We all want to be better people and better Christians. We all want to be closer to God. We all want to be better at praying. We all want to grow in faith, hope and love. But it’s so hard. It’s hard to rewrite the patterns of our behaviour, to change how we respond to other people and difficult times. We know God has done loads in us already, but we know there’s so much more to do. How can we let God in and let change happen?

That’s what our pattern groups are for. To help us grow new patterns of healthy behaviours, to see God at work in our lives and to replace those old, worn out ways of responding with new, life giving ones instead.

Form is a four week course which will help us to prepare a pattern of life that works for us. Each one will be individually tailored to where we are now and our priorities with God. Your pattern will have to be unique, because you are. The place you are in your walk with God is different to everyone else’s. This not a competition, we’re in this together.

At the end of the four weeks we will get into Pattern Groups. These are small, same-sex, groups (no more than 4 people), who will meet once a month to help each other make progress. The point of them is that you go if you’re smashing it, but you go all the more if things are turning into a disaster. You help each other with ideas, finding practical solutions to the challenges you face. The leader of the group won’t be the expert, they will just try and keep things focussed and positive (not getting obsessed with how bad things got, but thinking about how the future can be better).

This course and the pattern groups that come from it WILL change your life, get you more focussed on Jesus and help you become the disciple you always wanted to be.

The sessions will be on a Wednesday night, starting at 7.30pm in church. They will be fortnightly. So the first course will be on Wednesdays 18th Jan, 1st Feb, 15th Feb and 1st March. We will run it again after Easter. Is 2023 the year you get serious with God?

You can just turn up, but it would be great to know you’re coming, just email hello@stpetersbentley.org to let us know.