UDSKRIFT 🔗
WEBVTT
00:00:00.180 --> 00:00:01.766
Hello Hope Podcast listeners.
00:00:01.766 --> 00:00:06.604
We live in a fast-paced world where new material and ideas are thrown at you 24-7.
00:00:06.604 --> 00:00:11.144
Some of you told us this and said I want to listen to everything, but it's hard to catch up.
00:00:11.144 --> 00:00:12.650
Well, we're here to help.
00:00:12.650 --> 00:00:26.243
We desire to be a place that is grateful for and respectful of your precious time, and so to serve you best, we will every so often be resharing past episodes that we call Second Listen, because we think they are worth taking a second to replay.
00:00:26.243 --> 00:00:39.451
Even if you are an every week listener, we think having a second listen to these episodes will make an impact on your weekend life, and if you have heard this one but are behind on new episodes, now is a great time to catch up on any others you have missed.
00:00:39.451 --> 00:00:41.045
Thank you, and here we go.
00:00:45.140 --> 00:00:49.280
Welcome to the Meet Hope Podcast, where we have conversations about faith and hope.
00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:56.003
Hope is one church made of people living out their faith through two expressions in person and online.
00:00:56.003 --> 00:01:03.026
We believe a hybrid faith experience can lead to a growing influence in our community and our world for the sake of others.
00:01:03.026 --> 00:01:05.231
Welcome to Hope.
00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:10.081
Welcome.
00:01:10.081 --> 00:01:11.385
My name is Heather Mandela.
00:01:11.385 --> 00:01:18.370
I am one of the pastors here at Hope and I am excited to be talking to you today about small groups.
00:01:18.370 --> 00:01:36.061
We have been talking about our Worship Plus Two and last episode Pastor Rick spoke to Kelly and Bill Walenda about volunteering, and this episode I am excited to be talking to Jeff Macarella and Lauren Grace Bond about small groups.
00:01:36.061 --> 00:01:39.611
So welcome guys, we're glad you're here, thank you.
00:01:40.641 --> 00:01:44.246
So I want to start just by letting everybody get to meet you a little bit.
00:01:44.246 --> 00:01:48.215
So tell me a little bit about yourselves.
00:01:48.215 --> 00:01:51.489
Who are you and how did you end up here at Hope?
00:01:53.403 --> 00:01:57.992
Hi, I'm Lauren Grace Bond, and my husband Ken and I have nine children.
00:01:57.992 --> 00:02:01.891
The oldest is 37 and the youngest is almost 15.
00:02:01.891 --> 00:02:04.787
And when he was in preschool he attended Hope.
00:02:04.787 --> 00:02:05.370
Yes, he did.
00:02:05.370 --> 00:02:06.905
That's how we got to know Hope.
00:02:06.905 --> 00:02:10.183
We were at another church at the time, but this was my church away from church.
00:02:10.183 --> 00:02:16.427
I did all the extras here, and then my two granddaughters also attended kindergarten here.
00:02:16.548 --> 00:02:17.431
It was a family affair.
00:02:17.731 --> 00:02:18.213
Oh, yeah, yep.
00:02:20.001 --> 00:02:20.382
Very nice.
00:02:20.382 --> 00:02:22.787
Jeff Macarella, married to Courtney.
00:02:22.787 --> 00:02:25.272
We have two daughters, tess and Sloan, six and three.
00:02:25.272 --> 00:02:31.683
Our older one, tess, came to preschool here as well and that's kind of how we were first introduced, I guess, officially here.
00:02:31.683 --> 00:02:38.948
But Kelly and Bill Olenda also were another connection that we had here to Hope and we just absolutely love it here.
00:02:38.948 --> 00:02:44.086
And, yeah, our daughter was the first one to kind of tip us off to come here and born and raised in the area.
00:02:44.086 --> 00:02:45.770
So, yeah, excited to do this podcast.
00:02:45.931 --> 00:02:52.451
That's great and we love that both of you are here with us, and I want to pause for just one second and say that I think it's really cool.
