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Group Answers Podcast, Uncategorized
November 25, 2020

Group Answers Episode 180: Monthly Check-In with Jared Musgrove

By Group Ministry

https://media.blubrry.com/groupsmatter/p/media.blubrry.com/lifewayleadership/p/groupministry.lifeway.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2020/11/GA-180.mp3

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On this episode of Group Answers, Chris and Brian check in with Jared Musgrove. 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.

Questions:

  • We have been talking a lot on this podcast about potential drift in discipleship and spiritual disciplines. What are some things you do personally to keep fit spiritually?
  • How are you helping your groups and group leaders be healthy during this season?
  • Do you give your leaders specific training or encouragement for caring for their group members?
  • How are your online groups going? Will that be an ongoing strategy?
  • What are your priorities as you plan for groups in 2021?

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.

Church Leadership, Group Leadership, Uncategorized
November 10, 2020

Six Reasons I’m Using the New Daily Discipleship Guide in My Group

By Ken Braddy

My wife and I recently launched a new Bible study group at our church. Almost a dozen adults gathered for the first meeting of this fledgling group! Since then we have grown to over 30 group members with an average attendance of 15.

When we were talking about starting this new group, we made a decision to use the Daily Discipleship Guide (DDG) from the Bible Studies for Life series produced by Lifeway. Why choose the Daily Discipleship guide? Here are six reasons I launched my new group with it as our primary discipleship tool:

  1. It is discussion-centered. I love the five great discussion questions that are a part of this series. Every study begins with a tremendous icebreaker question—one that gets the group talking, and one with no wrong answer (which encourages everyone to speak up more during the study and take a chance on answering the other questions that are asked). Plus, I don’t want the Bible study to be about me and what I say or do—I want the Bible study to be about what the group does, says, and thinks. Of course I study and prepare, and I fully guide my group’s study, but I don’t have to do all the talking.
  2. It engages the group members during the Bible study. The DDG has engaging images, in-group activities, and fill-in-the-blanks that engage logical, visual, physical, and relational learners.
  3. It provides five daily studies that tie to the group’s study. This is my favorite new feature in this resource! Once I lead the group’s Bible study, my group members have an opportunity to dig a little deeper in the days that follow. After the group Bible study ends, there are several pages that include daily Bible studies connecting to the biblical text we studied together as a group. Our group studies now align with my group member’s “God and me” time during the week. The daily studies expand on and reinforce what we studied as a group.
  4. The six-session studies are compelling and engaging. I don’t have to create new Bible studies every week on my own. I love the way Lifeway’s experts have carefully crafted each study along with the teaching resources I need to deliver a quality Bible study every week. The topics hit adults where they live and engage them in Bible study.
  5. The teaching plan is a part of the DDG. The group plan is built into the back of each Daily Discipleship Guide. Everyone in the group is now a potential teacher, substitute, or apprentice teacher. Savvy group leaders will identify a person or two with potential to be future group leaders (or subs and apprentices right now) to follow along in the group plan section, watching to see how the leader uses the teaching plan ideas in the group. I want these individuals to see that they could follow the same teaching plan to teach our group or a group of their own. The goal is for them to say, “Since I have the same teaching plan my leader does, I could do this!”
  6. The Bible Studies for Life series is based around the eight signposts of discipleship. Research has demonstrated there are eight signposts, or indicators, that people are on the right pathway and are growing as disciples. Every year, Bible Studies for Life has eight six-session studies. Each of the 8 studies is centered around one of the eight signposts of discipleship. If I simply continue using Bible Studies for Life in my group, I will expose my group members to the core ways that God’s people grow and mature as disciples. That’s huge!

I’m proud to place this excellent resource in the hands of every group member and our guests. If you want to have free access to four sessions of the Daily Discipleship Guide, click here.

