September 15, 2025 • 14 mins
This week at HOPE has been all about GROUPS! That's why we think this podcast episode is a great second listen this week! This episode originally aired in 2023 and we think it's still worth a listen today too!
Thanks for being a part of the HOPE community as we continue conversations about faith and hope! You can learn more at meethope.org or find us on socials @meethopechurch. Join in for worship on Sundays at meethope.online.church! Have a question? Contact us at podcast@meethope.org.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello Hope Podcast listeners.
We live in a fast-paced worldwhere new material and ideas are
thrown at you 24-7.
Some of you told us this andsaid I want to listen to
everything, but it's hard tocatch up.
Well, we're here to help.
We desire to be a place that isgrateful for and respectful of
your precious time, and so toserve you best, we will every so
often be resharing pastepisodes that we call Second
(00:22):
Listen, because we think theyare worth taking a second to
replay.
Even if you are an every weeklistener, we think having a
second listen to these episodeswill make an impact on your
weekend life, and if you haveheard this one but are behind on
new episodes, now is a greattime to catch up on any others
you have missed.
Thank you, and here we go.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Welcome to the Meet Hope Podcast, where we have
conversations about faith andhope.
Hope is one church made ofpeople living out their faith
through two expressions inperson and online.
We believe a hybrid faithexperience can lead to a growing
influence in our community andour world for the sake of others
.
Welcome to Hope.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Welcome.
My name is Heather Mandela.
I am one of the pastors here atHope and I am excited to be
talking to you today about smallgroups.
We have been talking about ourWorship Plus Two and last
episode Pastor Rick spoke toKelly and Bill Walenda about
volunteering, and this episode Iam excited to be talking to
(01:32):
Jeff Macarella and Lauren GraceBond about small groups.
So welcome guys, we're gladyou're here, thank you.
So I want to start just byletting everybody get to meet
you a little bit.
So tell me a little bit aboutyourselves.
Who are you and how did you endup here at Hope?
Speaker 4 (01:53):
Hi, I'm Lauren Grace Bond, and my husband Ken and I
have nine children.
The oldest is 37 and theyoungest is almost 15.
And when he was in preschool heattended Hope.
Yes, he did.
That's how we got to know Hope.
We were at another church atthe time, but this was my church
away from church.
I did all the extras here, andthen my two granddaughters also
(02:15):
attended kindergarten here.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
It was a family affair.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Oh, yeah, yep.
Speaker 5 (02:20):
Very nice.
Jeff Macarella, married toCourtney.
We have two daughters, tess andSloan, six and three.
Our older one, tess, came topreschool here as well and
that's kind of how we were firstintroduced, I guess, officially
here.
But Kelly and Bill Olenda alsowere another connection that we
had here to Hope and we justabsolutely love it here.
And, yeah, our daughter was thefirst one to kind of tip us off
(02:41):
to come here and born andraised in the area.
So, yeah, excited to do thispodcast.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
That's great and we love that both of you are here
with us, and I want to pause forjust one second and say that I
think it's really cool.
You guys really don't have anyconnection outside of the fact
that I asked you to come hereand do this with me and you
don't know each otherparticularly well, but both of
you came to Hope throughTomorrow's Hope Preschool, which
I just think is a really reallycool thing, and I just wanted
(03:07):
to make note of that.
So welcome, we're glad that youare both here with us today.
We here at Hope believe thatsmall groups is kind of like
where the rubber meets the road,so to speak.
Right, it's where we start towrestle with and apply the
things that we are learning andhearing at worship, the things
that we're hearing in the Bible,and figuring out what it looks
(03:27):
like to walk with Jesus in oureveryday lives.
And so, just like Jesus spenthis time with the 12 disciples
and he sent the disciples out tomeet others in groups of two,
and all of that tells us andspeaks to the importance of
doing life together, and wereally believe that that's how
God designed us, and smallgroups is one of the ways that
(03:49):
we get to do life together hereat Hope.
