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March 14, 2018

February 22, 2018

The Top Five Questions Every Small Group Leader Has

Every small group leader has questions. Most have lots of questions. It can be intimidating to take on the leadership of a group, but you can be assured that (almost) every small group leader has the same doubts, concerns, and questions that you do. The second that we as leaders think we have it all figured out is when we should stop being leaders. I have discovered that the best leaders always have questions—and they’re not afraid to ask them.

Here are five questions that I hear small group leaders asking the most.

1. How much Bible knowledge do I need to have?

This is a natural question to ask as you begin to lead a biblical community. It’s also the number one question that keeps many people from taking on leadership of a small group. The simple answer is: just be one step ahead of the members of the group. You obviously want to always grow in your biblical knowledge, but leading a small group should not require a seminary degree. Follow your church’s leader training, and know where the study is taking the group before the meeting. That will help you feel confident as you facilitate the Bible study.

2. How much training do I need before I start?

There is basic group leading knowledge that you will want to know before you start your group, and information that you will obtain as you lead the group. The logistics of starting a group, facilitating a discussion, and your church’s theology and philosophy around groups will need to studied prior to launching. Almost everything else will be learned on the job. Never be afraid to turn to a pastor or church staff leader for help on difficult situations that might come up during the life of the group.

3. How do I choose a study?

Choosing an effective, gospel-centered Bible study is critical. There are thousands of studies to choose from, so it’s easy to achieve decision paralysis when picking one out. Here are a five guidelines to help make the choice a little easier.

A good study is:

Rooted in Scripture. Make sure the study points to the Scripture and not the author for the answers.
Focused on Christ. Every study must ultimately point to the gospel message of the cross.
Flexible for groups. You should be able to make a study work in the unique culture of your small group.
Empowering for the leader. You should feel confident leading the discussion.
Crafted with a purpose. Where is the study taking the group? Every study should be designed to help group members live out the principles taught during the study.

4. How do I facilitate a great discussion?

The goal of a small group leader is not to teach a lesson, but to walk the group members through a facilitated discussion of the Bible study. Here are a few rules of thumb when it comes to facilitating a good discussion:

Only talk 30% of the time. That will help assure that everyone has an opportunity to enter the conversation.
Know the finish line of the discussion. A good Bible study will end on application.
Always land on what the Bible says. Be careful of personal opinions or group think when it comes to major issues. Always bring the group back to what the Scriptures say about the topic.
Be okay with saying “I don’t know.” The group will not expect you to have all of the answers, and it’s healthier for the group and the discussion if some lines of conversation are closed until more information can be gathered.

5. What if they don’t like me?

Although we want to get along with everyone in the group, it will be impossible to be every group member’s best friend. In fact, trying to be would not be healthy for you or the group members. Look for two-to-three same gender members that you can personally disciple, then help other group members connect to each other outside of group time.

Chris Surratt is a ministry consultant and coach with over 23 years of experience serving the local church. Chris served on the Executive Team at Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN, and was on staff at Seacoast Church in Charleston, SC, for 15 years. He is also the Small Group Specialist for LifeWay Christian Resources. Chris’s first book, Small Groups For The Rest Of Us: How to Design Your Small Groups System to Reach the Fringes, was recently released by Thomas Nelson. You can follow his blog at chrissurratt.com or follow him on Twitter @chrissurratt.

Group Leadership

February 20, 2018

How to Avoid Gossip in Your Small Group

By Caroline Case

Anyone who’s honest with you will tell you, gossip feels good. Gossip feels good when we’re bored. Gossip feels good when we’re insecure. Gossip feels good when we’re lonely. Whenever I gossip, the motive is always to tear the other person down so that I look better. It’s a cry for help, if you ask me. Gossip says, “I’m not confident enough in my own skin and who God has created me to be that I feel the need to put His other members of creation down.” It’s not only sinful, but it’s also isolating.

Because small groups are composed of, well, humans, and human nature tends toward the sinful, we need to be doubly cautious of our predilection to gossip. Below are a few tips to keep gossip out of your small group.

Establish your group as a safe space. As a small group leader, you need to remind your members that this group is a safe space—a place where the weary can come and be refreshed, the weak can be made strong, and the doubtful can walk away hopeful. Gossip tends to come from a place of insecurity, where the gossiper doesn’t feel safe in their own skin that they feel the need to criticize someone else’s. When your group members know that the group is a safe space, they are less likely to gossip—they know they have nothing to prove.
Keep prayer requests strictly prayer requests. Prayer requests tend to be the perfect inconspicuous place to hide gossip. “We need to pray for Sarah because she’s going through a lot right now…” “John got caught doing…so let’s keep him in our prayers…” If a prayer request begins to sound like an indictment against another person, you as the leader need to steer the conversation back to prayer. A few guidelines may include not sharing last names, specific places, or certain situations. If the prayer request begins to sound like a judgment, shut that conversation down quickly!
Keep each other accountable. Small groups welcome deep discussions, but if a deep discussion turns political or personal—particularly personal about someone not present within the group—remind group members why they are all there. Pivot back to Scripture or the biblical topic at hand. Your group discussion should always point people back to God’s Word.