Other than serving as the manager for Lifeway’s ongoing adult Bible studies and as the Director of Sunday School, Ken is an 18-year church education staff leader and blogs regularly about Sunday School and groups ministry at kenbraddy.com.

Group Answers Podcast, Uncategorized
October 28, 2020

Group Answers Episode 176: Steve Gladen

By Group Ministry

https://media.blubrry.com/groupsmatter/p/media.blubrry.com/lifewayleadership/p/groupministry.lifeway.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2020/10/GA-176.mp3

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On this episode of the Group Answers podcast, Chris and Brian sit down with Steve Gladen to talk about next steps for online and in-person groups.

Expressing the Five Purposes in an Online Small Group
Worship online:
  • Find a worship song on YouTube, share your screen on your Zoom meeting, and sing together.
  • Create “My Small Group Playlist” on Spotify and have members add their favorite worship songs to listen to during workouts, drives, or chores around the house.
  • Pick a time to watch the weekly online worship service together on a Zoom meeting.
  • Have a group member track prayer requests using a Google Doc, shared the link, and regularly give updates on how God has answered past prayers.
  • Host a communion worship time during your online meeting. The week before taking communion, instruct group members to purchase crackers and juice to have ready on the next group meeting. Contact your Connection Pastor for further details.
  • Interested in diving into deeper theological topics? Take “Foundations: 11 Core Truths to Build Your Life On” together at Saddleback.thinkific.com/courses/foundations. Spend a few minutes in your group time to discuss what you’re each learning.
  • Explore having each group member plan a personal retreat using the resources at Saddleback.com/connect/ministry/retreat-ministry. Set a date, walk through the details on a group meeting, have the personal retreat, and during your next group meeting discuss what God revealed to each of you.
  • Use the “Journey with Jesus” 360 tour option Saddleback.com/learn/journey-with-jesus.
  • Pick a book on the topic of “Worship” from the recommended list on Saddleback.com/learn/recommended-books to read together.
  • Pick a small group study that focuses on growing in the area of “Worship” on Saddleback.com/watch by selecting Small Group Studies and filter by purpose.
Fellowship online:
  • Spend 15 minutes during your group meeting for everyone in the group to unmute themselves and answer a fun icebreaker question. Examples: What is your favorite movie? What is your dream vacation spot? Who is the most interesting person you ever met? More icebreaker tips: https://museumhack.com/list-icebreakers-questions/#awkwardquestions
  • Play Pictionary on Zoom by using the Whiteboard feature. Have the host pick a few items to be drawn, have the person drawing share their screen and select Whiteboard, the host would direct message the person on chat the word to be drawn, and everyone would guess by unmuting or typing into the chat.
  • Visit www.getcharadesideas.com and play charades during an online video call.
  • Build a small group calendar on gmail.com to keep important dates like birthdates, group meetings, and anniversaries.
  • Create a Facebook Group to interact throughout the week.
  • Plan a future vacation or meetup to connect in-person even if its years down the road (Dream together!).
  • Discuss who is and isn’t baptized in your group. Have those who have been baptized share their experience and discuss how to help facilitate the baptisms of those who haven’t yet. Contact your Connection Pastor to find out how to get baptized remotely.
  • Pick a book on the topic of “Fellowship” from the recommended list on Saddleback.com/learn/recommended-books to read together.
  • Pick a small group study that focuses on growing in the area of “Fellowship” on Saddleback.com/watch by selecting Small Group Studies and filter by purpose.
Discipleship online:
