Support groups are an essential part of your church's ministry in a world full of hurt.
by Randy Christian
I watched the TV screen scroll through the public-service announcements, finally seeing the one I'd been looking for: "Divorce Recovery Group," it read, with information and the name of our church below. In the past year I have received dozens of phone calls regarding this group, and more about others we sponsor. It's one way our church is responding to the needs around us.
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 ...
An innovative small-groups ministry for a neglected group of people
by John J. Van der Graaf
Late one July afternoon, as another recently divorced woman left my office wiping tears from her eyes, it struck me that people like her really had no place of their own—particularly in church. They didn't fit in single's groups comprised mainly of young adults never married. They didn't feel fully accepted in the church's family activities. In the one place people come to seek support and solace, ...
Our God is not a far away, somewhere in the sky, kind of God. He does not rule from a throne placed out of reach, but rules from a throne within in our hearts. He is close. When we are in trouble, He is close. When we are laughing, He is close. When we are alone, He is close. When we are in a crowd, He is close.
Assign the following scriptures to different readers in your group. Have them read their passages out loud for the group. Make a note to the group that God is close to us. Jeremiah 23:23-24; Isaiah 40:10-11; Psalm 34:1-20
An object lesson that reminds us to focus on the character of God to strengthen our faith when we have trials or temptations
Tami Rudkin
Leader:Â Have several different people help you read I Samuel 17:1-51. Ask your group to discuss the reasons for David's success in fighting Goliath. Your discussion should eventually include the idea that David focused more on God, what He had done in the past, and what He could do in the future, rather than on what Goliath thought he could do.
Take a moment to list the truths about who God is and ...
Use a bowl of M&Ms to help group members physically identify what they hope to receive from God.
Sue Skalicky
I love listening to people share their testimonies of how God has worked in their lives. I always feel encouraged and empowered to trust God with my own troubles and endure any pain or hardship along the way "for the hope of the joy set before me"—until I get to the car. By the time I walk across the parking lot and am unlocking my car door, I often feel defeated. I believe what the person shared ...
Read through Scripture passages that focus on hope in the face of tragedy.
Tami Rudkin
Leader: READ
Barker's Family "Safely Home"
Eric Barker was a missionary from Great Britain who had spent over fifty years in Portugal preaching the gospel, often under adverse conditions.
During World War II, the situation became so critical that he took the advice to send his wife and eight children to England for safety. His sister and her three children were also evacuated on the same ship. Barker ...
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 ...
Printer view of these results
