SaLT

I was asked by my SaLT Leader to stand before the church this Sunday and share about what SaLT means to me.

SaLT groups are what many churches call "small groups" or "cell groups". There are probably different titles for them and if you have one to share, please do in the comments section of this post.

SaLT at Northbrook Church is an acronym for Sharing and Learning Truth. At least that is what I learned when I first attended a SaLT group about four years ago. But, it changed to Sharing and Learning Together at some point, and now the website says "Serving and Learning Together".

As I've explored what SaLT means to me, I've come up with a few different things that SaLT can stand for and I'll share that shortly.

SaLT to me means basically four main things:

• Growth
• Relationships
• Experiencing God
• SaLt and Light

Growth: God has placed many outstanding teachers at Northbrook who are well-educated and godly Christians. There is dynamic teaching at Northbrook and SaLT groups provide an opportunity for some in-depth study of God's Word. I have never failed to be fed spiritual food in SaLT group and in fact, at times I have been so hungry for His Word that I've participated in more than one SaLT group! Being in a SaLT group is a great way to grow as a Christian.

Relationships: SaLT groups provide an opportunity to get to know people in an intimate setting, since many groups meet in homes. This fosters deep community as we develop as friends and to me, my SaLT group is my family. Most of my family is in Ohio, but God has blessed me with a new family here. I've been adopted so many times I can't even count! I have been a part of SaLT with WaLT for four years now, since first starting at Northbrook, and together we have shared a lot about ourselves with each other. We share our triumphs in life, and we share tragedy. We try to be transparent with each other just as the Bible teaches. We can carry one another burdens as the Bible teaches and we can encourage one another in our walks with God as the Bible teaches. SaLT also allows us an opportunity to serve. SaLT can be a tool to serve a ministry need within the church, or outside of our doors. Many people are spiritually gifted with service and are constantly serving others, by hosting a SaLT group in their home, visiting ailing people, or helping with home repairs. I recently had an opportunity to help a person who is known for her service in our church. I can't tell you how blessed I was to be able to serve someone who is known for serving! SaLT groups are deep community and joyful service! We share so much of life in Christ together, and this is how it could be appropriate for SaLT to mean Serving and Living Tragedy and/or Triumph! SaLT shares it all!

Experiencing God: SaLT group is an opportunity to experience God. I see God in these people! We share how God is working in our lives and that is always so exciting! We also have shared the agony of feeling like God is not working in our lives at one time or another. We pray together and we pray that our worship of Him is acceptable and pleasing. SaLT is another form of excellent worship, through praying, studying and fellowship with His people.

SaLT and Light: Jesus commanded believers to "go" and make disciples. We are to be salt and light in the world...we are to season it with love, the love of Christ, and shine bright like stars in the heavens! SaLT group is a way for believers to share our experiences out in the world, specifically with non-believers. It is the place where we get a "tune-up" of our spiritual armor and our offensive spiritual weapons of prayer to be ready to go out into the world and "preach the Good News". Everyone in my SaLT group knows who is on my impact list, and the day she comes to church with me I can count on her to be loved by this church! We know about Tom's "Dunkin' Donuts ministry" and Walt's experiences with non-believers at work. Karen has a burden for an aquaintance that calls her only when in trouble. We encourage each other in our endeavor to spread the Gospel, as SaLT is an avenue for effective evangelism.

SaLT allows me to grow as a Christian, experience friendships with other believers, experience God's love through and with them, and become salt and light to the world!