Ric H.

During college, after I made a conscious decision to become a follower of Jesus, I had a fairly concrete routine of reading my Bible, praying, and going to church on Sundays. This was a rewarding routine, but there was still something missing. You see, during this period of time, I had not surrounded myself with a group of people who were also followers of Jesus. Understand, I saw, shared, and conversed with fellow believers on Sundays, but outside of that, it was the same routine Monday through Saturday for the most part. I thought that I could be a passionate follower of Jesus all by myself as long as I prayed, read my Bible, and went to church on Sundays. Again, something was missing.

Enter Aletheia Community Groups. Upon coming to Aletheia, the thing that was most new to me was the idea of a small group of believers gathering together as a spiritual support system. What’s so great about Aletheia community groups is that they allow people to connect relationally with the goal of growing in Christ likeness, loving one another, and contributing to the work of the church in order to glorify God. It indeed glorifies God when He sees us display true love and compassion for one another as the early church did. Christ modeled biblical community for us by spending the majority of His time with His disciples – teaching, encouraging, and correcting them. They lived, ate, traveled, prayed, and served together. Jesus said in John 13:35, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another”.

Since joining an Aletheia community group, I now see that connecting with other followers of Christ is an essential part of our transformation. True biblical community is more than just having Christian friends. It’s a spiritual discipline focused on helping one another become fully devoted followers of Jesus. I can testify in many ways personally how community groups have helped me in my walk since becoming a part of Aletheia. It was the result of a community group lesson that the Lord led me to be re-baptized in the consciousness of what baptism really signified. That is just one of many significant moments experienced in my community group. It is such a blessing to be surrounded by a group of guys that I trust and have a genuine concern for my spiritual and physical well being.

So there was indeed something missing from my Christian life. It was consistent fellowship with other followers of Jesus. It is in the context of Biblical community that we can exhort one another, pray for one another, celebrate with one another and ultimately lift up Jesus’ name together. Praise the Lord for Biblical community. “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25)