00:02:52.451 --> 00:03:08.348
You guys really don't have any connection outside of the fact that I asked you to come here and do this with me and you don't know each other particularly well, but both of you came to Hope through Tomorrow's Hope Preschool, which I just think is a really really cool thing, and I just wanted to make note of that.
00:03:08.348 --> 00:03:11.443
So welcome, we're glad that you are both here with us today.
00:03:12.366 --> 00:03:18.986
We here at Hope believe that small groups is kind of like where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.
00:03:18.986 --> 00:03:30.381
Right, it's where we start to wrestle with and apply the things that we are learning and hearing at worship, the things that we're hearing in the Bible, and figuring out what it looks like to walk with Jesus in our everyday lives.
00:03:30.381 --> 00:03:52.292
And so, just like Jesus spent his time with the 12 disciples and he sent the disciples out to meet others in groups of two, and all of that tells us and speaks to the importance of doing life together, and we really believe that that's how God designed us, and small groups is one of the ways that we get to do life together here at Hope.
00:03:52.292 --> 00:03:58.052
So I want you guys to share, though, why small groups are important to you.
00:03:58.052 --> 00:04:01.050
What is it that you like about small groups?
00:04:01.050 --> 00:04:02.305
Why do you do them?
00:04:02.305 --> 00:04:06.730
So what appeals to you about small groups, lauren?
00:04:08.200 --> 00:04:12.012
I love small groups because they connect me with the people in the church.
00:04:12.012 --> 00:04:17.571
It's hard when people are in and out, and here at Hope there's multiple services.
00:04:17.571 --> 00:04:20.584
It's just a great opportunity to get to know people.
00:04:20.584 --> 00:04:25.553
I enjoy serving as a small group leader and I enjoy the ministry that goes on.
00:04:25.553 --> 00:04:29.567
You know the chit chat before and after praying for people in the group.
00:04:29.567 --> 00:04:31.932
It's just very powerful.
00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:37.651
Agreed, Jeff, tell me how did you get connected into small
Load full transcript
groups?
00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:40.668
So Courtney sort of gave me the nudge.
00:04:40.668 --> 00:04:43.946
Now I don't know if she wanted me to get out of the house on Thursdays but okay.
00:04:43.966 --> 00:04:46.413
So regardless it was the right decision and Bill.
00:04:46.434 --> 00:04:48.540
Valenda also kind of pulled me along a little bit too.
00:04:48.540 --> 00:04:52.791
So a little tongue in cheek there with Courtney and Bill, but you kind of have that nudge.
00:04:52.791 --> 00:04:54.420
So I went and I started doing it.
00:04:54.420 --> 00:04:55.442
I figured, what do I have to lose?
00:04:55.442 --> 00:05:07.435
I very much so recall what Pastor Rick said a handful of months ago now it's like live your Mondays like Sundays, and that's that's easy to do in the moment when you're sitting there Sunday listening to the message, and then you can apply that on Monday.
00:05:07.435 --> 00:05:10.567
But it tends to get a little bit harder on Tuesday, wednesday, thursday.
00:05:10.567 --> 00:05:12.843
So I just figured okay, jeff, go buy a Bible.
00:05:12.843 --> 00:05:20.302
I bought one, had a little bit of a commitment with God and said okay, I bought your book, so I'm going to come on Thursdays and show up, so you're committed.
00:05:20.603 --> 00:05:22.624
Now I got to figure it out, figure it out Right.
00:05:22.704 --> 00:05:25.305
So it's just very fulfilling when you go there.
00:05:25.305 --> 00:05:29.689
You leave there, as Lauren was saying, the relationships that you do tend to build and listening to people.
00:05:29.689 --> 00:05:32.750
It's just, it's fantastic, really is.
00:05:33.172 --> 00:05:33.851
I'm glad to hear it.
00:05:33.851 --> 00:05:38.475
And that does lead us right into what my next question is, which you know what do you get out of it?
00:05:38.475 --> 00:05:41.697
You know you spoke a little bit about fulfillment relationship.
