Resources for you
Resources for you
Through easily accessible resources, we encourage our LifeGroups to grow in their faith as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit on our journeys of sanctification. We seek to be groups who do life together, modeled after the early church model found in Acts 2, through life-giving relationships, serving our neighbors, excellent worship, and spiritual growth.
Mission Opportunity
Your group can apply for a community service grant up to $500 to assist in funding a community service project you want to do. Mission board was gifted 10% of the total earnings from the north wing capital campaign to use toward mission and community service projects. We have donated over $300,000 to local, regional and international projects over the past 5 years. Mission Board would love to spend our last $100,000 on your passion projects within the community. If your group is interested you can access the application by clicking the button to the side.
All applications can be sent to Mandi Cutchins at mcutchins@vbumc.org for mission board review. The mission board meets the first Thursday of every month and will review applications then. If you need project ideas, contact Mandi Cutchins at mcutchins@vbumc.org. Now get out there and serve!
VBUMC Discipleship Pathway
As we seek to Discover What God Can Do Through You… here at Virginia Beach United Methodist, this Discipleship Pathway is vital for us to grow in faith, love, and as Disciples of Christ Jesus. In this Pathway, we can see that all of our great ministries are tied together to create loving, lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ. As our various ministries lead us along our spiritual journeys of faith, we can help encourage everyone to grow into God’s love as we first know it, then as we experience it, and then as we live it. This Pathway is meant to enable us to grow as a church and to also reach out into the community so that we may connect, partner, and share God with all those we come into contact with. Our Pathway flows in multiple directions as we not only progress on the pathway ourselves in our journey with Christ Jesus, but as we share our wisdom, love, and faith with others in order that we may be a God-centered community of believers who are discovering what God can do through them to be a lighthouse to the oceanfront and the world.
RESOURCES
List of Lifegroups here
Interested in joining a lifegroup? Click the button below to find one that best fits you!
Learn More
Together we are a community of believers. What does that mean, the word community? We believe that together in fellowship we grow closer to God and one another. The bible speaks about iron sharpening iron. We believe that together we grow stronger. We are a community of believers.
We strive to be a church without walls. Jesus calls for us to go outside the walls to reach the lost and the broken. It is there that the lost will be found. Most churches find it is comfortable to stay within the walls, but we make it an effort to be like the church from the book of Acts, to see our city changed.
We highly value our relationships with one another. We look to grow through fellowship, and ultimately growing closer to God. We value the word of God, and the leadership of the Holy Spirit. We look to extend grace to all of the lost and broken, and lead those with no hope to the hope of Jesus Christ.
Book Resources
These books are for you to grow as a leader, to be a part of a thriving group doing life together, and to give understanding on the importance of Methodist beliefs including why LifeGroups are so important to our discipleship journeys.
A step-by-step, book for you on how to plan for, launch, build, sustain, and multiply highly effective, transformational, healthy small group experiences where people grow spiritually together.
This book is filled with sparkling humor and glowing generosity, these essays offer a stirring look at how full our lives could be if we could find the joy in loving others and in being loved unconditionally.
Bob Goff spent decades as an attorney, trying to figure out how to live a whimsical, impactful life. These days, he calls himself a "recovering lawyer" because after practicing law for 25 years, then becoming the Honorary Consul to Uganda, he gave up his law firm to pursue writing and speaking full time. He's a New York Times bestselling author several times over and runs a popular weekly podcast.
What makes a group work; the roles of members; and how to find solutions for problems including boredom, noncompliance, aggression, overneediness, and nonstop talking.
Small groups are the key to impactful, long-term change in your life and the life of your community. Healthy small-group environments don't just naturally happen; it needs to be fostered. You have to make it happen, even when your people may be scattered.
The church needs leaders who have the clear-eyed courage to pursue the hardest part of the ministry journey: seeing yourself. By unpacking the most common personal challenges we experience in ministry and offering guided, prayerful reflection to overcome them, Linhart helps leaders develop the self-awareness necessary for authentic and effective Christian ministry leadership.
These five marks will grant a greater knowledge and appreciation for why and how you follow Jesus so that you can emerge with a solid foundation to keep your spiritual house standing strong. Each chapter ends with questions for reflection or discussion.
People don’t want to be managed; they want to be led. Trust and Inspire is a new way of leading that starts with the belief that people are creative, collaborative, and full of potential. People with this kind of leader are inspired to become the best version of themselves and to produce their best work.