So I want you guys to share,though, why small groups are
important to you.
What is it that you like aboutsmall groups?
Why do you do them?
So what appeals to you aboutsmall groups, lauren?
Speaker 4 (04:08):
I love small groups because they connect me with the
people in the church.
It's hard when people are inand out, and here at Hope
there's multiple services.
It's just a great opportunityto get to know people.
I enjoy serving as a smallgroup leader and I enjoy the
ministry that goes on.
You know the chit chat beforeand after praying for people in
(04:29):
the group.
It's just very powerful.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
Agreed, Jeff, tell me how did you get connected into
small groups?
Speaker 5 (04:38):
So Courtney sort of gave me the nudge.
Now I don't know if she wantedme to get out of the house on
Thursdays but okay.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
So regardless it was the right decision and Bill.
Speaker 5 (04:46):
Valenda also kind of pulled me along a little bit too
.
So a little tongue in cheekthere with Courtney and Bill,
but you kind of have that nudge.
So I went and I started doingit.
I figured, what do I have tolose?
I very much so recall whatPastor Rick said a handful of
months ago now it's like liveyour Mondays like Sundays, and
that's that's easy to do in themoment when you're sitting there
Sunday listening to the message, and then you can apply that on
(05:06):
Monday.
But it tends to get a littlebit harder on Tuesday, wednesday
, thursday.
So I just figured okay, jeff,go buy a Bible.
I bought one, had a little bitof a commitment with God and
said okay, I bought your book,so I'm going to come on
Thursdays and show up, so you'recommitted.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Now I got to figure it out, figure it out Right.
Speaker 5 (05:22):
So it's just very fulfilling when you go there.
You leave there, as Lauren wassaying, the relationships that
you do tend to build andlistening to people.
It's just, it's fantastic,really is.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
I'm glad to hear it.
And that does lead us rightinto what my next question is,
which you know what do you getout of it?
You know you spoke a little bitabout fulfillment relationship.
Tell me, jeff.
Speaker 5 (05:49):
Because it's worth it right.
It gives you opportunity tolisten to what others are
thinking, what they've beenthrough, gives you perspectives
and, like Pastor Jeff said,we're all disciples of Christ
and we can all go spread theword.
So in order to spread the word,you got to be pretty savvy with
what that word is, though, aswell.
So really commit yourselves toyour faith, not just show up on
(06:11):
Sunday and take that into Mondayand then think you're doing
pretty okay.
So I get a lot of fulfillmentout of it listening to folks.
Hopefully, if I do share what Ishare, folks are taken at the
heart and I think everybody canlearn from one another.
So the fulfillment I getleaving there Thursday nights
just sets the tone for theweekend.
You can go into Friday,Saturday, Sunday with that
reaffirmed.
(06:31):
You know what it means to be aChrist follower, so it's
phenomenal.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
That's great.
So now I love that you talkabout it giving you that boost
to get you through the restright, like so that midweek, or
that partly through the week,when you start to feel the
demands of life catching up onyou, becomes the spot that you
can kind of get refilled to makeit through.
Speaker 5 (06:54):
Absolutely, because there's a lot of stuff out there
with work or personalrelationships that can strain
that.
It's hard For sure, and so Ithink small group helps you be
that vision and that beacon ofokay, get back to center, don't
lose sight of what you were justlearned or listened to on
Sunday.
So it kind of gives you okay,what port am I going to?
(07:14):
And I'm still heading to theright port.
So that's what it gives me.
And hopefully you know helpothers along the way with
listening to them and what theyshare in the small group as well
.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Yeah, well, thanks for that, lauren.
Tell us, tell me, what is itthat you like about small groups
?
Why is it so important to you?
Speaker 4 (07:30):
I like the accountability.
If you just attend church onSunday, you can come and go and
nobody knows what's going on inyour life, what things you're
working on to be more like Jesus.