00:05:41.697 --> 00:05:42.641
Tell me, jeff.
00:05:49.880 --> 00:05:52.427
Because it's worth it right.
00:05:52.427 --> 00:06:02.528
It gives you opportunity to listen to what others are thinking, what they've been through, gives you perspectives and, like Pastor Jeff said, we're all disciples of Christ and we can all go spread the word.
00:06:02.528 --> 00:06:06.812
So in order to spread the word, you got to be pretty savvy with what that word is, though, as well.
00:06:06.812 --> 00:06:14.588
So really commit yourselves to your faith, not just show up on Sunday and take that into Monday and then think you're doing pretty okay.
00:06:14.588 --> 00:06:17.692
So I get a lot of fulfillment out of it listening to folks.
00:06:17.692 --> 00:06:26.286
Hopefully, if I do share what I share, folks are taken at the heart and I think everybody can learn from one another.
00:06:26.286 --> 00:06:28.673
So the fulfillment I get leaving there Thursday nights just sets the tone for the weekend.
00:06:28.673 --> 00:06:31.884
You can go into Friday, Saturday, Sunday with that reaffirmed.
00:06:31.884 --> 00:06:36.225
You know what it means to be a Christ follower, so it's phenomenal.
00:06:36.485 --> 00:06:36.987
That's great.
00:06:36.987 --> 00:06:53.713
So now I love that you talk about it giving you that boost to get you through the rest right, like so that midweek, or that partly through the week, when you start to feel the demands of life catching up on you, becomes the spot that you can kind of get refilled to make it through.
00:06:54.180 --> 00:06:59.990
Absolutely, because there's a lot of stuff out there with work or personal relationships that can strain that.
00:06:59.990 --> 00:07:11.831
It's hard For sure, and so I think small group helps you be that vision and that beacon of okay, get back to center, don't lose sight of what you were just learned or listened to on Sunday.
00:07:11.831 --> 00:07:14.569
So it kind of gives you okay, what port am I going to?
00:07:14.569 --> 00:07:16.223
And I'm still heading to the right port.
00:07:16.223 --> 00:07:17.387
So that's what it gives me.
00:07:17.869 --> 00:07:22.690
And hopefully you know help others along the way with listening to them and what they share in the small group as well.
00:07:22.959 --> 00:07:24.627
Yeah, well, thanks for that, lauren.
00:07:24.627 --> 00:07:28.081
Tell us, tell me, what is it that you like about small groups?
00:07:28.081 --> 00:07:29.322
Why is it so important to you?
00:07:30.165 --> 00:07:31.348
I like the accountability.
00:07:31.348 --> 00:07:40.911
If you just attend church on Sunday, you can come and go and nobody knows what's going on in your life, what things you're working on to be more like Jesus.
00:07:40.911 --> 00:07:55.093
So that's an important aspect and I think, also being the hands and feet and heart of Jesus to each other, showing each other love, compassion, empathy when people are struggling, being in listening ear for each other.
00:07:55.093 --> 00:08:00.658
I just think that's so important and for me personally that happens a lot more in small group.
00:08:00.658 --> 00:08:12.333
It happens on Sunday and especially if you see people you know I try to introduce myself to people I don't know, but small group is really the best place to be sharing this on that kind of a level.
00:08:12.839 --> 00:08:17.947
Yeah, to be able to wrestle with some of those questions that are hard or that you're not sure what that looks like in your own life, right?
00:08:18.468 --> 00:08:19.370
Yeah, definitely.
00:08:20.420 --> 00:08:28.420
So now, for those who may not have been in a small group before, tell me they might be a little nervous.
00:08:28.420 --> 00:08:32.727
Maybe they feel like, well, I don't know anything, how can I go to a small group, do you?
00:08:32.727 --> 00:08:36.282
Do you have to know something?
00:08:36.282 --> 00:08:39.572
Is this something that they need to be doing before they can go to small group for the first time?
00:08:39.572 --> 00:08:41.605
I know I'm throwing this question at you cold, sorry.
