Small Group Sunday // Pastor Chuck Colegrove // Aug 30th, 2026

And uh man, I'm just ready to preach God's word.

Are you ready to receive it today?

The year was 2022, and uh we were now I have a few I I have a few uh hobbies I like.

Uh first of all, I love my wife.

That's first.

Then I love my kids, they're okay.

I love to ride motorcycles, I love to golf, and I like to water ski.

I like to ski.

And in 2022, uh Urshana and I, I I would have to talk Urshana into going to the river with me to ski, and I would have to talk about like how great it's gonna be, and how much I needed her because she's my boat driver, and you can't water ski by yourself.

You need a boat driver.

So I would talk her into it.

I would say, listen, it's just it's an hour to drive there.

We get on the boat, you ski me up and down the river three or four times, it's an hour to get back, and then we'll go have good dinner.

And I would just plead with her and I would talk her into it, and she is for sure my favorite boat driver.

I think I have a picture of her driving the boat here.

Let's see.

There you go.

That's me getting in the water, that's her driving.

But this particular time in 2022, we're on the river skiing.

I'm getting out of the water, and this boat approaches us, and Urshana's a little worried.

She's like, What are these people doing?

Why are they coming so close?

Because typically in boats, unless you know somebody, you don't get real close.

You know, there's no breaks in boats.

So she's wondering, what are they doing?

And they pull up and they're like, Hey, uh, good to see you skiing on the river.

I think I met you on Facebook on one of these water ski pages, and he introduced himself.

His name is Brandon.

He's like, This is my friend Larry, and we ski here all the time.

You look good skiing, so why don't you come join us?

And without like three seconds passing, Ursana's like, Thank you, Lord.

She, I didn't even know she had been praying to not be the boat driver, but in that moment, her prayer was answered, and they were like, Come ski with us.

And so here's a few pictures of a ski and like this first one there.

That's me.

And then the next one, that's my friend Brandon, and then this video of Larry, who's like 71 or 72.

Uh, he's doing a little trick skiing.

Like he shows us off, shows us up all the time on the water, but it is the year that I learned that life is so much better in a group, and no matter what your life age or what your life stage, there is a group for you.

So why don't you turn to your neighbor and say, it's small group Sunday.

And then the one you've ignored all service, look back at them and say, There's a group for you.

It is the fall season, and we're leaning into church life on September 13th.

Free church turns 14 years old.

Full-on teenage years as a church, and we are gonna celebrate.

We're gonna celebrate so big, we're gonna have Baptism Sunday as we welcome people into God's family.

And then September 20th is the free way, which, if you are welcomed into the family through baptism, you're welcome into the free church family through the free way.

And that's right after service, and we spend a minute, minute to share heart, vision, kind of structure our thoughts about church life, and invite you in to be a part of the story of helping people know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and make a difference.

So it's fall, y'all.

Let's get with the program, right?

But today, today is small group Sunday, and I absolutely love the thought that real life relationship leads to real life discipleship.

And after service today, you're gonna get a chance to go down and meet all of the leaders of our small groups, and this is my goal today in this message.

My goal is very simple that everyone join one.

Everyone join one.

Now, many of you have already been looking through the scroll of registrations, you're signing up for a bunch of groups, and that's okay.

I'm not telling you you can't be a part of a group, but you should be a part of one group.

For sure, one group.

For sure, one group.

If you have the capacity to be in all the groups, that's a lot.

But you for sure should be in one group.

So my goal today is that everyone join one.

And to get us started, I want to lean into scripture in 2 Kings chapter 4 and read this story to you.

2 Kings 4 · chapter mention

It's probably a familiar passage if you've been around church life.

You've heard this preached a number of ways.

The scripture goes like this The wife of a man from the company of prophets cried out to Elisha, Your servant, my husband, my husband, is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord, but now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.

Elisha replied, How can I help you?

Tell me, what do you have in your house?

She says, Your servant has nothing there at all.

Isn't that typically the place that we start with God?

Like, God, we have nothing.

I have nothing.

And there's two ways to think of that.

Obviously, we want to lean into all that God has for our life, but I'm gonna tell you the prophet knew there was something in the house.