If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, his religion is useless and he deceives himself. – James 1:26, CSB

Caroline Case is a proud Nashville transplant from Naples, Florida, who serves as the Production Editor for LifeWay’s SmallGroup.com and Discipleship in Context teams. Caroline has a Bachelor of Communication from Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, FL. She is pursuing her Master of Arts in English at Belmont University in Nashville, where she will go on to pursue her doctorate and teach.

Group Leadership

February 8, 2018

Why Your Small Group Should Be Fun

By Chris Surratt

The process of leading a small group can sometimes take all of the fun out of it. After all, think about all of the administration details you have to deal with.

Where will the group meet?
What day of the week will it meet?
Who will be invited?
Who will bring the food?
How many members are gluten-free?
What will the study be?

I happen to enjoy putting those details together, but most people don’t. If you’re not careful, your group can quickly become a list of tasks to complete, not a community to be enjoyed. I believe that your group can and should be fun, and here are three reasons why.

1. Everyone likes fun!

Quickly think through your top five memories in life. I bet they all involved something fun. We were designed by God to enjoy life and the people around us. Why would we not include it in a weekly gathering of friends at our home?

2. Fun will make them come back.

Most people will not return to a boring group–no matter how great the study is. I always judge how healthy a small group is by how much laughter there is during a group meeting. If you want people to go from visitors to members, make sure there’s something to enjoy at the meeting.

3. Biblical community is supposed to be fun.

You can see fun and laughter throughout the Bible. They were constantly throwing feasts to celebrate something God had done for them! That’s another reason to always have good food at your group. Nothing brings people together faster than a great meal. 🙂

So, now that we know there should be fun in our groups, how do we go about making that happen. Here are a three tips to get the fun back in.

1. Set the expectation for fun.

You can kick off the group by planning something fun at the beginning. Meet at a restaurant or a TopGolf for your first meeting. That will let the group know that this group is not just about the study. You can also spell it out in your group covenant at one of your first meetings. A line item can be something like, “This group will value having fun together.”

2. Plan for fun.

Go ahead and set aside at least one meeting a quarter for just having fun. This could be going to a ballgame, having a picnic, going river rafting, or having a game night. A healthy amount of competition can bond a group for a long time! You will also want to build time into the weekly meeting for fun. The first and last 20 minutes of the group time should be for just hanging out and enjoying each other’s company.

3. Be a fun person to be around.

The tone of fun starts with the leader. If you are too tied up in the details of pulling a group off every week, the group members will follow your lead. The fun starts with the hospitality displayed. Are you a smiling face at the door, or a stressed out group host? That attitude will set the atmosphere for the entire night.

Group Answers Podcast

January 31, 2018

Group Answers Episode 53: Todd Adkins on Building Your Leadership Pipeline

By Group Ministry

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On this week’s episode, Brian and Chris join Todd Adkins, Director of Leadership at LifeWay Christian Resources.

Brian, Chris, and Todd answer the following questions:

How do you gauge the spiritual health of a church?
How can you re-contextualize the business world in the church setting?
As a small group leader, how do you play not to win, but to get better?
What is leadership development?
Why is it important to develop, or disciple, small group leaders?

Click here to get free small group leader training on Ministry Grid during the month of February.

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 Small Groups For The Rest Of Us.

GUEST: Todd is the Director of Leadership at LifeWay Christian Resources. Lifeway Leadership is responsible for ministrygrid.com, the Leadership Pipeline conferences, and the New Churches Podcast. Todd participates in Leadership Pipeline coaching, where he has facilitated in the coaching of over 2,600 church leaders. Todd is also the co-host of the 5 Leadership Questions Podcast, along with Eric Geiger and Daniel Im. Todd has a Master of Divinity at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Master of Arts in Leadership.

Group Leadership, Start New Groups

January 29, 2018

Seven Myths About Small Groups

By Chris Surratt

Although church-sponsored small groups have been around for awhile, there are still misconceptions about what they are—or are not. With that in mind, here are seven popular myths that I hear about small groups.

1. Groups are for everyone—all of the time.

It’s okay for people to take breaks from group life occasionally. Even Jesus retreated from His small group from time to time. A semester system can give group members and leaders time to catch their breath in between studies.