  • Pick a Bible.com reading plan to go through together or use the YouVersion app.
  • Use the YouVersion app and regularly talk about your Bible reading “Streak”, which is the number of days in a row you’ve read the Bible.
  • Plan on taking CLASS 101, 201, 301, & 401 together.
  • Commit to listening through a book of the Bible commentary using DriveTimeDevotions.com as the guide.
  • Identify accountability partners by pairing up on the group meeting.
  • Memorize a verse together. Decide on the verse to memorize. Keep your first group verse simple. Regularly give updates in your group text thread or Facebook Group how the memorizing is going. On your next online meeting, give a chance for every group member to attempt to recite the verse. Give grace where grace is needed.
  • Dedicate a group time to complete Financial Freedom Workshop online at Saddleback.com/connect/ministry/financial-freedom-ministries
  • Pick a book on the topic of “Discipleship” from the recommended list on Saddleback.com/learn/recommended-books to read together.
  • Pick a small group study that focuses on growing in the area of “Discipleship” on Saddleback.com/watch by selecting Small Group Studies and filter by purpose.
Ministry online:
  • Have group members active in an online ministry share their experience with serving with Saddleback’s Online Campus.
  • Take time to discuss each group member’s S.H.A.P.E. profile discovered in CLASS 301 and talk about online ministry options for each individual.
  • Decide on a local serving project the entire group can do offline in their city. For example, each group member can hand out a sack lunch to a person in need or volunteer at their local food bank. Pick a date to finish the serve project and on your next group meeting discuss what God taught each member by serving locally.
  • Pick a book on the topic of “Ministry” from the recommended list on Saddleback.com/learn/recommended-books to read together.
  • Pick a small group study that focuses on growing in the area of “Ministry” on Saddleback.com/watch by selecting Small Group Studies and filter by purpose.
Evangelism online:
  • Have each group member name two people they are praying to come to know Christ and regularly discuss any updates. Create a shared Google Doc to keep track of names, and when someone is saved.
  • Dedicate a group meeting to allow for each group member to practice sharing their testimony in five minutes. There are three phases of sharing your testimony: 1. What was your life like before Christ? 2. How did you come to know Christ? 3. What is your life like after putting your faith in Christ? Provide any constructive feedback after each group member shares their story.
  • Have each group member commit to hosting a Watch Party in their own home. Pick a weekend to host the Watch Party, talk about who you’re each inviting, discuss the details of the Watch Party, pray for those being invited, and host the party. On your next group meeting, discuss what God did through each group member taking this step of faith hosting a Watch Party offline.
  • Consider having each online group member host a secondary outreach focused small group in their home or workplace for a special Saddleback study that will only last a few weeks. Discuss who each member is inviting to this special small group study, pray for those being invited, keep each other accountable on hosting the group, and discuss what God did through this secondary small group.
  • Have your group talk about going on a PEACE Trip the next year. Openly discuss if group members are open to traveling outside of the country. Test out the idea by doing a local serve project individually, as mentioned above, and if that goes smooth contact your Connection Pastors for further details.
  • Pick a book on the topic of “Evangelism” from the recommended list on Saddleback.com/learn/recommended-books to read together.
  • Pick a small group study that focuses on growing in the area of “Evangelism” on Saddleback.com/watch by selecting Small Group Studies and filter by purpose.