And so she says, Your servant has nothing there at all except a small jar of olive oil.

Elisha said, Go around and ask all your neighbors.

Everybody say, All your neighbors.

Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars.

Don't ask for just a few.

Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons.

Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.

And she left him and shut the door behind her and her sons.

They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring.

Everybody says she kept pouring.

When all the jars were full, she said to her son, Bring me another one.

But they replied, There's not one jar left.

Then the oil stopped flowing.

She went and told the man of God, and he said, Go sell the oil, pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left.

Can I just spend about two minutes telling you that sometimes what you think is nothing in God's hands becomes everything?

That if you can just muster up a little of faith to share what you have, that God is capable of doing exceeding and abundantly more than you ever could imagine.

That literally the promise is this do not despise the day of small beginnings because the Lord loves to see the work get started.

What you think is just a little has the potential in God's hands to meet every need.

So, in light of that, I want to talk today about small group.

This is our 28th season of small groups at Free Church.

For 28 seasons, we've been helping people find freedom through the power of relationship in small groups.

And that's just not a good idea, it's actually a God idea.

Acts chapter 2, verse 46 says this every day.

Acts 2:46

Everybody say every day.

When?

Every day.

That's big house worship.

The temple court is where everyone could gather and worship.

The early church days, some of those gatherings grew to be 50,000 people.

Every day they continue to meet together in the temple courts for big house worship.

But then they broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.

They broke bread in their homes, that was small group fellowship.

So the early church, from the very beginning, once it was launched after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, began to meet together publicly for big group worship, and then they met in homes for small group fellowship.

And then the magic ingredient, they ate together.

Because whenever you have any kind of food, it's just a lot better to have some food and have something to just enjoy the day.

Heads up, you gotta you gotta pay attention.

You can't not look.

This is gonna hurt somebody because it's gotta get way back there.

Yeah.

It's like a helicopter, heads up.

Why?

Because whenever you put food together with great relationship, it's always better.

I can get a better amen.

So it is the example of the early church to gather together for worship, but then to meet together for fellowship and discipleship.

And it's easy to come in the room and worship, but that's not necessarily where you grow.

Where you grow is in the sandpapery discipleship with the people around you that know you and know you.

So today I want to give you four things about small groups, and then I'm gonna release you downstairs to join a group.

The first thing, a small group equals your posse.

I have to alliterate, it's what my life is meant to be, so you'll see at the end it all works together.

But a small group equals your posse, your team, your people, your family.

And a posse is simply a group of people who come together for a shared purpose.

How many know that living this lifelong journey of following Jesus was never meant to be a solo pursuit?

If you want to go fast, go alone.

But if you want to go far, you need to go together.

And we need people around us that will help us go.

We need a posse.

Life's a lot better when there's people around.

I wish I could ski whenever I wanted to, but I need a group of people to help me ski.

I'd just be floating in the water.

Just waiting.

Yelling, hit it, and nobody's in the boat.

The little Facebook page I'm a part of of all the water skiers, often guys will post a photo of their boat on super calm water, and it would just say, I wish I had a driver.

And that is the space of a group for you.

In life, you're gonna be floating a lot until you get around a group that helps you get moving.

So a small group is your Posse, and Luke 5 tells a powerful story about a man who was paralyzed.

It says, let's just read the scripture in verse 18.

And some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus.

And when they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

So we know this story.

These guys were like, Man, Jesus is in town.

When Jesus is here, anything can happen.

And if we can just get our friend in front of Jesus, he'll be able to walk again.

They already had the faith to show it, and so they began to take him to the house where Jesus was meeting.

And when they couldn't get in because the crowd was filled to overflowing, they found a way up to the rooftop and made a hole and lowered him down in front.

And look what verse 20 says.

When Jesus saw their faith, circle their faith, because their faith, that posse, that team, those people, they were the ones that made it possible for that guy not only to be healed, but to be saved.

And he was like, Jesus was moved by their faith.

And sometimes in the journey of following Jesus, when you feel like you don't have the faith to keep going, if you have a group of people around you, they will take you into the house where Jesus is healing, performing miracles, and whatever it takes, drop you right in front of Jesus.

