How the right approach to your sessions can make your meetings more meaningful.
by Life Together
Being an effective leader demands a planning and a prayerful heart.
When you go to prepare for each small group meeting, review the session and the leader's notes, and write down your responses to each question. Pay special attention to exercises that ask group members to do something other than engage in discussion. These exercises will help your group live what the Bible teaches, not just talk about ...
I've a new Bible hero of late: Lazarus. Not Luke's scabrous beggar, but Mary and Martha's ill-begotten brother. Most of his story is told in John 11—Lazarus's sickness, Jesus' reposeful delay, Lazarus's death, Mary's and Martha's upset with Jesus, Jesus' own upset ...
Participate in an intercessory prayer activity based on Psalm 23.
Tami Rudkin
1. Have someone read Psalm 23.
2. Have these short prayers cut apart and give one to each of your group members.
3. Have each person write his/her name in the blanks.
4. Then have them pass their prayer to the person on their right.
5. Have each person pray the praise/prayer they received; they will be praying for each other.
6. Make sure everyone gets one but you do not have to ...
Participate in a group activity that reminds us to be grateful to God.
Tami Rudkin
Things you will need:
One large pitcher full of water. (Two if your group is large)
Small paper cups/Dixie cups would be perfect.
Markers.
A place to meet outside for worship or a large tub or basin to catch the excess water.
Leader:
Give each person in your group a small paper cup and have them write on the outside of the cup any three words that would describe their lives right now.
Have your group begin writing down all the things for which they are thankful. Give them a couple of minutes.
Read Scriptures and a responsive reading about fear.
Tami Rudkin
Leader: Begin your worship time by having several people read some of the wonderful passages of Scripture that comfort and assure. Several passages that you could use:
Psalm 23, Psalm 91, Romans 8:31-39, I John 4:16-18
After reading these passages have your whole group read responsively We Will Not Fear.
Leader: Oh Lord God you have called us from all over this country, to this city, to this year, ...
Leader: Have someone in your group read Psalm 23 out loud to the group. Then have them read responsively the following reading. (Leader read the lines printed in bold and have the group read the lines in regular font) Ask someone to pray when you are done reading.
The Lord is my shepherd.
I have everything I need! I have His love, I have His forgiveness, I have His joy. He gives to me exactly what I ...
A reading based on Psalm 23 that focuses on contentment.
Tami Rudkin
Begin your worship time asking your group to make a list of the things they have in their lives because of God, i.e. peace, joy, sense of security, etc. After you have given them a couple of minutes to do that, ask them to share one of the things they wrote down. Have someone in your group read Psalm 23 and follow that up with the, I shall not want, reading. Highlight different lines and paragraphs ...
Leader, say something like: To be quiet is to be in a state of gentle stillness. It is in this state that your mind can relax because there is not all kinds of sensory input. Your body can then follow suit and your muscles loosen up. When you fully enter into a state of quietness, it is there that you let go of those things that are weighing you down. You can give up the struggle for control. You ...
One characteristic of a small group that is struggling is that there is little or no discussion. Sometimes this occurs when a group is very small, or is comprised of people who have varied knowledge levels and/or methods of learning. I have witnessed small group leaders try to remedy this situation by developing questions for the group to answer in order to foster discussion. I have observed this ...
The small groups would seem to be the ideal place for families to come together.
Daphne Kirk
Isaiah 41:4 says, "Who has prepared and done this, calling forth and guiding the destinies of the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord—the first and with the last—I am He" (Amplified Bible). As the generations were created by the Almighty God, "what God has joined together, let no man put asunder"!
From generation to generation, the responsibility of every believer is to pass on ...
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