So that's an important aspectand I think, also being the
hands and feet and heart ofJesus to each other, showing
each other love, compassion,empathy when people are
(07:52):
struggling, being in listeningear for each other.
I just think that's soimportant and for me personally
that happens a lot more in smallgroup.
It happens on Sunday andespecially if you see people you
know I try to introduce myselfto people I don't know, but
small group is really the bestplace to be sharing this on that
kind of a level.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Yeah, to be able to wrestle with some of those
questions that are hard or thatyou're not sure what that looks
like in your own life, right?
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
So now, for those who may not have been in a small
group before, tell me they mightbe a little nervous.
Maybe they feel like, well, Idon't know anything, how can I
go to a small group, do you?
Do you have to know something?
Is this something that theyneed to be doing before they can
go to small group for the firsttime?
I know I'm throwing thisquestion at you cold, sorry.
(08:41):
I can see the panicked look onboth of your faces.
In your experiences.
Are there prerequisites tosmall groups, lauren?
How about you?
Speaker 4 (08:51):
I think it depends on the small group.
My group I'm having now Bibleand Prayer 101, that's the whole
point.
People in my last small groupsaid, oh, I don't want to Bible
study because I don't read theBible and I'm afraid to read the
Bible and I don't pray out loud, I'm afraid to pray out loud.
And I said well, would you likeus to have a group where you
(09:12):
learn about the Bible and learnhow to read it and you learn how
to pray out loud?
And they said yes.
So, they overcame their fear.
We'll see how it goes as we goalong.
But yeah, and then other groupsmight be on a higher level, but
it's very easy by reading thedescription or talking to the
leader, you can really find thegroup that's right for you.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Excellent, Jeff.
How about you?
Was that one of your concerns?
Speaker 5 (09:37):
Yeah, just I think you have to get over that.
What is this all about?
Like, what is small group?
You hear folks talk about itand Pastor Jeff gets up there
and he's like everybody shoulddo small group and you're like,
okay, but what does that?
Speaker 3 (09:47):
what does that mean?
What does?
Speaker 5 (09:48):
that entail.
You know homework, you know allthat stuff.
So I think if you are somewhatinclined or intrigued, follow
the nudge that you're gettingand get ahead and sign up for
one.
And if you go for one session,it's what?
Two hours, an hour and a halfof your life?
And if you don't like it, youdon't like it.
Try another group, you know,just don't give up on the first
(10:08):
shot.
So it might be not now but notforever.
So follow the nudge that you'regetting, from whomever it is,
and go ahead and try it out.
And if you don't like it, okay,so be it.
But I strongly feel that you'lllike it and push yourself.
I like to say you got to becomfortable, being uncomfortable
on certain times, and I thinksmall group is that avenue, and
(10:33):
then the doors get open fromthere and then there's there's a
lot of good things that comeout of small group for the group
and the relationships, for thechurch, the community, and icing
on the cake is that you benefitfrom it as well yeah, when
you're willing to take thatchance, right, yeah, no, I agree
, and I think it's one of thethings that we try really hard
at.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
Hope to do is is have a variety entryways.
So if you're not sure, you'venever done it before, there are
lots of non-threatening, notscary, no major requirements.
You know that kind of a thing.
And then, if you've been doingthis for a little while and
you're looking to dive evendeeper, there are studies that
will do that for you as well,and so it is about finding that
(11:14):
right fit, and nothing isforever.
We don't chain you into a groupand say that they're your best
friends for the rest of yourlife.
You find where you fit,excellent, very good.
So I want to talk a little bitabout hope, because that is one
of the themes of this podcast iswhere we find hope.
(11:37):
So I want to ask each of youright now in your lives, where
are you finding hope, jeff?
Where are you finding hope?
Speaker 5 (11:48):
I find it everywhere.
I think a lot of the times Isee it through my girls and
Courtney just little things thatthey do because we come here
and we're very much so a part ofthe community and it's
important to us as well.
