Small Group Ministries

LIBERTY UNIVERSITY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

Small Group Manual

Submitted to Dr. Earley

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of

DSMN 630 – D01

Small Group Ministries

by

Courtney Basse

November 22, 2016

Motivations for Developing Groups

The primary reason for developing groups is not church growth. As Rick Warren noted, the primary issue for churches in the current era is not church growth, but church health. Nor is the primary reason church health. Instead of stopping at church health as an answer one must ask themselves what the marks of a healthy church are and how a church “achieves” these marks. Comiskey points out eight characteristics of healthy churches. Beyond holistic small groups, they include

empowering leadership, gift-oriented ministry, passionate spirituality, functional structures, inspiring worship surfaces, need-oriented evangelism, and loving relationships. Of these characteristics all except passionate worship services are common characteristics of a thriving small group. Despite these positive characteristics and research that shows that churches with small groups more often display these eight attributes, outward success is not the reason for doing small groups. Rather, motivation for small groups comes from recognizing how important relationships are to God. The Great Commission commands believers to spread the Gospel through making disciples, teaching, baptizing, and going. All of these things require relationships.
Dempsey and Earley elaborate by deconstructing The Great Commission as follows, “We carry out the command by going to where the people are, baptizing people when they surrender to Christ and then we teach them the ways of Christ.” Perhaps the most important part of their explanation is the idea that when Jesus commanded believers to go the Greek translates as “in your going or as you are going.” This indicates that going encompasses a believer’s entire life. Jesus did not make a differentiation between making disciples in a church setting versus a work setting. He simply said to make disciples when one goes. The directive to make disciples while going obliterates the idea of a sacred/secular divide and places “going” at the center of God’s mission for the church.
Many Christians only think of making disciples in the context of a small group meeting or similar church function, but that is only a small part of making disciples. No one makes true disciples with a time commitment of only an hour or two a week. The command from Jesus to teach disciples conflicts with a modern American mindset that thinks of teaching as a formal transmission of information. The command to teach in the Great Commission is best translated as “teaching them to observe.”
Teaching people to observe means that there must be proximity.

Dempsey and Earley assert that teaching involves connecting people to God through the spiritual disciplines of prayer and Bible reading and connecting them to others through the service of their spiritual gifts. This type of proximity can only take place if believers rid themselves of the notion that discipleship is an event and replace it with the right belief that discipleship is a lifestyle commitment. Discipleship is intentional. Jesus chose twelve disciples. He actively initiated the discipleship relationship. This sets the groundwork for the active phrasing in The Great Commission.

Biblical Foundations

From the beginning, God gave Christians a biblical pattern to follow. Genesis 2:18 states, ”It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable helper for him.” (New International Version) Although the context is not speaking to small groups, the principle can be applied that people need people. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 states,

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly

broken.”

Further, Proverbs 27:12 states, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” while James 5:16 states, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
Healthy small groups facilitate relationships founded upon a singular focus from which the benefits described above and many more flow. They provide a safe place for people to share their struggles and to celebrate their victories. In order to do so, they must focus on God and His revelation to us through the person of Jesus Christ and the Bible. This starts with an understanding of the Trinitarian, relational nature of God. “The Trinity dwells in perfect unity and community.” Comiskey further asserts, “Jesus often pointed to the unity within the Trinity as a model for his disciples to follow.” He concludes my stating, “We are relational beings because we were made in the image of a relation God.”

What Is a Small Group
According to the words of Christ in The Great Commission, the mission of small groups is outward towards reaching people, upward as they help orient people towards God, and inward as it challenges people to practice and teach spiritual disciplines. House notes that people are made for community and that when believers enter community it glorifies God. Essentially, small groups glorify God because they, like the life and person of Jesus proclaim who and what God is.
House notes that small groups are not sustained because they glorify God, but because of God’s glory. Further, it is only through a proper understanding of his glory as made known through Christ that believers can attempt to unravel His splendor. Small group glorifies God as they imitates Christ. In John 5:19-20, Jesus stated that He only did what he saw the Father doing. So in order to be Christ-centered small groups must learn to imitate the principles that Jesus used to disciple.
Just as God’s triune nature and Christ’s calling and training of the disciples points towards the importance of community, so a small group must understand the importance each person plays in a small group. Doing life together is the foundation of disciple-making. It is not enough to interact with others only during small group meetings and it is not enough to just invite people. Healthy small group members understand that they must move beyond the invitation for others to hear the truth and into declaring the truth as a participatory experience.
This participatory experience is expressed through five different areas.
Prayer. We pray for others and for the glory of God to be made known in and through the group.
Accountability. We are accountable to each other. We encourage and strengthen one another.
Learning. We learn as we walk through the Bible and supporting materials together.
Challenge. We challenge each other to live out what the Bible says.
Fellowship. We develop meaningful relationships through an inclusive, but honest atmosphere.
Suggested Small Group Format
Fellowship: 5-10 minutes
Prayer and Accountability: 20-30 minutes
Learning and Challenge: 20-30 minutes
Fellowship: 15-20 minutes
Total Time: 60-90 minutes
Small group leaders have the discretion to change the length of each meeting depending on the situation, but the minimum length for a group is 60 minutes.
Size
Groups should strive to divide as they near an upper limit of twelve adults.

How to Lead a Small Group

If you are reading this manual or in this training, you have already started. Everyone who goes through the training manual has the ability to lead or co-lead a group. At the completion of this training you will be equipped with all the basic tools you need to start and maintain a small group. Below is a helpfl guide to leading a small group.

Self-focus: Don’t speak for others. Speak only for yourself/avoid advice giving.

Limit sharing: We want everyone to feel welcome and giving people time to express themselves is a great way to do that.

Respect others: Let everyone find his/her own answers while still keeping the group flowing.

Listen respectfully: Avoid side conversations.

Let God work: No preaching at group members. Trust that God is working in the other members even if you cannot see it.

As a leader or co-leader, you have the authority and ability to guide and limit conversations. It is your responsibility to make sure that group time stays as a discussion and learning time and does not turn into a counseling session. Should attendees wish to discuss things after formal dismissal, they should feel free to do

so.