Episode Sponsor

Ministry Grid wants to help your church stay on the same page and maintain discipleship in the midst of this unique season. They are offering a special offer specifically for our podcast listeners to get unlimited access for $399/year. Just go to ministrygrid.com/podcasts to learn more.

This offer is only valid through October 31 at midnight. So make sure you sign up before the end of the month.

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 Leadership, Uncategorized
September 21, 2020

Six Practices for Managing Your Group’s Prayer Time

By Ken Braddy

One of the challenges of leading a Bible study group is managing the time dedicated to prayer requests. We’ve all been in a group when prayer requests took the majority of the group study time.

Don’t get me wrong—I’m a big fan of prayer! The Lord’s house is to be a house of prayer. But as group leaders, you and I must learn to manage the limited time we have with our group members. That includes managing the prayer time so that needs are lifted up to God, while also allowing time for the other important elements of group life. 

Here are six ways you can more effectively manage your group’s prayer requests. These can help ensure that you are addressing people’s needs while still providing a well-rounded Bible study experience that is balanced and effective. 

Assign the prayer requests.   I will often write prayer requests on the marker board in my group’s meeting place at the church. One by one, people tell the group what kind of needs they have, and I list them one by one. I then ask group members to volunteer to take turns praying for the requests. Too often in groups, a list of requests are written on a marker board, but each request is not prayed for. Instead, someone offers a “generic” prayer and the study begins. I much prefer making sure that people’s specific needs are carried to the throne of grace.

Use “the basket method.” 3 X 5 index cards are perfect for gathering the prayer requests of group members. Use standard index cards (one per person) and ask group members to write down their prayer requests on one side of the card. Then ask them to turn the card over and write their name and contact information on the card’s reverse side. Cards are then placed in a basket (it doesn’t matter what type) as it is passed around the group. Once all cards are in the basket, reverse the process and ask group members to reach in and take one of the index cards. Ask group members to pray for the need on their index card throughout the week, and contact the person who made the request sometime during the week to let them know their request is being prayed for. In a larger group, this can save a significant amount of time, and all prayer needs will be covered. In addition, relationships can be strengthened as individuals receive messages from fellow group members that they are praying for the specific need.

Pray in smaller groups.  It can be intimidating to pray out loud in a big group, so consider dividing your group into smaller ones. People who will not speak up in a group of 15 or more people will often talk in a group of 3 to 4 people. Breaking your groups into triads or quads may be just the thing to encourage people to pray out loud for their fellow group members. If your group is a virtual group, and if you use Zoom, don’t forget to use the “breakout room” feature to divide your group into smaller ones online.

Email requests after the group Bible study.  After hearing your group member’s prayer requests (and writing them down, of course), set aside time after your group’s Bible study and send out the requests via email (when recording on a marker board, use your smartphone to capture a picture of the requests). This way everyone in the group will have a current list of the group’s prayer requests each week. 

Use email to generate the prayer requests. On occasion when I can see that the Bible study is going to run long, I will say something like, “I’ll send an email to the group later today, and summarize the study for us and those who were not here today. If you have a prayer need this week, just ‘reply all’ and let us know what it is. We’ll jump into action and begin praying for you.” I then control the length of the prayer time by simply praying for the Lord’s blessing on the group, our study time together, and those not present. When I’m running short on time, this allows me to complete the Bible study, but still make sure that requests are known and prayed for during the week.

Use your Care Groups to pray for needs. Not every group is organized into Care Groups, but these are especially helpful when it comes to praying for the needs of group members. A Care Group is simply a subgroup of your Bible study members. These groups are typically 4 to 6 people and function best if the members are the same gender (husbands and wives will be in two different Care Groups). At the end of a Bible study, the group can break down into Care Groups to pray. 

Other than serving as the manager for Lifeway’s ongoing adult Bible studies and as the Director of Sunday School, Ken is an 18-year church education staff leader and blogs regularly about Sunday School and groups ministry at kenbraddy.com.

 

Uncategorized
July 24, 2020

2 Bible Studies for When Life is Unpredictable

By Deborah Spooner

Purpose.

Sometimes we think that we understand where our life is heading. Our lives become predictable; our church involvement becomes steady; our small groups get into a rhythm. We might even think we have a plan of what our group will look like this week, next week, and a few months from now.

But other times, life shifts unexpectedly. 

What do we do when it feels like our pathway to purpose isn’t clear? When it seems like we are on an unpredictable, detoured journey?

Turns out, we are not the first ones to ask these questions. Trusted leader Dr. Tony Evans has written two Bible studies that can help both you and your group as you grapple through such difficult seasons.

 

Pathways: From Providence to Purpose (8 sessions)

The story of Esther appears to be a series of coincidences that deliver the Jews from certain death. However, God selected Esther for a particular purpose at a particular time in the history of His chosen people.

These resources will help you discover the power of God’s providence in the midst of your personal pain, fear, gain, loss, and love. You’ll see that God has a purpose for your life, and He uses every action and event that occurs in it to make that purpose a reality.