So we try to teach some of thestuff that we learn here and we
teach it at home and wereinforce it and it's just nice
to see how the hope comesthrough in your children.
(12:09):
But I also do travel quite abit for work and there are a lot
of bad behaviors out there.
But if you want to see the goodones and you focus on the good
ones I'm a huge fan of, if youwant to focus on it, you want to
see it, you'll see it Subtlethings, little things and then
you can carry that on as well.
I try to do that when I travelas much as I can, so you see
(12:31):
hope where you want to see itand it's always there.
It's just are you looking andare you allowing yourself to see
the hope that's out there?
And if you do, it's there.
Focus on the positive.
Positivity is contagious.
So you can see hope all the timeif you're looking for it.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
I love that At Vacation Bible School we teach
the kids their God sightings.
So where did you see God today?
And it may be from someoneholding that door open to
something really profound, whereGod speaks to your heart, but
you can find him if you'relooking.
So, lauren Grace, tell me,where are you finding hope today
?
Speaker 4 (13:06):
I'm finding hope today in the character of God.
I'm finding hope in hissovereignty, that anything that
comes into my life he isallowing in his goodness, that
he's working all things togetherfor good for me and in his love
.
And when I love and acceptmyself as he loves and accepts
me, it's easier for me to loveand accept others.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Yes, that brings me hope, thank you, for me to love
and accept others.
Yes, that brings me hope, thankyou.
We hope that this has broughtall of you out there hope as
well.
If you are not currently in asmall group and you are thinking
about it, I want to encourageyou.
You can check out our webpage,meethopeorg slash small groups.
Feel free to shoot me an email,give a yell at any point in
time.
I'd love to help you find thatperfect place to connect both
(13:48):
with God and with others as yougrow deeper in your
relationships.
We hope you have a fantasticweek.
Thank you both for joining ustoday.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Thanks for being a part of the Hope Community as we
continue our conversationsabout faith and hope.
If you don't already, pleasejoin us for worship on Sundays
or on demand.
If you don't already, pleasejoin us for worship on Sundays
or on demand.
You can learn more atmeethopeorg or find us on
(14:22):
socials at meethopechurch.
Hello Hope Podcast listeners.
We live in a fast-paced worldwhere new material and ideas are
thrown at you 24-7.
Some of you told us this andsaid I want to listen to
everything, but it's hard tocatch up.
Well, we're here to help.
We desire to be a place that isgrateful for and respectful of
your precious time, and so toserve you best, we will every so
often be resharing pastepisodes that we call Second
(00:22):
Listen, because we think theyare worth taking a second to
replay.
Even if you are an every weeklistener, we think having a
second listen to these episodeswill make an impact on your
weekend life, and if you haveheard this one but are behind on
new episodes, now is a greattime to catch up on any others
you have missed.
Thank you, and here we go.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Welcome to the Meet Hope Podcast, where we have
conversations about faith andhope.
Hope is one church made ofpeople living out their faith
through two expressions inperson and online.
We believe a hybrid faithexperience can lead to a growing
influence in our community andour world for the sake of others
.
Welcome to Hope.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Welcome.
My name is Heather Mandela.
I am one of the pastors here atHope and I am excited to be
talking to you today about smallgroups.
We have been talking about ourWorship Plus Two and last
episode Pastor Rick spoke toKelly and Bill Walenda about
volunteering, and this episode Iam excited to be talking to
(01:32):
Jeff Macarella and Lauren GraceBond about small groups.
So welcome guys, we're gladyou're here, thank you.
So I want to start just byletting everybody get to meet
you a little bit.
So tell me a little bit aboutyourselves.
Who are you and how did you endup here at Hope?
Speaker 4 (01:53):
Hi, I'm Lauren Grace Bond, and my husband Ken and I
have nine children.
The oldest is 37 and theyoungest is almost 15.
And when he was in preschool heattended Hope.
