discipleship
Small Groups with a Purpose
Have you ever wanted your
Bible Study to have more purpose and direction?
Have you ever enthusiastically started
a Bible Study and then after a few weeks people are
no longer coming?
Your heart was right. You wanted to
build other's lives. But somehow things didn't turn out
the way you wanted. What ingredients
does a small group need to keep it going and growing?
What helps people mature in Christ? There are six crucial
ingredients for a dynamic group.
I. Vision (5-10 minutes)
One thing that's often neglected in small
groups is communicating an increasing sense of God's
purpose for the world and how we fit in the picture.
Somehow it's easy for a small group to disintegrate
into only Bible study. Content is not the only ingredient
needed for our growth. Knowing how God can use us in
His plan is probably the most important ingredient.
Catching His heart for people around the world is motivating.
It shows in 2 Corinthians 5:14 that His love thrusts
us out of ourselves and into other's lives. His love
moves us to action. We're not here merely for theory,
debate or platitudes. We exist to glorify God and be
used by Him. Sometimes when we share our faith there's
an overwhelming sense that "God can use me!"
How do you build vision in your group?
Here are some suggestions: Highlight
sections from a visionary book or magazine like:
- Master Plan of Evangelism
- Tell It Often Tell It Well
- Disciple Are Made Not Born
- Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secrets
- In the Gap
- Spiritual Leadership
- Discipleship Journal articles
- Becoming a Contagious Christian
- Use the Operation World prayer
book and a map to show what God's doing around the
world.
Or you can discuss a passage related
to one of these topics:
- Evangelism
- Faith
- Prayer
- Worship
- Excellence
- Discipleship
- Compassion for the lost
- Spiritual Battle
II. Training (20 minutes)
Another element for your small group is
training. Share practical, helpful, specific things
about how to live and minister to others. How do you
have a Quiet Time? How do you study the Bible? Can you
share Christ comfortably with a neighbor? How do you
answer someone's questions about Christianity? Can you
share your testimony in three minutes? If someone did
trust Christ with you how would you help him or her
grow? Help your students develop the skills they need
to effectively address situations like these:
- Using the Four Spiritual Laws.
- Communicating the role of the Holy
Spirit.
- Demonstrating way of life evangelism.
- Following up new believers.
- Sharing personal testimonies.
- Using evangelistic tools and apologetics.
- Doing team meetings.
- Planning and running retreats and conferences.
- Recruiting for projects.
- Motivating others from the Word.
- Leading a small group.
- Explaining how to know God's will for
your life.
III. Prayer (10 minutes)
Prayer is an expression of our dependence
upon God. You'll help people see their need to depend
upon Him. Most small groups have time set aside for
prayer, but often it's a quick sharing of requests for
the week. Creativity is the element most needed in prayer.
Sometimes you need to ask, "How has God answered
prayer this week? What are you trusting Him for?"
when students in your group see God's answers to prayer
they get pumped. When you pray together a powerful bond
in the group forms.
It's also important to pray for other
people, issues and events outside your small group. Here
are some other things to consider for prayer:
- Application of the vision time.
- Application of the Bible study topic.
- Worship (songs, Psalms, etc.).
- Up-coming events.
- Personal ministry development.
- Movement development.
- Laborers for the harvest.
- Ministry leaders.
- Government officials.
- Different countries.
IV. Bible Study (30 minutes)
Choose a study guide or other
material that helps you systematically study a book
of the Bible. Make sure the material is in a transferable
form. When people in your group start their own group
they'll probably be most comfortable teaching what they
were taught. They must set time aside to study and prepare
apart from the group gathering. Don't let anyone show
up with a blank study guide. Of course, there are times
when members need grace because of extenuating circumstances,
but if this becomes a pattern the group will suffer.
When members put in the necessary work outside the group
and share what they've personally discovered they learn
more and are more motivated to participate in the discussion.
Remember that biblical content is only one of five ingredients
in an effective small group. Some suggestions for Bible
study are:
V. Fellowship (time will vary)
Small groups start when students
make a time commitment. Your goal is to use this time
to build relationships. You'll need to share about yourself
and what God is doing in your life during the small
group. You'll also need to do fun things together outside
the meeting. Some ideas for fellowship are:
During the small group time:
- Draw and explain a picture of your
day.
- Tell about a funny witnessing experience.
- Talk about an aspect of God that's
been meaningful to you.
- Share about a recent struggle or victory.
- Share a passage God has used in your
life.
- Use one word to describe your day.
- Interview each other.
- Discuss a personal application from
a recent retreat or conference.
Outside the small group time:
- Go on an overnight trip.
- Have a pot luck meal.
- Learn a new hobby or skill.
- Go shopping or fishing.
- Have a game night.
VI. Planning (10 minutes)
Fit the announcements, delegation and
business stuff of the meeting in this category. You'll
need more or less time for this depending on the time
of year, upcoming events and other planning.
|
Adobe
pdf
