What is a small group (AKA: Circle) anyway?
Glad you asked! In Jesus' time, His followers didn't meet in designated buildings called churches for about 300 years after His death. The people were the church, not the building where they worshipped.
They were small groups of people who lived and worked near each other. They typically met in private homes called house churches to learn about doing life together the way Jesus taught. They studied the teachings of the apostles and they worshipped God. They were closely connected and formed a tight knit community. This community helped one another in various ways whether it was lending a hand in building or caring for the sick or listening to or confessing their fears and wrongs. Rather than condemning, they exhorted and encouraged one another. They built each other up instead of tearing one another down.
In my last post, I said that "we gotta eat". That was a big part of the house churches in the early days. They "broke bread" together everywhere they met. There's something about sharing a meal that brings people close. I haven't figured that part out yet for our Zoom Circle. The best I can come up with is that everyone needs to have their snacky snacks within arm's reach during our time together.
It's great to be a part of the larger modern church family but sometimes folks, especially new believers, can feel totally alone in the larger crowd. I know that I did. This is where the beauty of a Circle shines the most. If you don't have a church family at all, a Circle is a great place to get to know what serving one another like Christ did is all about. A Circle is a community of deep relationship in a culture of isolation.
When I was a solo driver, there were many times that I felt so isolated and alone. It would have been great to have a close knit group of folks to talk to and bounce ideas off of, not to mention those times I was sitting for hours, sometimes days, far away from home and knew no one. It would have been nice to have something worthwhile to read or study besides The Truckers' News and someone to discuss it with. Several someones would have been even better. I was a single mom, supporting my mother and children by driving truck over the road. I was on a constant guilt trip for not being home with my kids. I could have used some encouragement or guidance with that too.