Leaders have been using Leadership and Self-Deception to improve their lives and workplaces—areas such as team building, conflict resolution, and personal growth and development, to name a few.
How do you do the hard things that come with the responsibility of leadership while remaining a good human being and bringing out the best in others? When leaders bring the right balance of compassion and wisdom to the job, they foster much higher levels of engagement, loyalty, and well-being in their people.
Leaders who have had the greatest influence in the world all think, act and communicate the same way—and it's the opposite of what everyone else does. They realized that people won't truly buy into a product, service, movement, or idea until they understand the WHY behind it.
Great leaders create environments in which people naturally work together to do remarkable things. Great leaders sacrifice their own comfort--even their own survival--for the good of those in their care exemplified by the “Officers eat last” model from Marine Corps.
An interpretation of John Wesley's General Rules for today's readers. For individual reading or group study, this insightful work calls us to mutual respect, unity and a deeper daily relationship with God. This simple but challenging look at three commands: do no harm, do good, stay in love with God.
Feel like there's more to life? You're right! Best-selling author Comer unpacks God's vision for the journey of our souls; reveals obstacles holding us back from authentically following Christ; and suggests countercultural spiritual practices---like hospitality, simplicity, and community---that can connect us with a vibrant, lifelong faith. Rethink your assumptions about discipleship and embrace apprenticeship under Jesus!
Online Resources & Videos
These online Resources and videos are for you to find a deeper connection with God in ways that are unique to you. We encourage you to use these resources to grow personally and as a group.
The Bible Recap offers short daily recaps of God’s Word—explaining the challenging parts and connecting the dots to help you develop a deep friendship with God.
With The Bible Recap podcast, videos, and book, host and author Tara-Leigh Cobble will take you through the Bible chronologically in a year while highlighting and summarizing.
D-Group aims to train and equip leaders and members to know and love God and His Word in the way they long to! We provide leader training and support for those who want to build a community at their church, in their neighborhood, or online. We build out weekly curriculum, including: Bible study for discussion, weekly videos, daily Bible reading, Scripture memory, prayer prompts, accountability, and practical application of the Scriptures. Our members are part of an international network using the same curriculum simultaneously, all around the globe.
An article for you to find further resources that are rooted in the Wesleyan tradition, drawing upon the rich theological heritage of the United Methodist Church that has been selected by the United Methodist Discipleship Ministries.
These articles are written so that we may together find the everlasting joy and love that is found in Christ Jesus.
People don’t want to be managed; they want to be led. Trust and Inspire is a new way of leading that starts with the belief that people are creative, collaborative, and full of potential. People with this kind of leader are inspired to become the best version of themselves and to produce their best work.
RightNow Media! It’s like the "Netflix of Video Bible Studies" and has a HUGE library of faith-based videos that you can access whenever and wherever you want.
We’re always looking for ways to help you develop and strengthen your faith. We believe that RightNow Media will be a tool to serve you as you live out your faith at home, at work and in your neighborhood. RightNow Media has videos for everyone, all aimed at helping you grow.
Click on the button to get access to Right Now Media . If you already have an account, go to RightNowMedia.org!
These articles are dedicated to resourcing, informing, and connecting a community of church leaders for greater Kingdom impact worldwide.
These articles are written for you to find new ways to lead your group with the rich and practical Wesleyan theology of love and grace.
These are for you to build a healthy biblical community in your LifeGroup.
Podcast Resources
These podcasts are intended for you to connect with God on a deeper level in new ways for you to best continue on your journey discipleship. All of the following Podcasts are available on Spotify and other major platforms.
Take a deep breath and Exhale. This contemplative prayer podcast is an exercise in intentionality and nourishment; a moment to pray, meditate, and be reminded that in God’s economy of love, there is already enough as we are created to flourish in connection to our Creator and in relationship with each other.
If you’ve got questions for following Jesus, we feel you. This podcast was started looking for answers on how to follow Jesus but what was found was stories. Stories that remind us God is at work in the ordinary places we sometimes forget to look.
Weekly Training for the Gospel Project for Adults to help you fall in love with Scripture cover to cover.
Relevant and thoughtful conversations with seasoned ministry practitioners on how to make disciples and build communities that transform lives.
How do we live with a greater level of intentionality in our apprenticeship to Jesus? The Practicing the Way podcast is the new podcast by Practicing the Way. Each season includes conversations about apprenticeship to Jesus in the modern world.