.
That’s why, here at Compassion, we take “Groups” very seriously. We know we are a large church, and that if people want to, they can easily come in and out without truly connecting. But when that happens, we are genuinely heartbroken because we understand the life-changing impact that connecting with a group can have on your family, marriage, relationships, and children. Being part of a Group is a small but meaningful example of the early church. It’s also a glimpse of what the future in Heaven will be like. Our Groups consist of followers of Jesus who are pursuing what it looks like to be more like Him each day. No one is perfect or has all the answers, but together, we encourage, correct, and guide one another to become more aligned with Christ’s character.
RESOURCES
- Bible Project article on Fellowship.
- Compassion “Good Question” Podcast of “Want to be Friends” episode 7 & episode 8.
Throughout this season, our daily rhythms team wanted to focus on two resources we have found helpful in our personal walks with Christ. The first is a way to incorporate a “rule of life,” which comes from early church history, into your regular rhythms. The second is Spiritual Temperaments: what does that mean, what does that look like?
If you're just starting to explore our blogs, “Great! Welcome!” I encourage you to go back and read two other posts before continuing.
- One of these is “Getting Ready for the Week | Rule of Life," published on August 17th by our Statesboro Connections Pastor, Josh Jones. It discusses the history and importance of establishing a “Rule of Life."
- The other blog was written by our Staff Pastor, Mike Frazier, and our Executive Pastor of Spiritual Formation, Carolyn Kixmiller. Titled “Getting Ready for the Week | Daily Rhythms Week 1," it was published on August 24. This post introduces and explains Spiritual Temperaments and includes a link to help you discover what your top Spiritual Temperaments are.
For this week's group focus, we will continue exploring Spiritual Temperament and how it relates to finding and engaging with a group, reasons you might avoid joining one, and how stepping out of your comfort zone can foster fellowship with others. A reminder from our pastor Mike Frazier, “our ‘downstream practices' - those ways of connecting with GOD that feel most natural and energizing - and our 'upstream practices’ - those that might feel more challenging but can stretch and deepen our relationship with GOD.