So your small group is your posse, your people, your team.

The other, the next thing, a small group is your protection.

Equals protection.

1 Peter 5, 8.

Be alert and of sober mind.

Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

He's like, he's like, he's not.

It didn't say he is, it says he's like.

But can I just tell you for a second that the roaring lion is not looking for somebody who's all up in the middle of everyone?

He's looking for the fringe, the one distant, the one isolated, the one not paying attention, the one who's like so lost in their own life they don't realize everybody else is moving.

And that's what the roaring lion is looking for.

So many times on Small Group Sunday, I've told you about my experience on our way from uh Maputo, Mozambique into Swaziland, and we went through uh a safari, and I'll never forget seeing that lion and whistling, which you should never do.

I know you've heard this story before, but I just always have to say it in this time because we rolled up, and here's a pride of lions, and I wanted to see the mane of the king of the jungle, and he wasn't looking at me, so I whistled.

And right when I did that, he turned, but every one of the lioness in that pride stood up and took one step towards the vehicle.

And our driver was like, No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

He says, You can't do that because when we rolled up the lion, all of the lions, they already made this decision that the vehicle was too big for them to even worry about.

But because you've singled out on your own, it's awakened them to think maybe we can take it.

And I'm just gonna tell you right now, church, you need the protection of a small group, a group that will pray for you, a group that will challenge you, a group that will gather around you and comfort you, a group that will carry you into God's presence.

You need the support and the protection of a small group.

Ecclesiastes 4 says this two are better than one because they have good return for their labor, and if one falls down, the other can help them up.

But pity anyone who is isolated and falls and has no one to help them up.

You see, when you're isolated, you have no accountability.

You can do whatever you want to do, and nobody's gonna call you on it because you're isolated.

When you're isolated, you have you have no encouragement because no one's there to help you and encourage you.

You're just on your own, and I don't know, not very, I'm not very good at encouraging myself very often.

I'm hard on myself.

I'm a big critique of everything that I do.

I need encouraging people around me.

And when you're isolated, you have no perspective.

When you're isolated, everything seems bigger than you, everything seems more powerful than you.

Everything seems to be able to take you out.

But when you're in a group, the group is bigger than the enemy.

So a small group is your posse, the small group is your protection, the next thing is your small group is your position.

A small group positions you to exceed what you thought possible.

2 Kings 4 3 says, Elisha says, Go around and ask all your neighbors to empty jar for empty jars and don't just ask for a few.

You see, some things in life you're gonna have to pray through, but a lot of things in life you're gonna have to people through.

You can pray through most things, but sometimes you need the people around you who can supply the jars that'll keep the miracle going.

Keep the oil pouring.

You see, God put the answers in the house, but he put the capacity in the community.

And by the way, that's why you need a church.

A lot of people wonder you know what, I don't think I need church.

I think I can do just fine on my own, not attend on Sunday, be just fine.

Have a group of people around me.

If I have a group, I'm fine.

But the reality is you do need a church.

You need a church that will celebrate with you like today, and then you need a group that will challenge you in a small group.

You need it all.

And a lot of times we come into a church wondering, what can the church do for me?

But the reality is your answer or your question should be, what can I do for the church?

The church is not the place where we come and just be like, oh, fill me, fill me, fill me, sing my favorite song, preach my favorite message, make sure that they have all my favorite coffee ready every time I get there.

No, the church is like, what can I do to help somebody get to know God better today?

Greeting at the door is to help somebody know God better.

Checking a kid in is to help somebody know God better.

Teaching a kid's class is to help somebody know God better.

Serving a cup of coffee is to help somebody know God better.

Leading in worship, being in the band is to help somebody know God better.

Your spot and your seat in worship is to help somebody get to know God better.

We need the big celebration, but then we need small group discipleship.

So we have the capacity in our life connected to the community around us.

And I can tell you, God has the answer for your life.

It is in your house.

It may be in your hands, it may be in the promises that He's given you.

But you know what I'm telling you that God has the answer, but you need a group that can bring out the capacity to contain it.

So often your destiny is connected to the people that you're connected to.

I've always said this: show me your friends, and I'll show you your future.

