10:30 a.m. to Noon (CST)Thursday, Feb 18, 2010Sign Up Now!
For the first time ever, eight major leaders in the small group movement will be on one stage to answer your questions about small groups. And you can watch it online from the comfort of your office or home. This free live event, sponsored by Small Group Life, runs from 10:30 a.m. to Noon (CST) on Thursday, Feb 18, 2010.
Special guests include some of today’s most well-known leaders in small group ministry and the next generation’s rising stars.
These men represent decades of experience with small groups including the six basic types: free market, closed, open, organic, multi-group, and cell church. A question-and-answer format will be used to tap into their collective knowledge and give you real-world answers to your small group challenges.
If you have a question for the panel, just include it when you register for the event. There is no guarantee that yours will be chosen, but we do expect to cover a wide range of subjects—based on all the questions that are submitted.
As a special thank you for your participation, you will receive a free download of The Small Group Life Ministry Manual. (This will be sent in a confirmation e-mail when you submit your information.)
Take a moment now to sign up and submit your question.
Fill out the form completely, and LifeWay will send you a customizable download of the first Small Group Life Episode ($30 value!) This is the entire 3-month Formation study. It comes as a PDF and RTF file, so you can add your own photos, edit copy, and then print the study for each member of your group, no matter how many members you have.
By signing up for this event, you'll also begin receiving a small group eNewsletter for free as an additional bonus. A reminder email will be sent to all who sign up. Please note, if you unsubscribe you will not receive an email.
Encourage– Call your group members and remind them of when you’re re-starting, let them know how you’re excited to reconnect with them, and invite them to invite their friends. Think of acquaintances you’ve recently made and invite them too. Usually only about half those invited end up coming so don’t worry about too many people coming; God always makes room for one more anyways.
Potluck – Have a meal. Groups that start with a meal get off to a better start. It’s true! Food is one of the strongest attractional elements to successful groups.
Refresh– When you get back together, don’t jump into the study right away. Take the time to share what God laid on your heart when you started the group in the first place. Share your hopes & dreams: What you hope will happen in your life, the lives of people in your group, and what you imagine God will do in and through your group this new year. Refresh the vision!
Build Buy-in – Get your group members to share what THEY hope to get out of the group. Tie in their personal goals with your group goals to build buy-in to the mission you’re all on together. Ensure everyone’s on the same page with the “why” first and then the “when,” “where,” and “how.”
Re-dedicate– The closing time of your first gathering is an especially sacred time. View the end of your first meeting as the real kick-off of what you plan to do together over the next season. It’s an opportunity to prayerfully recommit your group to the Lord and lay at His feet the personal goals that were shared earlier. Dedication is the critical precursor of being devoted to “the fellowship” (Acts 2:42).
Some of my favorite quotes from Mark Batterson’s PRIMAL where he shares about the quest for “catacomb-like convictions that go beyond conventional logic” and living with “raw spiritual intensity”:
We are called to reflect God – His compassion, His wonder, His creativity, and His energy. You cannot manufacture those things. You can only reflect them. Our love for God is nothing more and nothing less than a reflection of God’s love for us. (p. 156)
Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. (p. 150)
Vision is the cure for sin. A God-given vision keeps us from decay and disorder. It energizes everything we do. And turning that vision into reality is one way we love God with all our strength. (p. 148)
The greatest risk is taking no risks. And it’s not just risky, it’s wrong. Righteousness is using all of our God-given gifts to their full God-given potential. Love doesn’t play it safe; it takes risks. Love doesn’t make excuses; it takes responsibility. Love doesn’t see problems; it seizes opportunities to step up and step in. The Greek word for “strength” means “the antithesis of apathy.” And Jesus is the ultimate example. (p. 143)
If we are going to have an eternal impact on our culture, we can’t just criticize it or copy it. We’ve got to create it. (p. 113)
Faith equals God-ordained risks in the face of fear. Obedience equals God-honoring decisions in the face of temptation. And compassion equals Spirit-prompted generosity in the face of greed. (p. 32)
If you are a Christ follower, then you have been drafted into an army of compassion that knows no enemy but those things that break the heart of God. And it’s not okay to not do something about them. (p. 20)
I thought Sacred Roads was going to be another short-term DVD-driven small group study. I was wrong. It was different. What I discovered was tool for pilgrimage: A resource full of creative ways to explore and engage spiritual practices that will enrich a follower’s walk with Jesus.
