How to make prayer a central part of small groups.
by Life Together
Click here to download free job description for Small Group Leaders (Word document).
One of the most powerful aspects of small groups is the opportunity to offer prayer requests, to pray together, and then to see how God follows through on those prayers. It's amazing to see how God works over three months or six months or a year. Prayers gets answered, situations change, hearts change—your group ...
We wrapped up our small group as we usually do, with a time for everyone to share their prayer requests. After we closed in prayer, Tom approached my husband and me. He was considering dropping out of our small group because he felt overwhelmed by the prayer requests. It seemed to him as though everyone's problems were insurmountable, and although we'd been praying for the same things for months, ...
Use well thought out questions to make a lasting impact.
by Dave Arch
"Do you not yet understand?" —Jesus (Matthew 8:21)
Whether in a public gathering, a confrontation with his enemies, or a private conversation with his closest friends, Jesus consistently used questions to produce change and growth. In the eighth chapter of the Book of Mark, he used eight types of questions.
1. Answering with Questions (Mark 8:5)
Rather than merely answering a question (and thereby ...
Groups should consider whether their requests line up with what God is doing.
by Wayne Jacobsen
You'd have thought I'd just cussed by the way the mouths around the table soundlessly fell open. And all I'd said was "I don't think I can pray that for you."
The woman who had just asked us to pray was perhaps the most shocked of all.
My home group had just finished eating dinner, and we were sharing prayer requests. With obvious distress, Kris had told of her daughter's plan to move in with a boyfriend ...
A small group's love for two skeptics leads them to Christ.
by Life Together
Two years ago our teaching pastor, Ted, began to meet with a couple with considerable intellectual reservations about Christianity. They agreed to read some Christian apologetics if Ted agreed to read their books. While they read Letters from a Skeptic, Ted read Stephen Hawking's latest, A Brief History of Time.
...
Then this past fall we launched a new six-week small group study: "A Taste of Community." ...
Small groups are an essential part of children's ministry.
by Dave Staal
During a recent toy repair project at home, I shared the recipe of two-part epoxy glue with my eight-year-old son. "When both clear gels are mixed together, they become super strong." At the time, though, I didn't realize that I had accidentally glued a screwdriver to the table.
Children's ministry also has two key ingredients that, when mixed together, make it "super strong": 1) creative, relevant ...
Dividing large groups into smaller ones for discussion and prayer can enliven the entire group.
by Life Together
One concern of nearly every small group leader is how to get everyone to open up. This is especially problematic in larger groups. If your group has more than seven people, here's a great technique for encouraging sharing:
Separate your group into discussion circles of three or four people. With a greater opportunity to talk in a small circle, people will connect more with the study, apply more quickly ...
Expecting God to work is most important piece of seeing him work.
by Life Together
In planning a small group ministry, you may wonder how much you can expect from your coaches, leaders and members. But one person you can expect great things from is yourself—that is, if you expect God to use you.
Here's what Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church has to say about our expectations:
If He's going to use you, you need to expect Him to. There are many examples I could have used, ...
Steve Gladen is pastor of the Small Group Network at Saddleback Church, where he oversees 2,500 adult small groups. In that capacity, he loves watching a big church become small through true community developed in group life. Steve is the author of several resources, including ...
Learn from these often-overlooked keys to making the most of your small-group lesson.
by Terry Powell
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This article examines a taken-for-granted aspect of discussion-leading. Below, you'll find several important things to keep in mind when responding to group members' participation.
Exhibit enthusiasm
When you lead quality Bible discussions, people will find fresh, "I've never thought of that before" insights. In response to a study question, participants may notice a truth for the very first time, ...
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