For instance, you might have the knowledge, but you need a group of people for wise counsel to turn knowledge into wisdom.

Knowledge just simply answers the what questions, but wisdom answers the why questions.

You might have the idea, but in the context of the community of creativity and conversation, it can birth into something powerful.

I wish I could say my greatest thoughts, my greatest ideas came out of this brilliant brain.

But the reality is most of the great ideas I've ever produced in my life came out of the result of good conversation with somebody that spurred me and encouraged me and made me look at something from a different perspective.

And in the conversation, I'm like, light bulb.

You may have the faith.

By the way, every single one of us is giving a measure of faith.

But there's something that happens in the context of community of a small group that will help me take that measure of faith and turn it into some very powerful action.

On Sunday, you may be a hearer of the word, but through the power of small group and the challenge to get in, get invested in what God is doing, you become a doer of the word.

You see, a small group positions you positions you to fulfill what God's called you to fulfill, to experience what God's called.

You to experience and to receive all that God is wanting for you to receive.

That was a better Amen moment, but I'll let you off the hook.

And finally, a small group can pick you up.

It's a pick me up.

We all need a pick me up.

We all need the people around us that will encourage us.

Galatians 6.2, carry each other's burdens, and this way you fulfill the law of Christ.

James 5.16, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

We go to God for salvation, but we go to one another for healing.

Hebrews 10.24, let us consider how we may spur one another on toward loving good deeds.

I told you about water skiing and how that group has helped me to continue water skiing.

And I don't have like now I have to decide if it's worth it for me to drive down there and ski, because they ski all the time.

And I just have to figure out my pattern and when I can get down there.

But I also love to golf.

And um I said I love to golf.

I I didn't say I'm great at golf.

I get my money's worth and swings for whatever it costs for the green fees.

Like I don't cut my short, there's no shortage there.

It's like put in some work today.

And uh I I play golf because it's fun, it's challenging, it's something that I feel like I'll never ever figure out, but I'm gonna keep trying until I do.

I love golf because of the group of guys I get to play golf with, and I'm always encouraged to be around them.

We laugh, we challenge, we talk about stuff.

I know what I'm supposed to pray about for the rest of the week after we play golf, and it's not just me.

But golf is a solo sport, really.

Unless you get to be in a tournament that is set up to be a team sport, and they call that a scramble.

And in a scramble, sometimes there's four people on a team, or sometimes there's two people on a team.

And I was just recently at an event for Convoy of Hope, which by the way, we're gonna share some video of some of the stuff we've been able to accomplish with Convoy of Hope this year in a few weeks.

You'll get to see that.

But I was, we were at this event and we get to play golf, and it was two of us, and it was amazing because that meant not every shot is relying on my capacity.

Meaning I don't have the pressure of hitting a perfect shot because I have somebody else that's gonna step up and hit after me.

And we may each on the team not have every perfect shot, but together, one shot's gonna be better than the other every single time.

And so we start playing, and on the first day, we we did okay.

We did really good, and then we did not so good, but we ended up okay, and we are tied for first in our flight, and then the next day we played better.

And going into the last three holes, we were tied for first, and I looked at my friend, Pastor Chris Carmona from People Church here in the city.

We've been best friends since we met in 2011.

We've planted churches together in the city, six months apart.

We continue to do life together.

Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds.

I was like, hey, we're tied for first right now.

We we need a birdie, which means one under the par, and then we or somehow on 17 or 18, he's like, all right, let's do it.

And so he pipes a drive way out there.

I I mess up my drive.

We get to the next hole, the next spot to hit the ball.

I chip up towards the green a little short.

He chips 30 yards past the green.

But guess what?

We get the better shot.

So then I take my shot and hit it up on the green.

It was a little closer than his shot, and then we had a hit, we hit, well, we hit our third putt.

We hit our first putt for a birdie.

We took the lead on 17.

Then on 18.

I hit a good drive, but he hit a better drive.

Thank you, Jesus.

Then our second shot, I hit the next shot about 10 yards off of the green, and it's a we're like, all right, it's a par four, so we have to get up and down to keep our one-shot lead.

Now we both kind of messed up the third shot.

I hit one pretty low on the green, he hit one way past the green.

