Life Teams
A commitment to relationships
The American culture values rugged individuality. This value of individuality has crept into our Christian churches to the point that many Christians neglect building meaningful relationships. Churches talk a lot about fellowship and community but the practice of most churches is impersonal worship gatherings, online worship services, teachings, podcasts and consumer focused programing that only build surface relationships.
Faith does require individual choice but to focus exclusively on an individual’s experience of God is to misunderstand the interdependent nature of the body of Christ. Every part has value when it functions in sync with the other parts of the body. To encourage an individualistic Christianity, i.e. how I experience God, how I worship, how I pray, how I serve God, undermines the very design of the body. Each part has a dependency on the other parts. We need each other in order to have a wholistic experience of God. The body of Christ is the beautiful, collective, interdependent, visible, tangible, physical expression of God on earth. People loving people. People giving, supporting, encouraging, serving, helping, and empowering one another. We are the living expression of God to one another. God does not inhabit the sky, the mountains or even our beautiful sanctuaries of worship but rather we are the habitation of God on earth. If we want to experience God and grow in our faith we must be in relationship with God’s human expression on earth.
Author Richard Rohr reminds us that “before the Christian church was a centrally organized set of common practices and beliefs, It was a living organism that communicated the Gospel primarily through relationships. The church was what we might call an energy field and a set of relationships inside of which people lived with integrity. Today’s support or recovery groups are good examples of these relationships.”
We need a shift in thinking about how we experience God. Rather than an individualistic approach we need to experience God in each other. If each individual is a living expression of God, then the best way to build my relationship with God is to be in relationship with one another. We need to design ways of being together, sharing together, working together, serving, supporting, listening, giving and loving each other.
In a focused effort to create this togethering, matterchatter has created LIFE Teams. LIFE teams are teams of people who meet on a regular basis (online or in person) to empower one another to love. Designed similar to a support group structure, Life Teams members focus on encouraging one another to love God, love self and love neighbor.
LIFE Teams Four Fold purpose:
1. L = Love To prioritize loving as the purpose and goal of life.
-To love and be loved are the most important actions of life. To love is to give of oneself for the benefit of another. The act of loving is a choice that requires some level of sacrifice. The LIFE Team template focuses on understanding the deeper aspects of loving and developing our ability to love. Participants are encouraged to love one another through acts of attention, acceptance, appreciation and allowing.
2. I = Intentional To intentionally work at personal growth and development.
-Intentionality reflects a concerted effort to grow in faith, hope and love. Our greatest potential and our highest self is not reached by accident, intentionality is required. Embracing and working through the process and journey toward Christlikenss is an intentional choice.
3. F = Faith To integrate faith into the daily flow of life.
-Faith is a dependence on the Spirit of God within us.
Rather than just having random spiritual experiences, i.e. Sunday worship, our relationship with God becomes a daily interaction with God’s Spirit within us. Rather than looking for God outside of ourselves we seek to connect and listen to God’s voice within us. We make the shift from merely gaining knowledge of God to being expressions of God’s love, light, hope, peace, etc., in the world.
4. E = Empowerment To empower others to reach their full potential.
-Empowerment of others reflects our mission in life. We not only receive the love of God but we learn to pass it on to others. We find the love, light, hope, peace, beauty, etc. of God in others and encourage its expression.
A Commitment To Relationships
Each Life team decides how they will meet. Life teams can meet online or in-person, or both, for 90-120 minutes once a week or twice a month for a total of 12 meetings.
Teams stay together for two seasons (one year). At the end of one year together teams disband in order to encourage each team member to start their own LIFE Team.
Teams have 8-15 members and can be mixed gender.
Matterchatter offers three types of LIFE Teams: Each type of team offers a focus and structure for teaching and discussion with the understanding that that acquiring knowledge is not the goal. The goal is to provide a structure that empowers participants to love each other.
Prioritizing Love Team
Intentional Community Team
Blue Zone Community Team
Prioritizing Love Team
Do you want to take your loving to a new level? Do you want to learn to give of yourself to the people in your life? Do you want to learn to love and be empowered to left your love/life shine? This small group will have focused discussions the topic of love. The goal is to normalize the struggle to be selfless and to learn to love through the giving of ourselves. Everyone wants to experience love but few have actually studied it. A brief teaching will be followed by an extended discussion.
The Prioritizing Love Team is a small group of friends who:
1. Commit to meeting together once or twice a month for 6-12 months.
2. Commit to listening, caring and supporting one another’s journey.
3. Commit to learning, growing and evolving.
4. Commit to meaningful discussions.
5. Commit to having fun together.
Each meeting will also include pot-luck food and games..
Season #1 (First 12 meetings) Possible Topics of Discussion
Jesus said; “ Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment, and the second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself.” Matt. 22:37-39
(Remember that knowledge is not the goal but it is a guide to encourage connections & growth)
Defining Love
Clarifying what love is not
Unpacking our experience of love
Understanding loves effect on identity
Embracing love as our purpose
Overcoming the barriers to love
Studying examples of love
Healing the wounds from a lack of love
Abiding in the source of love
Developing loving habits
Setting goals to love
Empowering love in each other
Season #2 (Second 12 meetings) Possible Topics of Discussion
Defining our purpose
Embracing our unique Identity
Giving Acceptance to one another
Giving Attention to one another
Giving Appreciation to one another
Giving Affection to one another
Giving out of fullness, doing self-care
Celebrating diversity
Working at unity, equity and justice
Developing a teamwork approach to loving
Multiplying love: Mentoring
Reviewing our journey and Envisioning our future
Intentional Community Team
Do you ever feel alone, isolated, and like no one understands what you are going through? Do you sometimes struggle to follow through on the goals you set for yourself? Do you wish you had just a few more people in your life who would accept you the way you are, value your contributions, support your dreams and want to spend time with you?