00:08:41.605 -->
00:08:44.101
I can see the panicked look on both of your faces.
00:08:44.101 --> 00:08:47.009
In your experiences.
00:08:47.009 --> 00:08:50.158
Are there prerequisites to small groups, lauren?
00:08:50.158 --> 00:08:50.659
How about you?
00:08:51.341 --> 00:08:53.384
I think it depends on the small group.
00:08:53.384 --> 00:08:59.315
My group I'm having now Bible and Prayer 101, that's the whole point.
00:08:59.315 --> 00:09:09.405
People in my last small group said, oh, I don't want to Bible study because I don't read the Bible and I'm afraid to read the Bible and I don't pray out loud, I'm afraid to pray out loud.
00:09:09.405 --> 00:09:17.044
And I said well, would you like us to have a group where you learn about the Bible and learn how to read it and you learn how to pray out loud?
00:09:17.044 --> 00:09:17.886
And they said yes.
00:09:18.668 --> 00:09:20.351
So, they overcame their fear.
00:09:20.351 --> 00:09:22.687
We'll see how it goes as we go along.
00:09:22.687 --> 00:09:33.082
But yeah, and then other groups might be on a higher level, but it's very easy by reading the description or talking to the leader, you can really find the group that's right for you.
00:09:33.464 --> 00:09:34.706
Excellent, Jeff.
00:09:34.706 --> 00:09:35.288
How about you?
00:09:35.288 --> 00:09:36.591
Was that one of your concerns?
00:09:37.561 --> 00:09:39.505
Yeah, just I think you have to get over that.
00:09:39.505 --> 00:09:41.049
What is this all about?
00:09:41.049 --> 00:09:42.111
Like, what is small group?
00:09:42.111 --> 00:09:47.322
You hear folks talk about it and Pastor Jeff gets up there and he's like everybody should do small group and you're like, okay, but what does that?
00:09:47.724 --> 00:09:48.384
what does that mean?
00:09:48.384 --> 00:09:48.605
What does?
00:09:48.625 --> 00:09:49.365
that entail.
00:09:49.365 --> 00:09:52.250
You know homework, you know all that stuff.
00:09:52.250 --> 00:09:59.191
So I think if you are somewhat inclined or intrigued, follow the nudge that you're getting and get ahead and sign up for one.
00:09:59.191 --> 00:10:02.428
And if you go for one session, it's what?
00:10:02.428 --> 00:10:04.385
Two hours, an hour and a half of your life?
00:10:04.385 --> 00:10:06.465
And if you don't like it, you don't like it.
00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:08.948
Try another group, you know, just don't give up on the first shot.
00:10:08.948 --> 00:10:12.063
So it might be not now but not forever.
00:10:12.063 --> 00:10:17.815
So follow the nudge that you're getting, from whomever it is, and go ahead and try it out.
00:10:17.815 --> 00:10:20.107
And if you don't like it, okay, so be it.
00:10:20.107 --> 00:10:24.671
But I strongly feel that you'll like it and push yourself.
00:10:24.671 --> 00:10:50.703
I like to say you got to be comfortable, being uncomfortable on certain times, and I think small group is that avenue, and then the doors get open from there and then there's there's a lot of good things that come out of small
group for the group and the relationships, for the church, the community, and icing on the cake is that you benefit from it as well yeah, when you're willing to take that chance, right, yeah, no, I agree, and I think it's one of the things that we try really hard at.
00:10:50.784 --> 00:10:53.413
Hope to do is is have a variety entryways.
00:10:53.413 --> 00:11:03.013
So if you're not sure, you've never done it before, there are lots of non-threatening, not scary, no major requirements.
00:11:03.013 --> 00:11:04.283
You know that kind of a thing.
00:11:04.283 --> 00:11:17.407
And then, if you've been doing this for a little while and you're looking to dive even deeper, there are studies that will do that for you as well, and so it is about finding that right fit, and nothing is forever.
