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.
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Then this past fall we launched a new six-week small group study: "A Taste of Community." ...
A few changes in the approach to small-group ministry can make a big difference.
by Life Together
Often small groups become a place in the church, where "every person (or small group) does what is right in his own eyes." Too often small groups operate independently like nation states, where the individual groups choose curriculum, choose frequency of meeting, and refuse any governing or leadership structure but their own. Everything tends to move toward chaos.
Living life in relationship with others is God's pathway for living a life of purpose.
by Brett Eastman
In The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren writes, "God intends for us to experience life together. The Bible calls this fellowship … real fellowship is so much more than just showing up at services … It includes unselfish loving, honest sharing, practical serving, sacrificial giving, sympathetic comforting, and all the other 'one another' commands found in the New Testament."
Provide hope for someone by giving them a new item they really need.
Sue Skalicky
Group Outreach
A new outlook
Last month, the English department at the school where I teach adopted three families who had fled an abusive situation and sought safety in a shelter. My journalism students and I decided that we would support one of these families - a pregnant mom and a nine-year-old boy. They left their unsafe home with only the clothes on their backs. They "possessed" only fear and uncertainty. ...
You are leading your Bible study one evening when a member suddenly starts crying—what do you do?
Michael C. Mack
You are leading your Bible study one evening when a member suddenly starts crying, apparently for no reason. what do you do?
First, turn your attention from your set agenda and focus on the needs of the member who is crying. It is very important to recognize the person's feelings. To ignore the crying in favor of "getting through the Bible study" or to try to dismiss it quickly tells this person who ...
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 ...
Pay attention to the five senses when preparing your home for a small group meeting.
Michael C. Mack
There is always a tendency of the body to sabotage the attention of the mind by providing some distraction," the poet Stephen Spender wrote. Who understands that better than the person in a small group meeting unable to focus on spiritual matters because of an uncomfortable atmosphere? Whether hosting or leading your small group you can create an environment that makes sense for study:
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 ...
Without hospitality, discipleship cannot flourish.
Michael C. Mack
Hospitality: What is the first thing that comes to your mind? If you are like me, I think of the person who hosts a small group meeting. She—almost always a she, right?—is warm and welcoming, has the spiritual gift of cooking apple pie, and greets each group member with a big hug and a big smile.
Perhaps this notion comes from the definition of this term in Network, the course on spiritual ...
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