 

Detours: The Unpredictable Path to Your Destiny (6 sessions)

Find hope in understanding that the sudden or seemingly endless detours in life are God’s way of moving you from where you are to where He wants you to be.

The biblical account of Joseph clearly demonstrates that God is at work even when life seems to be going wrong. Even today, it’s easy to wonder why God would allow calamity to happen or if He’s in control at all. Whether through uncontrollable circumstances or the pain of personal relationships, everyone has experienced unforeseen changes in life. This study helps believers navigate detours that may take you through trials, injustice, and even betrayal. You will be comforted and encouraged when you learn to rest in God’s redemptive plan and the hope found in God’s sovereign will.

 

Our plans can change. But the purposes of the Lord remain the same. Let’s hold onto His faithfulness, even during unprecedented times.

Group Answers Podcast, Uncategorized
July 15, 2020

Group Answers Episode 161: Relaunching Groups for the Fall

By Group Ministry

https://media.blubrry.com/groupsmatter/p/media.blubrry.com/lifewayleadership/p/groupministry.lifeway.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2020/07/GA-161.mp3

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On this episode of Group Answers, Chris and Ken discuss why it’s important to launch and relaunch groups in the Fall.  

Questions Discussed:

  • What is special about launching groups in the Fall?
  • What about existing groups that haven’t been meeting this summer? Can they be relaunched with new people, or should they just restart?
  • What are the barriers to think through for groups meeting this Fall?
  • What about virtual/online/hybrid groups? Is that a long-term strategy?
  • Timeline for a fall launch?

Resources:

  • Facebook Live Video

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.

Uncategorized
June 29, 2020

Happy Are Those Who Mourn

By Deborah Spooner

By Dr. Derwin L. Gray

Over the years of sitting at Jesus’ feet, I’ve found that the more time I spend with Him, the more I am connected to His heart. And somehow, in a way that only He understands, I am a better person because my love for people and their plight increases. 

Mourning is necessary for Christians to understand and embrace. So often we are bombarded with messages of positivity and “keeping it moving.” We don’t take the time to slow down, feel pain, and mourn with those who are mourning. We want to move past those painful feelings and get back to the happy feelings. I have learned, however, that taking the time to sit in the pain is necessary for discipleship. There is no other option than to know God in our suffering and the suffering of others.  

Lament

The Bible speaks of “lamenting.” Lamenting is a holy hurt. But the hurt is a pain that pushes us deeper into faith, hope, and love. 

Deeper into faith in Jesus and His redemptive purposes. 

Deeper into hoping, which is a knowing that one day all things will be made new. 

Deeper into loving people. 

In the midst of human suffering, having someone who cares for you, comforts you, prays with you, reads Scripture over you, and nurtures you through the rising river of pain is a gift. It’s as if God heals us as we become instruments of healing touch. 

Those who lament will be cemented in God’s comfort. God’s comforting grace will be experienced in the present through the Spirit’s presence, and in the future, when ultimate redemption is realized in the new heavens and new earth. Just like the cross, out of great sorrow, comes great comfort. Happy are those whose hearts break for what breaks God’s heart, for they will be comforted.

Hope has a name, and it’s Jesus. Through His cross and resurrection, our bodies, along with all of creation, will be made whole. But until that time, God lovingly enters our suffering and is broken on a cross to heal our brokenness. Our hope is not a mere wish, but an assurance, because God, through the Holy Spirit, is pouring His love into our hearts. 

Lament moves us to action. 

Happy are those who lament, for they will be cemented in God’s comfort. 

