One of the great stories in the Bible about community involves a paralyzed man and the friends who brought him to Jesus (Mark 2:1-8).
Imagine what life was like for a paralytic in the ancient world. This man's whole life is lived on a mat three feet wide and six feet long. Someone has to feed him, carry him, clothe him, move him to keep him from being covered with bedsores, clean him when he soils ...
Joining a small group helped a mother embrace her new role.
by Life Together
Melanie was in the middle of pursuing her Ph.D. in History when she found out she was pregnant. Academic achievement was always her first priority. Children would come after her career. Perhaps they'd never come. She always said, "I'll never, ever have kids. I was not meant to be a mom!"
But nine months later she found herself swaddling a wailing baby who swathed her in sour-milk spit-up. Far from ...
A church needs to carefully consider the risks and benefits before launching a group.
by Randy Christian
Support groups cost something. They tax the entire system of the church. A church may be flush with excitement at the prospects of helping a needy group, but if a church is not ready, a new support group can do more harm than good. We are wise, then, to count the cost of support groups before we start them.
After starting more than two dozen different support groups in our church, I've learned what ...
The chances are good that either a couple or an individual in your small group will have to wrestle directly with divorce, which means the entire group will deal with it as well. What should a small-group leader do to prepare for the impact of divorce on individuals, couples, and the group? Use ...
What would you do as a locksmith of the human heart?
Tami Rudkin
Once a locksmith put an advertisement in the paper that read: "Let me help you out—or in." If you were a locksmith of the human heart from what condition would you most want to help someone escape or let them in on? For example: "I would like to help a friend escape her addiction to cigarettes." Or, "I would like my kids to understand that happiness is a decision we make every day."
Use a dab of hand lotion to help your group discuss what soothes them when they are feeling dry.
Tami Rudkin
Pass a bottle of hand lotion to each member and ask them to put a dab of lotion in the palm of their hands. Then going around the circle have each person explain what soothes their spirits when they are feeling dry and depleted. (i.e. music, walk, prayer, talk with a good friend)
Here are practical ways to minister to those who are ill.
Sue Skalicky
Group Outreach
In the two years that I have had Carolyn as a student, she has grown her hair out "#8211; twice. Each time, when her hair grew to exactly 10 inches beyond the shortest she could bear to wear it, she got it cut and donated it to Locks of Love (a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to children under age 18 struggling with long-term medical hair loss from cancer and ...
How is a Christian supposed to approach recovery groups?
Pat J. Sikora
Jenny approached her first meeting of the incest survivors' group with anxiety. She and her counselor had concluded that she had been sexually abused as a child. Her world seemed to spin as she grappled with what that meant. She needed help. She had heard of a 12-step support group for survivors sponsored by her church's Recovery Ministries.
Only a handful of women attended the meeting. The facilitator ...
Recovery ministries can be an excellent outreach to the community.
Pat J. Sikora
Central Peninsula Church (CPC) in Foster City, California, has found that recovery ministries are an excellent outreach into the community, as well as a means of ministering to the needs of people already in the body.
The church began its first recovery group about nine years ago. That grew to several per week. Then almost six years ago, a task force of the existing recovery ministries started the ...
My dad left my mom for another woman when I was 11. I was the oldest of five children, so a lot of weight fell on my small shoulders when Mom had to go back to school and get a job. Because of my responsibilities at home, I didn't have a typical teenage life. I finally got away from home when I went to college, and I thought everything was fine.
But it wasn't. A boyfriend at the Bible college I attended ...
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