Pastoral Care
"Belonging Together, Discovering Purpose, Experiencing Hope"
  
An Invitation...
 
Sunday 14th February 2010 will be our next new peoples lunch and you are invited to join us for lunch and fellowship.
 
Invitations will be sent but if you don't receive one and you would like to join in this opportunity to meet more of the church family please contact the Church Office - 5594 6633 
 
LIFE (Home) Groups
 
The purpose of a L.I.F.E. group is four-fold: 
 
It is to connect people together so as to provide an environment, where members can learn together more of God’s word,  develop  intimately  in  prayer and worship together, support and love one another in  fellowship and in doing so express the life of Christ to the community around them. 
 
LIFE groups are about:
  • Being Deliberate in Learning of the word of God.
  • Being Developed in Intimacy with God in prayer and worship.
  • Being Determined in Fellowship together.
  • Being Definite in the Expression of Christ in the community. 
 
A life group may operate for any length of time, from years to a matter of weeks. However no matter what the length of time, every group’s purpose encompasses the four factors of LIFE.
 
Acts 20:20
LIFE (Home) groups were the backbone of the early church.

The LIFE groups were the gathering together of the church regularly, at times other than public worship.

The “One Another” Principle:
  • Rom 12:10 be devoted to one another
  • Rom 15:7 accept one another
  • 1 Corth 12:25 care for one another
  • Gal 6:2 bear one another’s burdens
  • Eph 4:32 forgive one another
  • 1 Thess 5:11build up one another
  • Heb 10:24 stimulate one another to good deeds
  • James 5:16 confess your sins to one another
  • 1 Peter 4:10 serve one another
  • 1 Jn 4:11 love one another

One of the most effective settings to be obedient to the word of God is to pursue these Biblical actions and attitudes with “one another” is through LIFE groups ministry.
 
A church’s ability to provide a personal touch is often lost as it grows. It is through LIFE groups that people can be effectively cared for, nurtured and built up and  be part of the family.
 
The philosophy of SCC is to bring others to Christ and build on that foundation through the word of God and discipleship, encourage others to serve God and therefore bring glory to God. Everything that happens in the life of SCC has this basic philosophy behind it, including the ministry of LIFE groups.
 
1-11 Discipleship (one person one hour a week for one year)
 
The Great Commission of Jesus, from Matthew 28:19-20, is a call for us to make disciples, working alongside the Holy Spirit in their development to maturity, when they can in turn teach others.
 
In addition to group discipleship through LIFE groups, we offer and encourage one-on-one discipleship, giving opportunity in a more personal setting, to discuss different issues, looking to the scriptures, encouraging each other in living a life bringing glory to God.  The discipleship process really has no end because such a connection develops that long after the meetings have stopped, when you see each other the mutual encouragement to be more like the Savior has become a natural part of your conversation together.
 
The Mission of 1-11 Discipleship is:
  • To assist the believer to take a path of functioning spiritually
  • To assist the believer to develop spiritual maturity
 
And it’s purpose is:
  • To direct the disciple to live the life of Christ, so that their words and lifestyle will visibly affect others to yield their lives to the Lord, with specific focus on:
    - God's word
    - Worship and Prayer
    - Fellowship
    - Ministry
    - Mission
  • To multiply this effort in making other disciples and in doing so develop others for leadership
 
The three key elements to being a disciple of Christ:
  • Faithfulness
  • Availability
  • Teachability
 
The profile of a disciple is that they:
  • Seek Christ first and are taking steps to separate from sin (see Luke 9:23; Romans 12:1,2)
  • Continue in the word through study, memorization and application of the word of God to their life (see John 8:31; James 1:22-25)
  • Have a consistent devotional time and are developing in their prayer life (see Ephesians 6:18; John 15:5-7)
  • Demonstrate Christ's love by identifying with and serving other believers (seeJohn13:34,35; Galatians 5:13)
  • Are identifying with Christ in their environment and are actively sharing their faith (see Matthew 5:16; Colossians 4:6)
 
Welcoming
 
It is important to us that people feel welcomed as soon as they enter our building. 
 
We have teams of people who are there first to greet everyone who comes to a worship service. There are also people especially ready to greet and make feel welcome people who are visitors or are looking for a regular place of worship.
 
Anyone who feels called to this Ministry should contact Bruce Murray for further details.

Congregational Care

At SCC our aim is:
  • To acknowledge that every person is valuable before God
  • That every person who has association with SCC will be followed up and effectively cared for and encouraged in their life and growth until the time they leave their association with SCC 
  • That the congregational care afforded by the church will shepherd individuals toward Christlikeness
That Congregational care be ministry that occurs naturally from within the body of SCC
 
Our purpose in Congregational care is:
  • To follow up on new people in the congregation, to provide a contact link person for them to assist in their settling into the life of the church through.
    - Locking In!
  • To continue regular contact and follow up for as long as there is association with SCC so that there is always conscious, heart-felt care directed towards a family through.
    - Communication cards
    - Personal contact through greeters
    - Personal contact through carers
  • To strengthen the individual in their sense of belonging to the church family by encouraging regular involvement in worship, LIFE groups and fellowship
Congregational Care is spread over two areas:
  • Carers of new people 
  • Carers of regular members and attendees
 
Both the above areas are facilitated regionally across the Gold Coast by Care Coordinators in charge of Regions.

Community Care
 
In caring for the spiritual needs of our fellowship we also aim, where possible, to care for the physical needs.
 
Community Care looks to provide help and reference to care agencies in relation to food packages, accommodation and financial help.
 
Food packages are supplied at the discretion of the Pastors and the Community Care co-ordinator.
 
Sunshine baskets are given to people in times of illness or in need of uplifting. Sunshine baskets are a bag of individually wrapped small gifts to be opened one a day.
 
Home cooked meals can also be supplied to families where a member is ill or in hospital.

 
Professional Christian Counselling is available to the church family and the wider community.
 
Anyone interested in this service may contact the church office on 5594 6633 to make an appointment.
 
The qualified staff involved with this ministry see it as a way of assisting people to find God’s purpose and peace in times of distress and uncertainty.
 
Fees are a requested donation on a sliding scale of income after tax.