Sacred Roads is way more than a plug-and-play curriculum for groups. It’s replete with stories, images, references, ideas, and applications that can help individuals and groups alike explore the historic paths of discipleship.
Heather’s writings reflect her passion and expertise in the areas of leadership, community, discipleship, and spiritual formation. She perceives and values how all of these topics intersect and influence one another.
I first encountered Heather’s heart in her blog and more recently as a keynote speaker at Willow Creek’s Group Life Conference. What I’ve experienced consistently in her writing and speaking is her intellect, humor, passion, and creativity – all of which find expression in Sacred Roads.
Heather has made Sacred Roads something that you don’t pick up one time or even five times, but hundreds of times. There are articles, promo videos, experiential videos (you’ll have to play to experience them for yourself), e-mailable audio files, and other applications. Taken together, you have a comprehensive resource full of study tools, not to do a study about Jesus, but to engage in life-long study with Jesus.
In Sacred Roads, you‘ll discover five approaches to discipleship: RELATIONAL, EXPERIENTIAL, INTELLECTUAL, PERSONAL, & INCARNATIONAL. Heather practices what she preaches and appeals to all learning styles by incorporating these styles into this resource.
Hear more: Click HERE (select second 'download' link) to listen to Heather’s responses to these questions (I’ve included an excerpt of each of her answers):
1. You have a passion for engineering spiritual growth environments. What part do you see that small groups play in people’s spiritual formation?
It is the environment where transformation can happen. Small Groups are not a model or methodology that we do but we do what’s best to help people grow.
2. What are the spiritual formation practices that have proven to be the greatest catalysts to your own spiritual growth?
In different seasons I lean into different practices.
3. Jesus implemented new pathways for discipleship (p. 9). How are these pathways a part of discipleship in the U.S. today? What do you see that needs to be reclaimed or reinvented?
Life with Jesus was never boring or predictable. For Jesus, everything was focused on mission.
4. What do you see as the advantages & disadvantages of using social networking for discipleship? How about online groups?
I think Paul would have blogged…It’s not a matter of do we use [technology] or not but how do we use it responsibly & biblically.
5. At National Community Church, you’ve embraced media & technology to make disciples. How can small groups do the same?
6. On p. 116, you asked a couple questions that I’d like to hear your response to: “Do you think it’s possible that there are ways of doing church and discipling people that no one has thought of before? Why or why not?”
There are principles rooted in ecclesiological history that we can learn from and put skin on that are different.
7. In Sacred Roads, you share about five approaches to discipleship: RELATIONAL, EXPERIENTIAL, INTELLECTUAL, PERSONAL, & INCARNATIONAL. What are some keys to blending & balancing these different approaches to learning from & following Jesus?
We all naturally lean in the direction of one or two of these.
Heather is quotable because she writes and leads out of her relationship with Jesus. Sacred Roads was birthed out of her own pilgrimage and it’s her partnership with Christ that inspires you to journey on the ancient pathways of discipleship too.
Don’t expect to skim the member book or passively observe the DVDs for Sacred Roads thinking that you’ll hear a newfangled expression of things you already know. Your mind will be stimulated. Your spirit will become hungry for more. You’ll thirst to experience more of the Word of God in your life. You’ll be motivated to take your journey with Jesus to another level.
The late columnist Mike Royko writes about a conversation he had with Slats Grobnik, a man who sold Christmas trees. Slats remembered one couple on the hunt for a Christmas tree. The guy was skinny with a big Adam's apple and small chin, and she was kind of pretty. But both wore clothes from the bottom of the bin of the Salvation Army store.
After finding only trees that were too expensive, they found a Scotch pine that was okay on one side, but pretty bare on the other. Then they picked up another tree that was not much better—full on one side, scraggly on the other. She whispered something, and he asked if $3 would be okay. Slats figured both trees would not be sold, so he agreed.
A few days later Slats was walking down the street and saw a beautiful tree in the couple's apartment. It was thick and well rounded. He knocked on their door and they told him how they worked the two trees close together where the branches were thin. Then they tied the trunks together. The branches overlapped and formed a tree so thick you couldn't see the wire. Slats described it as "a tiny forest of its own."
"So that's the secret," Slats asserts. "You take two trees that aren't perfect, that have flaws, that might even be homely, that maybe nobody else would want. If you put them together just right, you can come up with something really beautiful." Small groups can have the same effect when they bring God’s people together to be a light to the world.
