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Community Survey Prayer Spring Branch Church Plant PNC Information
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Small Groups Outline I. Overview and Purpose1.1 Provide a high level overview of the topic “The small group is a generic form of human community that is trans-cultural, trans-generational, and even transcendent. The call to human gathering in groups is a God-created, and God-directed ministry, birthed out of the very nature and purpose of God’s being. God as Being exists in community. The natural and simple demonstration of God’s communal image for humanity is the gathering of the small group.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “Life Together,” p. 21.
Jesus’s small group displayed the basic requirements of what small group life should be all about. They lived daily life together; trained to become more like Christ; became a team, a community; and they were sent out to impact their world. The leader personally chose the members. They did not all know each other beforehand. They came from a variety of occupations, political beliefs, marital status, etc. There was a large age difference between the members and their leader. They stayed together for three years. They could be pretty clueless and immature. One guy turned out bad. The real impact of the group wasn’t apparent until after their leader left. They are seen as role models in the church today.
A small group is a spiritual laboratory where the individuals are changed into Christ’s likeness. The participants train themselves to see God at work in their everyday lives, see God’s image reflected in each other, and to be the hands and feet of Christ to others, and most importantly to do this together. Small groups foster practicing the presence of God and practicing the prioritization of people. Consequently, small groups provide the best venue for life change, releasing ministry to the laity, decentralizing pastoral care, and allowing for unlimited growth. At bottom, it provides training in loving God and loving others, living out the Great Commandment as mission—Luke 10:27, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength and all your mind. And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
1.2 Why is this important to the new church? Cell, community or small groups are now critical for virtually all kinds of ministry in the church. A cell is the basic unit of structure within a living human body. A body is comprised of cells that have been formed, and patterned by God. Every one of these cells is unique; yet, they all work together to keep the body healthy and functioning. As a human body grows larger, cells have been reproducing and multiplying on the inside. As the church, the body of Christ is also a living organism. A cell, community or small group is the basic building block of Christ’s body, the church. Paul points out that separate individuals become inseparable parts of Christ’s body in Romans 12: 4-5, 6a. “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts according to the grace given to us.” Small groups are parts of a whole and they are not independent, but are interdependent upon one another. Small groups nurture finding and releasing the gifts of each member in the church and to the world. Small groups are structured for intentional multiplication and diversification in order to meet as many needs as possible in the congregation and target community.
There are certain things that really are unique to small groups; things that can’t be done in other venues of the church or, if they can, can’t be done nearly as well. When the small group members are participating in each other’s spiritual story as well as influencing and being influenced by Christ like character in one another, they are doing the things that can best be done in small groups. “Iron cannot sharpen iron” without being in close proximity to one another. Observing God’s transforming work in the lives of one another is another uniqueness of small groups. These aspects of life transformation—participating in each others’ story, influencing and being influenced by Christ like character, and observing God’s transforming work in the lives of one another—are unique to the small group venue whereas scripture reading, biblical teaching, and event attending are not.
1.3 What activities are involved? Small groups are typically a group of 6-10 people who meet regularly for the purpose of “doing life” together in little communities. It provides the setting for coming to know and experience Christ in a way that cannot happen individually. Members participate together in worship, learning and applying God’s word, sharing, experiencing the power and filling or outpouring of the Holy Spirit, prayer and mission (outreach, mercy). 1.4 What are the expected results? Small groups are “learning communities” that nurture intimacy, mutual support, practical love and service, learning about the Christian faith, prayer and experiencing God’s presence and power. In the process of meeting together, people and their values are transformed and systems and structures are reformed. Its members serve in ministry and offer their resources to God’s kingdom as stewards and bring and include new people into the church. Evangelism, assimilation into the church, and discipleship happen naturally in healthy small groups. Because of community life—the fruit of the Spirit is evidently seen and demonstrated; sharing hearts with one another in the presence of Jesus knit them together into a strong fabric that cannot be broken and the strength of the individual is no longer the only factor determining his/her walk with God; each member looks beyond the small group to reach out to the unsaved and un-churched friend or relative; each member recognizes their role as a leader and priest before God to exercise their gifts for the building up of the body of Christ and is responsible to, and for, another person in the small group; each small group multiplies and breaks into new small groups on a regular basis and the small group extends itself into places and ministries which in the flesh seem impossible to penetrate; and the members are open to the leading of the Holy Spirit where praise and worship occur with love for Christ, the Head of the Body. Small groups live out Isaiah 41:6—“They helped everyone his neighbor and everyone said to his brother, ‘Be of good courage!’” Each member can point to a life change that has taken place as a result of his/her participation in a small group and say that he/she are more Christ like as a result. Moreover, sharing in a small group reveals how broken everyone is and how everyone needs a savior.
1.5 What is the scope of this topic, i.e., what is included and what is not? · Included in this toolbox are the following topics.
· Not included in this toolbox are the following topics.
1.6 What is the timing for implementing this topic? In starting a new church, (whether it is from
scratch or by embracing an existing core) connecting people to one another and
to Christ is critical. Spiritual friends
help each other surrender to God’s love, which facilitates spiritual growth and
transformation. Every ministry focus of
the church planting team and core group of the new church plant will be
concerned with friendship making and fellowship. As early as possible, the church planters
will want to be immersed in the culture of people they endeavor to reach so
they can see the culture from the vantage point of new believers, the
unchurched, nonbelievers and seekers. In
addition to understanding, Tim Keller emphasizes in the Redeemer Church Planting
Manual that people will not listen to the gospel from strangers so developing a
sense of community and one-to-one relationships will be critical to the success
of the new church plant. Small groups
can help make these connections and can be started early in three venues.
*Requires the team
cultivate one-on-one relationships with new believers, the unchurched and
nonbelievers or seekers to start a small group.
These leaders will cultivate a culture for hospitality involving
receiving the lost and servant evangelism.
The challenge will be to grow up or recruit individuals who are
prospects for small group leadership as close to inception of the new church
plant as possible. There is a higher
probability for early success of connecting others to Christ in the target
community if the church planting team will recruit during the first year many
individuals who can be small group leaders.
These recruits will preferably be highly skilled in giving and receiving
counsel to new believers, the unchurched and nonbelievers or seekers.
Small Groups Best Practices Comments:From Jeff Holck - MDPC [66.150.138.46] - 1/19/06 12:43 PM From Glenn [67.10.215.80] - 4/19/05 4:00 PM This is a lot of good information, but really too much. It feels a little too "technical" and needs to be "warmed up" a little. I would make the following suggestions: 1. Use a larger font on the page (this will be possible by cutting back on text - see below) 2. Trim 1.1 down to 1 paragraph, about half as many words. This can be done. 3. I would not use the word "community" when refering to groups like in the first sentence of 1.2. Just say cell groups or small groups... 4. Trim 1.2 down to about half as many words. 5. 1.3 needs to be expanded just a little. It could be re-written and warmed up by describing a typical group meeting. Don't put a number on the size of the group (e.g. 6-10). The function will regulate the size. 6. I would eliminate 1.4 and 1.6. 1.5 will need to be reviewed after editing. Just my humble suggestions here! Last Modified 1/28/05 6:42 PM | Hide Tools |
Overall good material that sets the stage for "why small groups" from both a Biblical and "human needs" mindset. Some specific thoughts on this section:
Overall there is a TON of information in here. It is good information, so if you choose to keep the majority of it I would suggest creating a better flow for the reader, consolidating some parts, and adding headings, sub-headings, bullets, etc.