The second contact letter on our way to begin a small group to follow Christ.  This will give you ideas as you firm up plans to begin the group with other leaders.

Dear <invitee>

As a follow-up to the letter i sent you in <month>, I’m looking forward to the first meeting of
our worship/study group on <date> at 7:00pm. <leader> will be
leading the studies along with me, and we hope to meet every week at the same time
and place, except on some holidays, until the end of <month>. Here are a few brief notes
from the leadership meeting held on <date> :

1. Men & women will have the same teaching, together in one group

2. After worship and teaching times, we may break off into separate prayer groups

3. If the group is too large, volunteers will be encouraged to develop new groups

4. Study times will be formal – homework will be assigned, with the Bible as source

* <leaders>I will lead most study times, as long as God leads us
* <leaders> will be guiding us as we sing

5. Leaders will remain under the authority of church elders

6. The group will be closed to new members after the second week

Here’s how to get there:

<map>

If the time, place, or meeting format poses any kind of problem for you, I highly
recommend the young-adult Sunday School class meeting in the <alternative group location>
each Sunday at 9:00am. <leader> is the facilitator – this
group will also be meeting through summer.

<leader> and I have already had a few very special study-planning sessions, and we
are excited to realize that God has put similar concerns on each of our minds. The
series of weeknight studies will guide us through Jesus’ commands, taken from the
gospel. At least the first six weeks will focus on the very first of these commands,
which are :

1. Repent (Matthew 4:17)

2. Follow me (Matthew 4:19)

3. Rejoice and be glad [with reference to persecution] (Matthew 5:12)

4. Let your light shine [with reference to our works] (Matthew 5:16)

There is a very special significance and purpose behind the order of these commands,
and God willing, we will all be encouraged, blessed, and motivated as we take steps
toward obedience. Each week, we will be encouraged to grow in a more intimate way
with God and each other.

Do you believe that obedience to God is His attempt to bring you into bondage and
misery ? Think it out … (Romans 8:28, etc.) Yet we are afraid, or lazy, or too
self-centered to obey with all our hearts (this is an area where God has really been
speaking to me.) Please pray with me, that we can begin to clearly see our need for
obedience.

If you don’t have other plans for tonight, why not take 30 minutes and scan through the
first five chapters of Matthew ? This will be an excellent primer for our first two
meetings.

From my own reading lately…

“When we give, there is a risk involved. The risk may not be as dramatic as risking
our lives, but it is a risk, nonetheless. If we give our time to the Lord’s work, we may
not finish projects at home. If we give our love to someone, we risk painful rejection. If
we give money in a sacrificial way, maybe we’ll be without adequate reserves for
unexpected expenses.

But the risks we take in giving are nothing more than the risks of Christianity itself.
Maybe it’s all a sham, maybe the promises of God are a pack of lies. We put our faith on
the line when we decide to give [and obey!].

And that’s just the point – taking a risk is another way of talking about faith in the
God who invites us to give Him our whole lives. When we take Him up on that invitation,
when we give ourselves to Him, it is then that our walk with God becomes more than a
comfortable idea to which we have given assent. We begin to move our faith from the
level road of textbook theory to the uneven terrain of daily living. It is in the risk of
giving that our God shows Himself to be true and faithful and powerful.” – Jim Carpenter

With giving, faith, and obedience in mind, we know that “It was he who gave some to be
apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and
teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may
be built up until we reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and
become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” This is our
goal. – Ephesians 4:11-13

Take care and I hope to see you on the <start date>,

<leader>