Citation: Mike Royko, One More Time (University of Chicago Press, 1999), pp. 85-87
Service evangelism is reaching people for Christ through loving acts of service. It is a non-threatening approach to sharing the Good News that is conducive to small groups because it is a team-based. When believers reach out together they are being obedient to The Great Commandment which blesses them and those they reach (Mk 12:30-31). This deepens their own discipleship and protects against the group turning in on itself in unpleasant ways (Acts 2:42-47, 4:32-35; Heb 10:25).
People can see Jesus at work in their lives when they are served in love with things they don’t have the time, physical ability, or finances to do themselves. When your group takes the command to love others seriously, it bonds participants together (1 Jn 2:7, 3:10-11, 16-19, 4:7-21). Service evangelism leads to greater group cohesion and builds the faith of people in your group (Gal 5:6; James 2:14-17). For many, the message is only as real as the person communicating it and loving acts of service open the door for an audience.
How to do it Check out www.servantevangelism.com for ideas on how your small group can engage in service evangelism. Some projects work better than others depending on the size and personality of your group so you can start by creating a list of viable options to present to everyone. Then come to a consensus on where to begin and what would work best for your group. Consider doing one service evangelism project per season of your group life; it should take about as long as one of your usual gatherings. Just before interfacing with people through your loving acts of service, remind your members to be real and convey that what they’re doing comes with “No strings attached!”
Here is a list of local volunteer organizations that can help you help your group take its first-step in service evangelism:
Go to the official website for your community/city and locate ‘volunteer’ info
Contact your city’s volunteer coordinator and find out what are the greatest needs
The most important quality of effective communication is listening. It begins with removing distractions from your mind and focusing on the speaker. Avoid the temptation to interrupt. More often than not, we tend to interrupt with our own thoughts and ideas; in other words, our own agenda. It is helpful to make eye-contact with the speaker and let them know with the nod of the head or an affirming word that you understand. When they are finished sharing, provide feedback by first repeating back your understanding of the speaker's message.
You will communicate more effectively with others if you are clear about what you intend to communicate. By knowing your purpose, you will also be able to choose more effectively whether to communicate publicly or privately; orally or in writing. You can also enhance the clarity of your message in several ways:
Know your group and deliver a message at the right level.
Know your group’s frame of reference. What lens or grid of expectations are they peering through?
Sometimes you may even have to create a common frame of reference to allow your message to be understood.
Use unambiguous terms and congruent verbal and nonverbal signals to match the content of your message.
Actively ensure that your group understands your message by soliciting feedback and paying attention to their verbal and nonverbal cues. (It is estimated that only 10% of actual communication is delivered in spoken words. The rest comes to us in the attitude of the body.)
Communication is purposeful exchange. Former President Gerald Ford was once quoted as saying, “Nothing in life is more important than the ability to communicate effectively.” You cannot reach your potential as a small group leader without deliberately sharpening your communication skills.
Communication Tips
Encourage – a lot
Clarify expectations throughout your group’s life – how are participants growing?
90% of communication is non-verbal so muster up plenty of warm smiles
Give your full attention to people when they’re talking to you – maintain eye contact
Repeat back questions before responding to ensure you’re answering the right question
LISTEN before thinking of what you’re going to say next – don’t be afraid of pauses
Model humility – this communicates more than you’ll ever know (Philippians 2:1-11).
When needed, confront instead of harboring frustration (voice the complaint first with the person privately and directly then follow-up with sincere encouragements)
Take the time to pull participants aside and ask them how they’re really doing – show you care
Community Life Pastor of the 13,000 member multi-site Christ Fellowship Church in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida (www.goChristFellowship.com) and the founder of the 2orMore small group leadership training and resource ministry. He lives in Jupiter, Florida with his wife of 15-years, Lisa, and two children: Mikayela (8) and Drew (5). Reid is a licensed minister who received his Master of Divinity with an emphasis in Cross-cultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary and has been applying 'best practices' in small group ministry start-up / restarts, operations, and leadership development for the last 15-years.
Reid's life-purpose is to empower God's people in mission and he accomplishes this by providing customized small group leadership training, mentoring, and resources for pastors and small group ministry leaders around the world. He serves as Saddleback Church's Area Point Leader for the Small Group Network in Florida, Caribbean, Freeport Grand Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. He is also a regular contributing author for online publications such as smallgrouptrader.com and Christianity Today's smallgroups.com