Yes, he did.
That's how we got to know Hope.
We were at another church atthe time, but this was my church
away from church.
I did all the extras here, andthen my two granddaughters also
(02:15):
attended kindergarten here.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
It was a family affair.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Oh, yeah, yep.
Speaker 5 (02:20):
Very nice.
Jeff Macarella, married toCourtney.
We have two daughters, tess andSloan, six and three.
Our older one, tess, came topreschool here as well and
that's kind of how we were firstintroduced, I guess, officially
here.
But Kelly and Bill Olenda alsowere another connection that we
had here to Hope and we justabsolutely love it here.
And, yeah, our daughter was thefirst one to kind of tip us off
(02:41):
to come here and born andraised in the area.
So, yeah, excited to do thispodcast.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
That's great and we love that both of you are here
with us, and I want to pause forjust one second and say that I
think it's really cool.
You guys really don't have anyconnection outside of the fact
that I asked you to come hereand do this with me and you
don't know each otherparticularly well, but both of
you came to Hope throughTomorrow's Hope Preschool, which
I just think is a really reallycool thing, and I just wanted
(03:07):
to make note of that.
So welcome, we're glad that youare both here with us today.
We here at Hope believe thatsmall groups is kind of like
where the rubber meets the road,so to speak.
Right, it's where we start towrestle with and apply the
things that we are learning andhearing at worship, the things
that we're hearing in the Bible,and figuring out what it looks
(03:27):
like to walk with Jesus in oureveryday lives.
And so, just like Jesus spenthis time with the 12 disciples
and he sent the disciples out tomeet others in groups of two,
and all of that tells us andspeaks to the importance of
doing life together, and wereally believe that that's how
God designed us, and smallgroups is one of the ways that
(03:49):
we get to do life together hereat Hope.
So I want you guys to share,though, why small groups are
important to you.
What is it that you like aboutsmall groups?
Why do you do them?
So what appeals to you aboutsmall groups, lauren?
Speaker 4 (04:08):
I love small groups because they connect me with the
people in the church.
It's hard when people are inand out, and here at Hope
there's multiple services.
It's just a great opportunityto get to know people.
I enjoy serving as a smallgroup leader and I enjoy the
ministry that goes on.
You know the chit chat beforeand after praying for people in
(04:29):
the group.
It's just very powerful.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
Agreed, Jeff, tell me how did you get connected into
small groups?
Speaker 5 (04:38):
So Courtney sort of gave me the nudge.
Now I don't know if she wantedme to get out of the house on
Thursdays but okay.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
So regardless it was the right decision and Bill.
Speaker 5 (04:46):
Valenda also kind of pulled me along a little bit too
.
So a little tongue in cheekthere with Courtney and Bill,
but you kind of have that nudge.
So I went and I started doingit.
I figured, what do I have tolose?
I very much so recall whatPastor Rick said a handful of
months ago now it's like liveyour Mondays like Sundays, and
that's that's easy to do in themoment when you're sitting there
Sunday listening to the message, and then you can apply that on
(05:06):
Monday.
But it tends to get a littlebit harder on Tuesday, wednesday
, thursday.
So I just figured okay, jeff,go buy a Bible.
I bought one, had a little bitof a commitment with God and
said okay, I bought your book,so I'm going to come on
Thursdays and show up, so you'recommitted.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Now I got to figure it out, figure it out Right.
Speaker 5 (05:22):
So it's just very fulfilling when you go there.
You leave there, as Lauren wassaying, the relationships that
you do tend to build andlistening to people.
It's just, it's fantastic,really is.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
I'm glad to hear it.
And that does lead us rightinto what my next question is,
which you know what do you getout of it?
You know you spoke a little bitabout fulfillment relationship.
Tell me, jeff.
Speaker 5 (05:49):
Because it's worth it right.
It gives you opportunity tolisten to what others are
thinking, what they've beenthrough, gives you perspectives
and, like Pastor Jeff said,we're all disciples of Christ
and we can all go spread theword.
