Tuesday night services are a fantastic corporate gathering for teaching and worship, but the large group size is less conducive to intimate, interpersonal expressions of Christian faith. Home Groups are gatherings of smaller numbers of people who call TNLC their church home, and they represent the best place in our community to be known and to know others, to be cared for and to care for others, and to become a community being changed by God.
Vision
Upon reading the Scriptures that speak of the early church, the centrality of community and relationships jump off the pages. A healthy follower of Jesus will have a network of other believers around them. Like every relationship in our lives, community in the church involves both giving and receiving.
To this end, Home Groups provide an opportunity for those who call TNLC their church home to create and experience community with others. Home Groups may look more “small church” than a typical small group.
Our groups meet about every other Sunday night from 6-8 pm in people’s homes. While each group has a unique personality to it, we all engage the same 3 rhythms: sharing a meal together, sharing life updates and praying for each other, and sharing conversation based on teaching and content from TNL.
Values
TNLC Communities
TNLC is committed to the expression of God’s Kingdom in Denver, and we promote partnership with other churches and ministries. We know that many people from other churches join us on Tuesday nights due to the excellence of the music and teaching. However, we are unable to adequately care for everyone who walks in the doors of a Tuesday night. As Home Groups are the primary place where people are cared for at TNLC, we want people to be here as their church home, not just checking things out or participating in multiple churches.
Geographic Communities
We hope to see Christian community develop within already existing geographic communities. If you prefer brunch at the Bull and Bush Pub, a gathering at the Atomic Cowboy, or pizza from Big Bill’s, it’s nice to have our neighborhood loves intersect with our church life. We dream of groups where our kids attend the same schools, we cross paths with each other out at our favorite local coffee shop, and we live close enough to share our possessions as part of our sharing community. We hope to eventually have a home group within 10 minutes of everyone who calls TNL their church home.
Voluntary Displacement
In his book Compassion, Henri Nouwen describes voluntary displacement in community this way: “The Gospels confront us with this persistent voice inviting us to move from where it is comfortable, from where we want to stay, from where we feel at home.” Home Groups promote this value through sharing a primary affinity of “Christ in common.” While many churches create separate small groups for men and women, different age groups, singles, married people, or families with kids, we believe that Christian community means that we all have things to give to and receive from one another. Therefore Home Groups are intentionally mixed gender and mixed stage of life.
Shared Life and Shared Growth
We want our Home Groups to become the natural relationships we share our lives with. We will celebrate new marriages or new births together. We will mourn lost jobs or lost relationships together. We will help each other move, bring each other meals when needed, and help each other finally get the deck built in the backyard. When we have doubts, hard questions, or spiritual blind spots, we count on others in our community to partner in our development and transformation. When the Scriptures speak of smaller gatherings of believers, the image that emerges is that of shared life and shared growth, and our Home Groups are committed to providing these opportunities.
How to Join a Group
NOTE: Our Home Groups take a break during June and July, but will return to their normal bi-monthly schedule at the beginning of August. We can connect you with a group to begin then, but encourage you to look into our Summer Picnics and the Life Season Project as a way to build community with others at TNL this summer.
If you desire to give to and receive from this kind of community, and if you call TNLC your church home, then we’d like to connect you with a group in your area. Email Community Pastor Brian Gray and include the following information:
- Name(s)
- Phone number
- Major cross streets where you live
You can also leave a voicemail with same information at (303) 422-3777 ext 327.
Home Group Leadership
Our Home Group leaders are one of the most valuable resources of our church. They are also limited resources. In 2008, we have a vision for starting 3 new Home Groups in the Metro area, perhaps in the Aurora, downtown, DU, and south suburban neighborhoods. If the vision of our Home Groups captures your interest and you would like to know more about learning to lead a group in the future, call or email Community Pastor Brian Gray. We are committed to development of new leaders and to the idea of Metro-wide communities of faith lead by holistic, transformed, missional, and communal followers of Christ.
July at TNL
We wanted to pass on some information about TNL happenings during the month of July.
- Life Season Project – The Life Season Project will gather people of similar life seasons together for one night of conversation and community. It will create opportunities for you to connect with others at TNL who are experiencing life similar to you - newlyweds, students, 40’s+, singles, parents, etc. Each evening will be last for about 2 hours with 5-20 people. The hope is for shared conversation to build relational connections beyond the Life Season Project. To sign up and receive details and locations, go to www.tnl.org/lifeseasonproject.
- Home Group Regional Picnics – For our July picnic at TNL, we are going to create 2 smaller regional picnics at which to gather all of our Home Groups, and we’re inviting others in the TNL community to come and join us. For the South metro area Home Groups (Castle Rock, HR, Centennial), the picnic will be on Sunday, July 20th from 11-2 at Northridge Park in Highlands Ranch. For the north metro area Home Groups (Glendale, Stapleton, Golden, Northwest), the picnic will be on Sunday July 27th 5:30-7:30 in City Park. Englewood and Lakewood HG’s...you are in the middle and can choose the best fit for your groups. Further details on each picnic will be sent out in a couple of weeks.
- Summer FIRST:LINK Help – Each summer, our regular FIRST:LINK volunteer schedule becomes a bit erratic with vacation schedules. We need a total of 12 people to help us cover one night each in FIRST:LINK as teacher’s assistants during July and August. If you’d be willing to serve for a night at TNL, please contact Valerie Renville at first.link@tnl.org.
- Habitat Home Dedication – Join us on Thursday, July 31, at 6:30pm for the dedication for the Habitat for Humanity home of Mary Ann Mosquera and her family at 708 Lowell (just north of 6th Avenue between Sheridan and Federal). Thank you to everyone who volunteered to build and gave financially. TNL gave over $15,000 and had 120 people volunteer with the Habitat build.
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