On Sunday mornings we go to our sanctuary, drink a cup of coffee and chat with friends. Our friends may ask us how we’re doing, how our youngsters are doing or how work goes. We raise our hands in unity and clap our hands to the music of praise, then furiously scribble in our notebooks to take notes and remember the pastor’s biblical teaching. Then we leave for every week, simply to put aside our shared worship and exit into the world. Then we meet again the next Sunday, never allowing our Sunday experience to intertwine with our day by day lives.
Small groups are essentially the most effective solution to create community and permit people an intimate insight into our lives. The current model of Sunday morning will not be adapted to the culture of intimacy. At best, church members carry on conversations on a superficial level, so we’ll never get the deep spiritual support and wisdom that a community can provide. If you’re on the lookout for an intimate relationship within the fellowship of the Body of Christ that can champion your triumphs and encourage you in your discouragements, the small group model is where it’s.
Here are five ways small groups could make an impact:
1. They help us enjoy community
No one in your entire Bible lives alone. Students were sent out two by two to fulfill the needs of their communities. Jesus often took two or three individuals with him when he ministered. This is evident in each the Old and New Testaments. We were never meant to live alone. We need one another to assist us in hard times and rejoice with us in good times. As people meet recurrently under the small group model, a community is created. When a small group member has a prayer need, the primary person they go to is generally of their small group. The whole congregation will not be speculated to know every little detail about every one within the church. This standard can’t be maintained. But by forming small groups, people in groups of 10-12 can get to know one another intimately, and these people might be prophets and priests to one another.
2. We study the Word of God
Most small groups concentrate on a particular Bible book or pastor’s sermon. When groups begin prayer, they often study a particular portion of the Bible. This is where those with the spiritual gift of teaching teach others more about God’s Word. Moreover, here everyone can share what God has placed in his heart: 1 Corinthians 14:26 says, “What let’s consider then, brothers and sisters? When you meet, each of you has a hymn or a word of instruction, a revelation, a language, or a translation. Everything should be done in order that the Church might be built up.” The small group model is a spot and time for people to share a hymn or verse that God has spoken to them to encourage the remaining of the group.
3. The study of spiritual gifts
1 Corinthians 12:8-11 emphasizes the spiritual gifts given to everybody within the Body of Christ: “Now the Spirit is revealed to every one for the common good. To one is given a message of wisdom by the Spirit, to a different a message of information by the identical Spirit, to a different faith by the identical Spirit, to a different gifts of healing by the identical Spirit, to a different miraculous powers, to a different prophecy, to a different discernment of spirits, to a different speaking in numerous tongues, and still one other to show tongues. All that is the work of 1 and the identical Spirit, and He distributes them to every as He has decreed.”
However, the present model of the church will not be designed for everybody to make use of their spiritual gifts. However, they will use their spiritual gifts under the small group model. Each person with the gift of teaching can lead the discussion in turn. Encouraging people can add a word of encouragement for everybody. An individual with the gift of prophecy can check with this community the prophetic word they’ve been working on for every week. If an individual is unsure what their spiritual gifts are, the group can spend every week doing a list of spiritual gifts. They can count inventories together and discover their spiritual gifts. Each person can walk across the room, identifying their spiritual gifts as revealed by the test. Other members who know them well can then confirm or dispute the gifts. Once the spiritual gifts are discovered, the small group leader can brainstorm how everybody can use their spiritual gifts in that small group. This is an incredible solution to get everyone involved in order that they could make a difference within the Kingdom and have a direct impact on the local church and community.
4. Develop trust and intimacy
When the small group first meets, the host should initiate a covenant that everybody will sign. The covenant will explain the expectations and requirements for participating on this small group. Expectations should be high if a small group is to achieve success. People cannot come and go when it’s convenient. They must commit to attending a lot of the small group sessions. This will help develop trust and intimacy throughout the group. People who then leave the group will disrupt the dynamics and fluidity of the group environment. People cannot trust one another if their presence will not be regular. They cannot get to know someone higher without meeting them recurrently. This is why being in a bunch is so necessary. Each person must commit to putting down their mobile phone and fully engaging within the discussion. Proverbs 27:17 best says: “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens one other.” Each person sharpens the opposite when in a small group, whatever the topic of conversation. One member can challenge one other in a particular area as trust develops throughout the group. Every person will greatly profit as everybody is sharpened to indicate more Christian behavior.
5. We share intimate prayer requests
Most churches can send a bunch text or email when a member has a particular prayer need. Prayer might be began with a cancer-stricken neighbor of a small group member or friends in need. While these are necessary to God, essentially the most intimate requests are available in small group meetings. This is where people share intimate details about their troubled marriage, recurring sins, or other emotional issues that make it difficult for them to have an intimate relationship with Christ. These usually are not things that may go to the entire congregation, but slightly only shared in a smaller setting. Small groups allow for intimacy and personal prayer requests to be shared between members who’ve taken the time to get to know one another.
While a small group in numerous churches may look different, if carried out successfully, all can foster community, construct trust and intimacy, allow people to find their spiritual gifts, and ultimately replicate leadership. These leaders will then multiply these groups and make the small group model the first technique of networking, understanding, and demonstrating the presence of Jesus of their lives.
Image credit: ©GettyImages/fizkes
[mailpoet_form id="1"]