To feel these things is to be human. We were designed to live in community and when we don’t have it, we feel it. Social/emotional growth and health does not happen by accident it takes intentionality. We need each other not just to survive but to thrive. To meet our social/emotional needs we need real people, in person, listening, caring and supporting our journey. To this end we are forming an “Intentional Community Group or ICG for short.
The ICG is a group of friends who:
1. Commit to meeting together once or twice a month for 6-12 months.
2. Commit to listening, caring and supporting one another’s journey.
3. Commit to learning, growing and evolving into our best selves.
4. Commit to meaningful discussions.
The group facilitators will offer discussion staters from personal development books, videos and even an occasional guest presenter, but the focus will be on the group discussions. We will learn from each other’s experiences and the unique ways that each of us process and work through the challenges of life.
Here is a short list of some of the types of questions for discussion:
-How do you love yourself?
-How do you overcome disappointment, failure, and trauma?
-How do you stay positive when your mind wants to dwell on the negative?
-How do you live in the present when your mind wants to focus on the future or dwell on the past?
-How do you overcome fears and choose to be courageous?
-What brings out the goodness in you and in others?
-What is your superpower and how did you get it?
-What are some of your values, such as “Faith”, “Courage” and “Love”, and how do they influence your daily life.
-What are habits that you are working on to bring out the best in you?
5. Commit to having fun together. Each meeting will also include pot-luck food and games..
If you are interested in joining our ICG, please come to our initial group meeting and see if it is a fit for you, at this time in your life. April ___, 2026 at 7pm at our home______________________
Blue Zone Community Group
Have you ever wanted to learn, grow, develop, or evolve an area of your life but been frustrated by your own inertia, poor follow through or lack of social support? Do you want to build a few new friendships with people who share some of your values? You are not alone, most of us want friendships and social/educational opportunities that can help us improve our lives.
The Netflix series “Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones” is an inspiring documentary showing areas of the world where people are living into their 100s and why. Dan Buettner the researcher and director compares the different Blue Zones of the world and identifies the common habits of people who are living healthier and longer than average life spans.
To simplify the research so it can be applied, the data can be synthesized down to five habits that are common in all Blue Zones.
The Five Blue Zone Habits:
1. Eating a healthy, yet savory diet of mostly organic vegetables. Avoiding processes foods, minimal meats, dairy, high fat and high sugar foods.
2. Living an active lifestyle of movement and exercise. A lifestyle that involves more walking, bending, lifting, and stretching. Incorporating movement into daily routines and if needed adding classes, sports, or gym memberships.
3. Being intentional about building community. The quality of relationships, belonging, interdependence, and connectedness to one’s community is a strong indicator of longevity. Isolation and the feeling of aloneness is a killer.
4. Faith in a higher power. Different blue zone areas practiced different religions, but all practiced something. A faith that believes in a higher power and encourages humility, love and altruism gives meaning and purpose to life.
5. Stress reducing activities. Everyone faces stress. It is how we manage our stress that matters.
For some people these five areas have produced good energy and growth. For others, they have become sources of pain and shame.
The Blue Zone Community group will be a small group of people who share the vision of the Blue Zone lifestyle and are willing to support one another in the growth process. The BZCG will provide a safe place to discuss, be informed and learn new ways to develop the Blue Zone Habits.
Each participant will be committed to the following:
1. Commit to meeting together once or twice a month for 6-12 months.
2. Commit to listening, caring and supporting one another’s journey.
3. Commit to learning, growing and evolving.
4. Commit to meaningful discussions.
5. Commit to having fun together.
Each meeting will also include pot-luck food and games..-
Logistics:
Two households will help facilitate the BZCG. Could be two individuals or two couples or a mix.
-Decide whose home or homes will host, how often it will meet and set the date for the initial information meeting.
-Set a realistic time commitment (meet once a month, for 90-120 min. for six months)
-Invite interested friends to the initial meeting. (Approximately 6-12 people) Encourage them to watch the Blue Zone documentary on Netflix. Try to invite a diverse group so that diverse ideas and opinions get shared.
-The initial information meeting will follow the monthly meeting agenda:
1. Meet for Dinner (pot-luck), eat and enjoy informal conversation. (30 min.)
2. Short icebreaker game to get to know each other (Share your favorite Restaurant, vacation location, movie, etc. (10 min.)
3. Teaching Moment: Facilitator opens the discussion with a 5-minute video, reading, or teaching on one of the five Blue Zone Habits. (5 min.)
4. Open response and discussion to the Teaching Moment presentation. (15 min.)
5. Open sharing: Individuals share with the group an activity they are doing to help them establish one of the 5 BZ habits. (ideas, resources, tips, tricks, classes, etc.) (30 min.)
(Most group meetings will last 2 hours so build in 30 min. for overage and misc.)
Desired Outcomes:
-New friendships
-Feeling supported by and belonging to a caring community group
-Learn new information and ways to develop the five BZ habits.
-Be inspired and challenged to develop healthy habits