We are developing Community Pods, which are the heart of living out a daily faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Community Pods meet weekly or bi-weekly and serve as the primary means of community and gospel transformation at City Life Church. They are a safe place for adults and children to learn to live by faith in Christ together. In community, people are listened to, trusted, and known. These Pods consist of discussion, sharing, prayer, and strategic community investment, and are facilitated by trained leaders who are given continued oversight and support.
Pod groups will be the backbone of the daily community of City Life Church. They will exist for different kinds of people and different spiritual needs by having a variety of emphases, but they will all have the following in common:
- Promoting prayerful spiritual growth. Pods are a group where you know prayer will be happening. People pursuing & exploring the Christian faith have always had contexts where their pursuing & exploring is shaped by prayer. Pods will normally end with a time where people have the opportunity to be prayed for by the group, to voice their own prayers, or enter silently into a time of contemplation about God.
- Nurturing Inter-dependence. The Christian faith leads towards counter-cultural values to be lived out in the lives of followers of Christ. This “new Kingdom” perspective is most powerful in the smallest sphere of community, where people have a chance to do the daily, common acts of love & service with each other, sacrificing for each other as you would for your own family. Pods can teach us how to move from independence to inter-dependence, from “I’m fine,” to “I need you.” In the end, the people in your pod are the ones who will make you a meal when your parent dies, spend a Saturday helping you move to a new apartment, give you a ride to the airport, watch your kids so you can have quality time with your spouse.
- Hospitality. Pods will be very open & invitational to new people & to our friends, welcoming people from all walks of life & spiritual journeys. Discussions will not assume that everyone is in “the same place”, but that some are coming with strong Christian belief while others are struggling to trust God, Jesus and the Bible at all. Pods are hospitable towards doubt & unbelief and therefore a place to invite your friends.
- Leadership. Pod leaders are nurtured by City Life leadership and meet regularly with Marc Holland to be encouraged & helped in growing as leaders within the City Life mission.
- Serving. Every pod is strongly encouraged to develop a way in which they serve together in the city of Sacramento, blessing others outside the City Life community with the love of Christ. For ideas, groups can talk to Marc, (and eventually to the service coordinator).
We live in a fragmented and hurried county, in a rootless and transient culture. And consistent with our broader philosophy of ministry, the intention of our Community Pods is not to encourage surface-level relationships, tribal 'Christian' language, or easy answers. We're not interested religious 'how-tos' or self-help or 'church as usual.' Our desire is that Christ would be honored and the gospel of grace would change us, because it's the only thing that can. It's with the hope of this promise of the gospel that we encourage you to enter into deeper community.
If you want to get plugged in or if you have questions please call or email Shannon, 916-996-4830