Help Others Mourn

How do we help our people mourn? There is no perfect formula, but I humbly offer these suggestions:

  1. Slow down. Do not rush past sin, hurt, and sadness. Take time to sit in it. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak through these feelings and do a work in you. As you experience suffering and mourn it, you will be conformed to the image of Christ. 
  2. Pray. Talk to God about what is going on. Cry out to Him. Scripture is filled with God’s people crying out to Him. If you don’t have the words, know that the Holy Spirit groans on your behalf. 
  3. Read Scripture. Again, we see many examples in Scripture of God’s people crying out to Him. Spend time in the Psalms. Remember God’s promises written in the Scriptures. 
  4. Allow lament to move you to action. We have seen many instances, both in Scripture and in recent history, where lament moves people to action. They see hurt happening around them and decide to do something about it. Ask God how He is calling you to move to action. 
  5. Spend time in community. God has given us a family to walk through difficult seasons together. Don’t try to go through mourning on your own. Lean on each other. 

A Prayer for a Season of Mourning

Here is a prayer from my most recent book that I hope will minister to you as you walk through a season of mourning.

Blessed Trinity,
you are not distant or disinterested in us. 

Thank you that I can approach your throne of grace and mercy in my time of need. 

In every moment of every season, including moments of disappointment, doubt, and despair, you have determined to be present with us. 

You enter our worst moments and teach us how to lament and long for a day when all wrongs are made right, when tears of sorrow turn to tears of joy, when hurts are healed. 

Teach me to lament well. Teach me to cry out to you. 

May my lament over our broken world be a battle cry of victory, for in Christ, we are more than conquerors in him who loved us. 

As I lament, encourage my heart and cement me eternally in the truth that nothing will ever separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus. 

In Jesus’ name, amen. 

This post was originally published here on Lifeway voices. Reposted with permission.

Group Answers Podcast, Uncategorized
June 3, 2020

Group Answers Episode 155: What Churches Are Planning for the Next Season of Groups

By Group Ministry

https://media.blubrry.com/groupsmatter/p/media.blubrry.com/lifewayleadership/p/groupministry.lifeway.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2020/06/GA-155.mp3

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On this episode of Group Answers, Chris interviews three church leaders from across the country about what the next season of groups looks like for them.

Resources:

  • North Coast Church Online Strategy
  • North Coast Training
  • How to Host a Group Online Article
  • Tips for Overcoming Zoom Fatigue
  • How to Choose a Bible Study for Your Online Group
  • Is Your Small Group Post-Covid Ready?
Ashley Anderson Ashley Anderson is community groups leader at Church of the City in New York, New York.
Dave Enns Dave Enns is the pastor of life group ministries at North Coast Church in San Diego, California.
Jon Hughes Jon Hughes is adult ministries director at Community Christian Church in Chicago, Illinois.
Chris Surratt Chris Surratt is the discipleship and small groups specialist at Lifeway and author of Small Groups for the Rest of Us and Leading Small Groups. You can follow his blog at www.chrissurratt.com.

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.

Church Leadership, Uncategorized
May 26, 2020

The Next Season of Groups [Replay]

By Group Ministry

Enjoy this replay of a Facebook Live discussion with three church leaders on the next season of small groups.

 

Ashley Anderson Ashley Anderson is community groups leader at Church of the City in New York, New York.
Dave Enns Dave Enns is the pastor of life group ministries at North Coast Church in San Diego, California.
Jon Hughes Jon Hughes is adult ministries director at Community Christian Church in Chicago, Illinois.
Chris Surratt Chris Surratt is the discipleship and small groups specialist at Lifeway and author of Small Groups for the Rest of Us and Leading Small Groups. You can follow his blog at www.chrissurratt.com.
Uncategorized
August 16, 2019

Leading Inter-Generational Small Groups Toward Transformation 

By Group Ministry

by Jared Musgrove 

We adults have a lot to learn. One of the fantastic opportunities we have as small group leaders is to lean into the normal phases of adult transformation. Because isn’t that what we are all hoping and praying and working toward in a small group? To see lives transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. No matter the person’s age or life stage. 