00:11:17.407 --> 00:11:22.052
We don't chain you into a group and say that they're your best friends for the rest of your life.
00:11:22.052 --> 00:11:26.091
You find where you fit, excellent, very good.
00:11:26.091 --> 00:11:37.234
So I want to talk a little bit about hope, because that is one of the themes of this podcast is where we find hope.
00:11:37.234 --> 00:11:46.323
So I want to ask each of you right now in your lives, where are you finding hope, jeff?
00:11:46.323 --> 00:11:47.307
Where are you finding hope?
00:11:48.703 --> 00:11:49.386
I find it everywhere.
00:11:49.386 --> 00:12:00.629
I think a lot of the times I see it through my girls and Courtney just little things that they do because we come here and we're very much so a part of the community and it's important to us as well.
00:12:00.629 --> 00:12:09.222
So we try to teach some of the stuff that we learn here and we teach it at home and we reinforce it and it's just nice to see how the hope comes through in your children.
00:12:09.222 --> 00:12:15.528
But I also do travel quite a bit for work and there are a lot of bad behaviors out there.
00:12:15.528 --> 00:12:28.347
But if you want to see the good ones and you focus on the good ones I'm a huge fan of, if you want to focus on it, you want to see it, you'll see it Subtle things, little things and then you can carry that on as well.
00:12:28.389 --> 00:12:33.688
I try to do that when I travel as much as I can, so you see hope where you want to see it and it's always there.
00:12:33.688 --> 00:12:38.446
It's just are you looking and are you allowing yourself to see the hope that's out there?
00:12:38.446 --> 00:12:41.134
And if you do, it's there.
00:12:41.134 --> 00:12:42.278
Focus on the positive.
00:12:42.278 --> 00:12:44.302
Positivity is contagious.
00:12:44.864 --> 00:12:48.893
So you can see hope all the time if you're looking for it.
00:12:49.259 --> 00:12:53.392
I love that At Vacation Bible School we teach the kids their God sightings.
00:12:53.392 --> 00:12:54.625
So where did you see God today?
00:12:54.625 --> 00:13:02.248
And it may be from someone holding that door open to something really profound, where God speaks to your heart, but you can find him if you're looking.
00:13:02.248 --> 00:13:05.649
So, lauren Grace, tell me, where are you finding hope today?
00:13:06.321 --> 00:13:08.850
I'm finding hope today in the character of God.
00:13:08.850 --> 00:13:20.368
I'm finding hope in his sovereignty, that anything that comes into my life he is allowing in his goodness, that he's working all things together for good for me and in his love.
00:13:20.368 --> 00:13:27.009
And when I love and accept myself as he loves and accepts me, it's easier for me to love and accept others.
00:13:27.029 --> 00:13:28.475
Yes, that brings me hope, thank you, for me to love and accept others.
00:13:28.475 --> 00:13:31.241
Yes, that brings me hope, thank you.
00:13:31.241 --> 00:13:34.908
We hope that this has brought all of you out there hope as well.
00:13:34.908 --> 00:13:38.475
If you are not currently in a small group and you are thinking about it, I want to encourage you.
00:13:38.475 --> 00:13:42.350
You can check out our webpage, meethopeorg slash small groups.
00:13:42.350 --> 00:13:45.249
Feel free to shoot me an email, give a yell at any point in time.
00:13:45.249 --> 00:13:52.450
I'd love to help you find that perfect place to connect both with God and with others as you grow deeper in your relationships.
00:13:52.450 --> 00:13:54.793
We hope you have a fantastic week.
00:13:54.793 --> 00:13:56.375
Thank you both for joining us today.
00:14:00.880 --> 00:14:05.491
Thanks for being a part of the Hope Community as we continue our conversations about faith and hope.
00:14:05.491 --> 00:14:09.970
If you don't already, please join us for worship on Sundays or on demand.
00:14:09.970 --> 00:14:13.759
If you don't already, please join us for worship on Sundays or on demand.
00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:22.856
You can learn more at meethopeorg or find us on socials at meethopechurch.