So we had a 40-foot putt and two chances to save par.

And I put it, and it looked so good, it was almost in, and then right next to the hole, it just stopped.

Now, if I had been on my own, playing on my own, we would have not won first that day.

But you know, Chris, Pastor Chris from 40 yards away, 40 feet away, steps up and just hit that putt straight into the middle of the cup, and we won.

Now, on our own individually, we would have won nothing.

But because we were able to play together, we were able to accomplish so much more.

And that's what a small group will be for you.

It will be a pick-me-up because there are gonna be days in following Jesus that you're like, I didn't do so well today.

Oops, I made I didn't mean to do that.

I that was out of character for me.

Oh, I can do better in this area, but you know what?

It's okay.

The Bible says that, first of all, we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

The Bible says that there is not one righteous, not one.

The Bible says, but thank God, because God loved us, he sent his son to die on a cross for our sins before we knew we needed him.

And so that covers the penalty of my sin.

My sin past, my sin today, and my sin future.

But the reality is, what makes it so powerful is yes, my sin is covered, but I can be healed and whole when I'm in a group.

And you know why that is?

Because you don't have to carry the responsibility of every single thing you do, you don't have to carry the penalty of everything that you do.

If you can get in a group and say, listen, every group, no matter what they're teaching, we have groups that are Monday night football, all the way to Dance Like David, praise and burn.

And in between, Bible study, foundations for developing a mature follower of Jesus to all the groups, but every single one of them, no matter what they're teaching, will close by this.

Tell me, what can we pray for you this week?

How can we pray with you this week?

And every single week I know when we go to God with those needs, God hears them and he responds to those needs.

And there's something powerful about knowing I'm not in this by myself.

Whatever I'm facing, I'm not by myself.

Whatever I'm going through, I have a group of people around me to help because everyone around me is the pick-me-up.

That's my small group.

Can you receive that word today?

Let me pray for you.

I'm gonna release our small group leaders to go ahead and go to your spots very quickly to fill your table and be ready to receive.

Downstairs in the lobby, you'll be able to see all the groups available.

Talk to the leaders.

Through Renee, you'll be able to join groups.

If you're not sure about how to use Renee to join a group, we have a Renee help desk downstairs that we can help you.

But like I say, my goal in this entire message was just to encourage you for everyone to join one.

And I believe from now for the next eight weeks, this small group that you're about to join can be life-changing for you.

You can look back in eight weeks and say, wow, how much I've grown.

Or in eight weeks you can look back and say, life's kind of been the same.

It's up to you.

Let me pray for you.

Father, thank you for every single person in this room.

The opportunity that you give us to do life together, and thank you that we're so much better together.

And I pray for everyone in this room, Lord, that we would not just be an attender, but we'd actually dive in and belong to the family by being a part of a group so that our life could be changed, so that we could be encouraged with our people, protected, positioned for greatness, and picked up whenever we fall.

Keep your eyes closed.

Maybe you never made a decision to follow Jesus, and I want to give you the opportunity to do that.

Maybe the week or the month or the summer has been a drifting for you, away from really just the priority of Jesus in your life.

The Bible says in Ephesians 1 and 7, because of the sacrifice of the Messiah and his blood poured out on the altar of the cross, we're free from the penalties and punishments of our misdeeds.

Then it goes on to say, not just barely free, but abundantly free.

What that means is Jesus paid the price, so you don't have to pay the penalty.

And sin a lot of times is reduced down to an action, but I'm going to tell you, more than an action, it's it's a place.

It's actually a gap between you and your heavenly Father.

And when you confess your belief in Jesus and the price he paid on the cross for your sins, he bridges Jesus Himself.

The Bible says there's no other name whereby men must be saved but the name of Jesus.

And he literally bridges the gap between you and your heavenly father to bring you into relationship with him.

And if you've never done that, it'd be my honor to help you take that step today.

I'm gonna pray this prayer.

And after I pray this prayer, I want to just have the church celebrate for the decision that you've made.

Are you ready?

Let's pray this together.

Dear Jesus, thank you for loving me.

Okay, for paying a price I could never pay.

If you give me a gift, I could never earn it.

I believe.