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Group Answers Podcast

Group Answers Episode 171: Keep or Leave Behind

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On this episode of Group Answers, Chris, Brian, and Brandon discuss the top things they would keep and leave behind from this season of isolation.

Keep:

  • Freedom to Zoom or drive
  • Online and in-person groups
  • High relational touch throughout the week
  • The group urgency
  • Challenge to the status quo

Leave Behind:

  • Zoom fatigue
  • Lack of human contact
  • Politically charged environments
  • Online led singing
  • Group meetings without a Bible study

The Group Answers Podcast is a weekly show designed to resource, train, and encourage small group leaders. Each episode considers current trends and resources as well as timeless truths and methods of discipleship. It is hosted by Brian Daniel, a Bible study and discipleship expert in LifeWay’s Groups Ministry, and Chris Surratt, the small group and discipleship specialist at LifeWay and author of Leading Small Groups.

Group Answers Podcast

Group Answers Episode 170: Multiplying Disciple-Making During a Pandemic

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On this episode of Group Answers, Chris, Brian, and Brandon discuss how churches and groups can multiply disciple-making during this pandemic.

Tips:

1. Redefine the disciple-making environments.
2. Expand who the disciple-makers are.
3. Equip the disciple-makers with training.
4. Release control of disciple-making.
5. Create a disciple-making pathway.

The Group Answers Podcast is a weekly show designed to resource, train, and encourage small group leaders. Each episode considers current trends and resources as well as timeless truths and methods of discipleship. It is hosted by Brian Daniel, a Bible study and discipleship expert in LifeWay’s Groups Ministry, and Chris Surratt, the small group and discipleship specialist at LifeWay and author of Leading Small Groups.

Group Answers Podcast

Group Answers Episode 169: 10 Tips for New Leaders

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On this episode of Group Answers, Chris, Brian, and Ken discuss 10 tips to help brand new group leaders.

Tips:

  1. Teaching is not telling. Learning is not listening.
  2. Don’t take yourself so seriously.
  3. If you have to choose between being a great teacher or a great shepherd, choose shepherd.
  4. The person with the biggest group doesn’t win.
  5. Your group exists for people far from God.
  6. Work hard to include new people in the group.
  7. Your group isn’t your group.
  8. You should hold onto your group members with a loose grip.
  9. You should spend more time in prayer.
  10. Don’t do anything stupid to lose your position of leadership.

The Group Answers Podcast is a weekly show designed to resource, train, and encourage small group leaders. Each episode considers current trends and resources as well as timeless truths and methods of discipleship. It is hosted by Brian Daniel, a Bible study and discipleship expert in LifeWay’s Groups Ministry, and Chris Surratt, the small group and discipleship specialist at LifeWay and author of Leading Small Groups.

Group Answers Podcast

Group Answers Episode 168: Leading Better Discussions With Your Online Group

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On this episode of Group Answers, Chris, Brian, and Ken discuss how to lead a better discussion with your online group.

Ideas Discussed:

  • Call on a specific person to answer a specific question.
  • Send questions to group members in advance of the Bible study.
  • Do not answer your own questions.
  • Ask group members to raise their hand, use the chat feature, or use the “raise hand” feature in your online meeting tool.
  • Send group members to a breakout room.
  • Use a curriculum series that is discussion-oriented.

Resources Mentioned:

Leading Better Discussions blog post

 

The Group Answers Podcast is a weekly show designed to resource, train, and encourage small group leaders. Each episode considers current trends and resources as well as timeless truths and methods of discipleship. It is hosted by Brian Daniel, a Bible study and discipleship expert in LifeWay’s Groups Ministry, and Chris Surratt, the small group and discipleship specialist at LifeWay and author of Leading Small Groups.

Group Answers Podcast

Group Answers Episode 167: 5 Keys to Reconnecting Your Church Through Groups

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On this episode of Group Answers, Brian, Chris, and Brandon talk about how to reconnect your church through your small groups.

Five Keys:

1. DON’T PLAN TO GO BACK TO WHAT WAS.

2. HIRE OR DESIGNATE AN ONLINE GROUPS DIRECTOR.

3. REEXAMINE ALL OF YOUR CURRENT RESOURCES FOR GROUPS.

4. UPDATE YOUR WEBSITE.

5. RECRUIT DIFFERENT KINDS OF LEADERS.

The Group Answers Podcast is a weekly show designed to resource, train, and encourage small group leaders. Each episode considers current trends and resources as well as timeless truths and methods of discipleship. It is hosted by Brian Daniel, a Bible study and discipleship expert in LifeWay’s Groups Ministry, and Chris Surratt, the small group and discipleship specialist at LifeWay and author of Leading Small Groups.

Group Answers Podcast

Group Answers 166: Your Group Should Study the Whole Bible

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On this episode of Group Answers, Brian, Chris, and Brandon talk about why your small group should study the whole Bible — not just the part covered during Sunday sermons.