So in order to spread the word,you got to be pretty savvy with
what that word is, though, aswell.
So really commit yourselves toyour faith, not just show up on
(06:11):
Sunday and take that into Mondayand then think you're doing
pretty okay.
So I get a lot of fulfillmentout of it listening to folks.
Hopefully, if I do share what Ishare, folks are taken at the
heart and I think everybody canlearn from one another.
So the fulfillment I getleaving there Thursday nights
just sets the tone for theweekend.
You can go into Friday,Saturday, Sunday with that
reaffirmed.
(06:31):
You know what it means to be aChrist follower, so it's
phenomenal.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
That's great.
So now I love that you talkabout it giving you that boost
to get you through the restright, like so that midweek, or
that partly through the week,when you start to feel the
demands of life catching up onyou, becomes the spot that you
can kind of get refilled to makeit through.
Speaker 5 (06:54):
Absolutely, because there's a lot of stuff out there
with work or personalrelationships that can strain
that.
It's hard For sure, and so Ithink small group helps you be
that vision and that beacon ofokay, get back to center, don't
lose sight of what you were justlearned or listened to on
Sunday.
So it kind of gives you okay,what port am I going to?
(07:14):
And I'm still heading to theright port.
So that's what it gives me.
And hopefully you know helpothers along the way with
listening to them and what theyshare in the small group as well
.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Yeah, well, thanks for that, lauren.
Tell us, tell me, what is itthat you like about small groups
?
Why is it so important to you?
Speaker 4 (07:30):
I like the accountability.
If you just attend church onSunday, you can come and go and
nobody knows what's going on inyour life, what things you're
working on to be more like Jesus.
So that's an important aspectand I think, also being the
hands and feet and heart ofJesus to each other, showing
each other love, compassion,empathy when people are
(07:52):
struggling, being in listeningear for each other.
I just think that's soimportant and for me personally
that happens a lot more in smallgroup.
It happens on Sunday andespecially if you see people you
know I try to introduce myselfto people I don't know, but
small group is really the bestplace to be sharing this on that
kind of a level.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Yeah, to be able to wrestle with some of those
questions that are hard or thatyou're not sure what that looks
like in your own life, right?
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
So now, for those who may not have been in a small
group before, tell me they mightbe a little nervous.
Maybe they feel like, well, Idon't know anything, how can I
go to a small group, do you?
Do you have to know something?
Is this something that theyneed to be doing before they can
go to small group for the firsttime?
I know I'm throwing thisquestion at you cold, sorry.
(08:41):
I can see the panicked look onboth of your faces.
In your experiences.
Are there prerequisites tosmall groups, lauren?
How about you?
Speaker 4 (08:51):
I think it depends on the small group.
My group I'm having now Bibleand Prayer 101, that's the whole
point.
People in my last small groupsaid, oh, I don't want to Bible
study because I don't read theBible and I'm afraid to read the
Bible and I don't pray out loud, I'm afraid to pray out loud.
And I said well, would you likeus to have a group where you
(09:12):
learn about the Bible and learnhow to read it and you learn how
to pray out loud?
And they said yes.
So, they overcame their fear.
We'll see how it goes as we goalong.
But yeah, and then other groupsmight be on a higher level, but
it's very easy by reading thedescription or talking to the
leader, you can really find thegroup that's right for you.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Excellent, Jeff.
How about you?
Was that one of your concerns?
Speaker 5 (09:37):
Yeah, just I think you have to get over that.
What is this all about?
Like, what is small group?
You hear folks talk about itand Pastor Jeff gets up there
and he's like everybody shoulddo small group and you're like,
okay, but what does that?
Speaker 3 (09:47):
what does that mean?
What does?
Speaker 5 (09:48):
that entail.
You know homework, you know allthat stuff.
So I think if you are somewhatinclined or intrigued, follow
the nudge that you're gettingand get ahead and sign up for
one.
