The most important ministry a host can accomplish is to help people feel completely welcomed and wanted. Hosts are likely to be the first people with whom newcomers come in contact, so they have a tremendous opportunity to initiate an atmosphere of love and acceptance to all who walk through their doors. Hosting a small group is an honor, and it should be done with a commitment to excellence.
It's hard for people to believe we want them in heaven if we don't want them in our living room.
Ralph W. Neighbor Jr.
"Practice hospitality" (Romans 12:13).
"Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling" (1 Peter 4:9).
"Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it" (Hebrews 13:2).
The story of Lot inviting strangers (actually angels) into his house and protecting them from the mob outside his door is a clear example from Scripture of how important ...
By providing a comfortable atmosphere where Christianity is lived out and where non-Christians feel at ease, homes can be great tools for bringing people to Christ.
Keith Wright
God has given many Christians the gift of hospitality. By providing a comfortable atmosphere where Christianity is lived out and where nonChristians feel at ease, homes can be great tools for bringing people to Christ. Try some of these "inreach" ideas in your home.
Dinners for Eight
Dinners for Eight are popular among our church's membership. Eight people gather for dinner, fellowship, and fun. By ...
Different groups, different purposes, different needs: ten schedules to help you choose what's right for your group.
Dan Lentz
Here are ten ways that groups can plan their meeting schedules for a typical month.
Rain or Shine, We Meet All the Time
Comments: This schedule is most effective when a group is pursuing a "holistic" or balanced ministry agenda together. Because the group meets often, there is time to emphasize different things each week as needed (fellowship, Bible study, prayer, accountability, outreach, service, ...
Sometimes issues arise in small groups that are best resolved by breaking into even smaller groups.
Angela Dion
Sometimes issues arise in small groups that are best resolved by breaking into even smaller groups. Here are some occasions when shrinking may benefit your group.
Problem: Cliques
Solution: At the beginning of the study, match two people who do not know each other well. Give them a list of basic questions (Where do you work? What are your hobbies? What is your dream vacation?). Let them introduce each ...
People group. And affinity plays a role in how we connect. But in recent years the "affinity group" has come under attack and its viability questioned. Do such groups promote shared ignorance or exclusivity, tearing apart the fabric of biblical community? Do they promote true fellowship? Should they be replaced by diverse gatherings of men, women and children of all ages, races, languages and incomes? ...
Engaging spiritual seekers in life-changing discussions
Garry Poole
A seeker small group is a community of non-Christians who gather regularly with one or two Christians to explore spiritual matters. Meeting at a variety of locations from homes or offices to restaurants or churches, the Christians organize and facilitate the discussions based on the seekers' spiritual questions and issues. The group leaders can be effective with or without the gift of evangelism, ...
Options for small group time over the busy holiday season.
Pat J. Sikora
With the holidays coming up, Darryl is starting to wonder what to do to "make the season bright." Everyone in the group is so busy with parties, musicals, gift buying, and other things that Darryl isn't sure whether he should try to convene the group for the next month and a half or not. The group would surely miss each other, but they're so busy, too.
Your relational core values can encourage your small group to not just become disciples, but disciple makers.
Dan Lentz
As a small group leader, our most basic Biblical mandate is to make disciples (Matt. 28: 18-20). But, as we continue to look at scripture it becomes clear that not only are we to make disciples, but we are to make disciplemakers (2 Tim. 2:2). In other words, we are called to make disciples that are reproducing! The Biblical process of being transformed from disciple to disciplemaker always was done ...
Printer view of these results
Lead