Points Discussed:

  1. The Church needs the whole Bible.
  2. The Church needs diverse perspectives on the Bible.
  3. The Church needs more teachers of the Bible.

The Group Answers Podcast is a weekly show designed to resource, train, and encourage small group leaders. Each episode considers current trends and resources as well as timeless truths and methods of discipleship. It is hosted by Brian Daniel, a Bible study and discipleship expert in LifeWay’s Groups Ministry, and Chris Surratt, the small group and discipleship specialist at LifeWay and author of Leading Small Groups.

Group Answers Podcast

Group Answers Episode 165: Pastor Ryan Blau on Creating Biblical Community in the Pacific Northwest

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On this episode of Group Answers, Brian and Chris talk to Ryan Blau about how they create Biblical community in the Pacific Northwest, and how the church is responding to the unrest in Portland, OR.

Ryan Blau is the Pastor of Discipleship at Crossroads Community Church in the Portland, OR area.

Questions Discussed:

  1. How did you end up as the Pastor of Discipleship at Crossroads?
  2. What is the culture for groups and community in the Pacific Northwest? Is it that much different from the Bible Belt South?
  3. How do you come alongside your Lead Pastor to make sure your people are being discipled?
  4. How have your groups transitioned since the lockdowns from the pandemic?
  5. Portland has been in the media as the center of protests and marches in the last few weeks. How has the church responded?

The Group Answers Podcast is a weekly show designed to resource, train, and encourage small group leaders. Each episode considers current trends and resources as well as timeless truths and methods of discipleship. It is hosted by Brian Daniel, a Bible study and discipleship expert in LifeWay’s Groups Ministry, and Chris Surratt, the small group and discipleship specialist at LifeWay and author of Leading Small Groups.

Group Answers Podcast

Group Answers Episode 164: Steve Gladen on Next Steps for Groups

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On this episode of Group Answers, Brian and Chris talk to Steve Gladen about next steps for groups as the world is changing during this pandemic, and about the new Align Conference partnership with Small Group Network and LifeWay.

Steve Gladen has been Executive Pastor of Small Groups at Saddleback Church since 1998 and serves as an elder of the church. He oversees the strategic launch and spiritual development of more than 7,000 adult small groups on multiple campuses. He is the author of Small Groups with Purpose, which has been translated into eleven languages, and Planning Small Groups with Purpose.

Resources Mentioned:

Small Group Network Event Registration

The Group Answers Podcast is a weekly show designed to resource, train, and encourage small group leaders. Each episode considers current trends and resources as well as timeless truths and methods of discipleship. It is hosted by Brian Daniel, a Bible study and discipleship expert in LifeWay’s Groups Ministry, and Chris Surratt, the small group and discipleship specialist at LifeWay and author of Leading Small Groups.

Group Answers Podcast

Group Answers Episode 163: Don’t Let a Pandemic Stop Discipleship

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On this episode of Group Answers, Chris, Brian, and Ken discuss ways groups can continue discipleship through the pandemic.

Ideas Discussed:

 

  • Groups have regathered in larger spaces.
  • Groups have regathered in open spaces.
  • Groups have regathered in smaller numbers.
  • Groups have regathered in virtual places.
  • Groups have regathered on different days.

 

The Group Answers Podcast is a weekly show designed to resource, train, and encourage small group leaders. Each episode considers current trends and resources as well as timeless truths and methods of discipleship. It is hosted by Brian Daniel, a Bible study and discipleship expert in LifeWay’s Groups Ministry, and Chris Surratt, the small group and discipleship specialist at LifeWay and author of Leading Small Groups.

Group Answers Podcast

Group Answers Episode 162: Talking Politics in Your Small Group

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On this episode of Group Answers, Chris and Brian talk to Jared Musgrove about how to navigate talking about politics in your small group.

Dr. Jared Steven Musgrove is Groups Pastor at The Village Church in Flower Mound, TX and co-founder and Executive Director of communityleadership.org. He is married to Jenny and father to Jordan and Joshua.

Jared’s Groundrules:

  1. Talk face-to-face. If you want to talk politics, it’s best to do so face-to-face. 
  2. Respect one another. Does this conversation seek to practice the “one anothers” of Scripture? 
  3. Speak with honesty and candor. If you disagree, say so politely. If a statement is hurtful, say that it was, and be quick to forgive. If you make a hurtful statement, be quick to apologize and seek forgiveness. 
  4. Give goodwill. Are you seeking to understand over being understood or validated? Are you seeking to be righteous over being right? 
  5. Be informed. Be okay with admitting if you are not informed and wish to talk about something else.

Resources:

The Group Answers Podcast is a weekly show designed to resource, train, and encourage small group leaders. Each episode considers current trends and resources as well as timeless truths and methods of discipleship. It is hosted by Brian Daniel, a Bible study and discipleship expert in LifeWay’s Groups Ministry, and Chris Surratt, the small group and discipleship specialist at LifeWay and author of Leading Small Groups.

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