Podcast

January 13, 2021

Group Answers Episode 187: Leading in a Deeply Divided World

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On this episode of Group Answers, Chris talks to Will Johnston about how we navigate tough conversations in our groups, especially after the events of January 6.

Will Johnston is the Director of Build Community at Eastside Community Church in Anaheim, California. Will graduated from Wheaton College with a degree in theology, did a two-and-a-half year stint on Capitol Hill, and then joined the staff of National Community Church in Washington D.C., where he oversaw small groups.

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

January 6, 2021

Group Answers Episode 186: What We Learned About Groups and Community During This Pandemic

By Group Ministry

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On this episode of Group Answers, Chris and Brian catch up with three previous guests about the lessons they learned from doing groups in 2020, and how they are going to apply them in 2021.

Ashley Anderson is community groups leader at Church of the City in New York, New York.

Dave Enns is the pastor of life group ministries at North Coast Church in San Diego, California.

Jon Hughes is adult ministries director at Community Christian Church in Chicago, Illinois.

Group Answers Podcast

December 30, 2020

Group Answers Episode 185: Bonus Classic with Andrew Peterson

By Group Ministry

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On this classic episode of Group Answers, Brian and Chris talk to author and musician, Andrew Peterson.

Andrew Peterson is an award-winning singer-songwriter and author. The second book in his Wingfeather Saga, “North! Or Be Eaten” (2009) won the Christy Award for Young Adult Fiction, and the fourth, “The Warden and the Wolf King” (2014) won Children’s Book of the Year in 2015 from “WORLD Magazine.”

In 2008, driven by a desire to cultivate a strong Christian arts community, Andrew founded a ministry called The Rabbit Room, which led to a yearly conference, countless concerts and symposiums, and Rabbit Room Press, which has published thirty books to date. He’s been married for 24 years to his wife Jamie, with whom they have three children.

His new book, “Adorning the Dark”, is both a memoir of Peterson’s journey and an encouragement for artists, written in the hope that his story will provide practical tools to others stumbling along in pursuit of a calling to adorn the dark with the light of Christ.

Question asked:

Why did you decide to create The Rabbit Room community?
Community seems to be important to you – The Rabbit Room, Behold the Lamb of God tour – why is it important to have a community – even in the world of artists?
How do you keep a consistent community when you’re constantly on the road as a musician and speaker?
What prompted you to write “Adorning the Dark”?
For whom did you write this book? Can those who don’t work in the arts and may not consider
themselves a creative person use this?
What is one thing you have learned about creativity and the Christian life in your 20 years as a
singer/songwriter, that you wish you could go back and tell your younger self?
How does our calling as Christians intersect and inform the “great mystery of creativity”?

Resources mentioned:

Group Answers Podcast

December 23, 2020

Group Answers Podcast

December 16, 2020

Group Answers Episode 183: Reid Smith on Leader Self-Care

By Group Ministry

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On this episode of Group Answers, Chris and Brian talk to Reid Smith about how small group leaders can keep themselves spiritually healthy — especially during this season.

Reid Smith has been equipping leaders in churches of all sizes and stages of growth for effective disciple-making since 1996. He lives in Wellington, Florida where he serves as a Groups Pastor at Christ Fellowship. You can find more of his helpful resources at www.reidsmith.org.

Resources Mentioned

Small Group Leader Self-Care Blog Post

Group Answers Podcast

December 2, 2020

Group Answers Episode 181: Barnabas Piper on Hoping for Happiness

By Group Ministry

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On this episode of Group Answers, Chris and Brian talk to Barnabas Piper about his new book, Hoping for Happiness, where he offers a biblical framework for living a grounded, hopeful, and genuinely happy life.

Barnabas Piper is on staff at Immanuel Nashville. He is also an author and speaker and the father of two daughters. He cohosts the Happy Rant podcast and blogs at BarnabasPiper.com.

Questions:

In what ways does happiness look different for everybody?
Is it wrong to want to be happy?
What’s the difference between happiness and joy? Is one holier?
How are we to experience happiness in this life while setting our minds on things above?
How do we avoid expecting too much of earthly things and being disappointed, or expecting too little and becoming cynics?
What kinds of unrealistic expectations do we have of happiness?
Why do Christians feel guilty about happiness? How do we address that Biblically?
How can we share our happiness with those who are hurting without making it worse?

Group Answers Podcast, Uncategorized

November 25, 2020

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

By Group Ministry

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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?

Group Answers Podcast

November 18, 2020

Group Answers Podcast

November 11, 2020

Group Answers Episode 178: Avoiding Drift in Discipleship

By Group Ministry

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On this episode of Group Answers, Chris, Brian and Brandon talk about ways to avoid drifting in discipleship, even when everything else in life seems to be moving.

Resources:

Group Answers Podcast, Uncategorized

October 28, 2020

Group Answers Episode 176: Steve Gladen

By Group Ministry

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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

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Group Answers Episode 178: Avoiding Drift in Discipleship

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