There are so many opportunities for leading an inter-generational small group. At the forefront, such a group looks a lot more like the body of Christ with varied ages and stages and backgrounds and ethnicities and ranges of walks with God in the living room. Together. For the gospel. That’s the immediate opportunity and your strategy can be to call this out at the start of your first night of group. And again on the second night and on into the second year. For however long the Lord has you together, never let your inter-generational group members lose the wonder of Christian unity across the ranges of our lives and experiences with Him. 

Transformation in childhood is so different than what we as adults of all ages experience. Adult transformations tend to come not just from a new idea or knowledge, but a life lived, directed by truth. Know your Bible. And don’t forget to live your Bible. In the company of spiritual friends. 

Small group is an essential environment for this type of adult transformation via life-on-life disciplemaking. 

Here’s what we can know and pray and work toward in our inter-generational groups: Every adult, regardless of age, transforms via three core elements that correspond with our Christian faith and the Bible’s story: 

 

A new idea encountered (John 3:18, Romans 12:1, Phil. 4:8) 

This is Jesus with the crowds, perhaps even the 70 who regularly walked with Him. This is a sermon about that affected someone in the group. Or maybe a confession from a group member that signals to another that there is a way that seems right to man but in the end leads to destruction. Maybe a group member shares about a population in your city who need help. You were never before aware of these things. 

Encountering can also offer a solution to the problem. Freedom, emancipation, is the main theme of this beginning transformation by the renewing of the adult mind, regardless of age (Romans 12:1-2). This is where the Philippians 4:8 command to think on “whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable… excellent” begins. 

This is where the gospel begins to take root. Where you “know” that your old self was crucified, you believe that if you’ve died with him then you will live with him, you know that death no longer has dominion over him (Romans 6:6-11, 14-23). You know that you know. You are strengthened in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith (Ephesians 3:16). 

 But it cannot end there. No adult truly thinks or transforms alone. 

 

Community as core (Ephesians 4:1ff) 

This is Jesus with the 12 disciples. At times even just with Peter, James, and John. This is the small group where honest questions are asked and answered forthrightly, wrestling and verbal processing can be done out loud and in a safe environment, admonishments occur based in personal love and concern for God’s design; the small group is where knowledge of God, self, and friends begins to form and transform the persons in the group. 

This small group space is critical to how adults, of any age, conform more into the image of Christ. When you have an inter-generational group, recognize that we are all learning, forming, and transforming along this path. The community is key. The soul is the center of the action. The people in your group, regardless of age, are relational creatures. Ephesians 4-6 help use see is that there is no significant transformation in a person apart from another person or persons. Each man or woman in that small group is in danger of being tossed to and fro, but when we speak the truth to each other in love we grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ. 

But you can’t walk it alone. You have to step out. 

Transformed action taken (James 1:19-25; 2:14, 26) 

In your walk with God there is always the encounter, the community, and then the action taken. This is the journey outward, but it can and must not leave the learning or the community behind. You take it with you into the work, in to sharing faith. This is the step of the path where you are not a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, blessed in your action (James 1:25). 

This is Jesus sending His disciples to the crowds and the nations. This is the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) on display in the group’s life together. This is sharing the gospel, together. It may be serving shut-ins or a local nursing home. It may be blessing first-year teachers at your local schools. It may be street evangelism at your local shops. It is your journey outward, together. And it must occur. We know that faith — and community — without works is dead. 

So regardless the age range in your group, there’s work to do together. We are all on a pathway to further transform and become more like Christ today than yesterday. That’s the constant commonality in an intergenerational group. There’s always opportunity for growth in the gospel. It never gets old. 

Jared Steven Musgrove serves as Groups Pastor and elder at The Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas. He earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from The University of Oklahoma, a Master of Divinity in preaching from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Doctorate of Ministry in leadership from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the husband of Jenny and the father of two sons, Jordan and Joshua. You can follow him on Twitter @jsmusgrove 
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