And if you go for one session,it's what?
Two hours, an hour and a halfof your life?
And if you don't like it, youdon't like it.
Try another group, you know,just don't give up on the first
(10:08):
shot.
So it might be not now but notforever.
So follow the nudge that you'regetting, from whomever it is,
and go ahead and try it out.
And if you don't like it, okay,so be it.
But I strongly feel that you'lllike it and push yourself.
I like to say you got to becomfortable, being uncomfortable
on certain times, and I thinksmall group is that avenue, and
(10:33):
then the doors get open fromthere and then there's there's a
lot of good things that comeout of small group for the group
and the relationships, for thechurch, the community, and icing
on the cake is that you benefitfrom it as well yeah, when
you're willing to take thatchance, right, yeah, no, I agree
, and I think it's one of thethings that we try really hard
at.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
Hope to do is is have a variety entryways.
So if you're not sure, you'venever done it before, there are
lots of non-threatening, notscary, no major requirements.
You know that kind of a thing.
And then, if you've been doingthis for a little while and
you're looking to dive evendeeper, there are studies that
will do that for you as well,and so it is about finding that
(11:14):
right fit, and nothing isforever.
We don't chain you into a groupand say that they're your best
friends for the rest of yourlife.
You find where you fit,excellent, very good.
So I want to talk a little bitabout hope, because that is one
of the themes of this podcast iswhere we find hope.
(11:37):
So I want to ask each of youright now in your lives, where
are you finding hope, jeff?
Where are you finding hope?
Speaker 5 (11:48):
I find it everywhere.
I think a lot of the times Isee it through my girls and
Courtney just little things thatthey do because we come here
and we're very much so a part ofthe community and it's
important to us as well.
So we try to teach some of thestuff that we learn here and we
teach it at home and wereinforce it and it's just nice
to see how the hope comesthrough in your children.
(12:09):
But I also do travel quite abit for work and there are a lot
of bad behaviors out there.
But if you want to see the goodones and you focus on the good
ones I'm a huge fan of, if youwant to focus on it, you want to
see it, you'll see it Subtlethings, little things and then
you can carry that on as well.
I try to do that when I travelas much as I can, so you see
(12:31):
hope where you want to see itand it's always there.
It's just are you looking andare you allowing yourself to see
the hope that's out there?
And if you do, it's there.
Focus on the positive.
Positivity is contagious.
So you can see hope all the timeif you're looking for it.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
I love that At Vacation Bible School we teach
the kids their God sightings.
So where did you see God today?
And it may be from someoneholding that door open to
something really profound, whereGod speaks to your heart, but
you can find him if you'relooking.
So, lauren Grace, tell me,where are you finding hope today
?
Speaker 4 (13:06):
I'm finding hope today in the character of God.
I'm finding hope in hissovereignty, that anything that
comes into my life he isallowing in his goodness, that
he's working all things togetherfor good for me and in his love
.
And when I love and acceptmyself as he loves and accepts
me, it's easier for me to loveand accept others.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Yes, that brings me hope, thank you, for me to love
and accept others.
Yes, that brings me hope, thankyou.
We hope that this has broughtall of you out there hope as
well.
If you are not currently in asmall group and you are thinking
about it, I want to encourageyou.
You can check out our webpage,meethopeorg slash small groups.
Feel free to shoot me an email,give a yell at any point in
time.
I'd love to help you find thatperfect place to connect both
(13:48):
with God and with others as yougrow deeper in your
relationships.
We hope you have a fantasticweek.
Thank you both for joining ustoday.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Thanks for being a part of the Hope Community as we
continue our conversationsabout faith and hope.
If you don't already, pleasejoin us for worship on Sundays
or on demand.
If you don't already, pleasejoin us for worship on Sundays
or on demand.
You can learn more atmeethopeorg or find us on
(14:22):
socials at meethopechurch.
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