2. Off-campus groups are more effective than on-campus groups.

Both approaches to groups have pluses and minuses. A church leader has to decide what the end goal for a group experience is, and then decide where that best takes place. It may actually be both.

3. Group leaders have to be fully trained before starting a group.

Some initial training is necessary, but most training will be more effective after the group starts and leaders begin to have their own real world examples. The church should consider providing ongoing, as-needed online training.

4. Small groups are not weird.

I can almost guarantee that for most people, attending a small group in someone’s home for the first time is a strange experience. It was for me, but then again, so was eating sushi. Make sure to set the expectations for a group experience at the beginning. A good groups connection event can help ease people into group life.

5. Small groups will solve everyone’s discipleship needs.

An ongoing small group of 8-12 believers is a great environment to begin a discipleship journey, but most people will need something smaller and more focused in order to continue that journey. A 3-1 or 4-1 same-sex “D-group” (discipleship group) can offer better accountability and more open conversations.

6. There is a perfect small groups system.

Every church has its own DNA and approach to ministry. A wise small group pastor will take good practices from other churches and shape them to work in their context. Also, don’t be afraid to experiment. Every established practice once started with a crazy idea.

7. A good small group can exist without good food.

This one may just be about me.

Friday Features

January 26, 2018

The Exclusivity of Truth

By Group Ministry

The traditional motto of the United States is the Latin expression “e pluribus unum”—“out of many, one.” In many cases, plurality is desirable. America’s society is a wonderful human tapestry woven together from the lives of millions of people with different languages, music, food, literature, art, and ethnicities. Diversity is a worthy aspiration that has inspired many noble causes.

Furthermore, diversity is an ideal that God values. According to His own revelation, every “nation, tribe, people and language” (Rev. 7:9) will be represented in heaven. Heaven will be the place where those “out of many” who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ will come together to worship the One. The ethnicity of each person is sacred because ethnicity is an essential, immutable component of personhood, and each person is made in God’s image. Thus, heaven, the place where God will dwell with His people forever (see Rev. 21:3), will reflect the diversity of His image bearers.

Disagreeing Without Being Disagreeable

People, however, are not the same as beliefs. It is incredibly important not to confuse the reality of a pluralistic society (that is, a society that includes people of diverse beliefs) with being a pluralist about truth. The former is desirable because all people are equally valuable; the latter is incoherent and should be rejected.

Although all people are equally valuable, the same cannot be said for their beliefs. Unlike people, who are intrinsically valuable because they bear the image of God, beliefs are merely true or false. What makes a belief valuable or valid is whether it is true. In other words, beliefs that are true and undergirded by strong evidentiary support are preferable to those that are false and lacking in evidence.

Certainly, it is tempting to want to affirm all beliefs as equally valid in order to be inclusive and avoid the risk of offending other people. This fear is understandable; no one wants to be viewed as narrow-minded, arrogant, dogmatic, or bigoted. But affirming all beliefs as equally valid results in two mistakes.

It confuses a person with his or her beliefs. Criticizing a belief, if done respectfully, is not the same as criticizing the person who holds that belief.
Affirming all beliefs as equally valuable, for all practical purposes, is equivalent to claiming that all ideas are equally right, equally correct, or equally true.

While Christians should always heed biblical admonitions to disagree without being disagreeable (see Col. 4:6; 1 Pet. 3:15), they are called to disagree at times when false ideas are being passed off as true. Paul clearly thought some beliefs were more valuable than others because they were true, and “knowledge of the truth … leads to godliness” (Titus 1:1). Therefore, he urged his readers to correct, rebuke, warn, and exhort others and to respond to unsound teaching and false doctrine with the truth. But he also encouraged them to do so “with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Tim. 4:2) because God’s servants must be “kind to everyone” and “not resentful” (2 Tim. 2:24).

Jesus is the Truth

The same God who values the plurality of human diversity flatly rejects the notion of pluralism about truth itself. In Scripture we see this fact in two primary ways.

Jesus asserted that He is “the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). Notice that Jesus did not just claim to be someone who speaks or teaches the truth; He claimed to be truth itself—truth incarnated in human form (see Phil. 2:5-11). Therefore, everything Jesus said and did is true and authoritative.
Jesus followed up this statement with another: “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). The early church was no less ambiguous on this point (see John 17:3; Acts 4:12; 1 John 5:12; 1 Tim. 2:5).

Therefore, despite all the options in the marketplace of religions, not all paths lead to God (or claim to). Eternal life and salvation—intimate, loving relationship with God—are found in Christ alone and no one else (see Rev. 3:20). Admittedly, the exclusivity of such a claim rubs many people the wrong way. However, truth by its very definition is exclusive, because asserting that something is true involves an implicit assertion that its negation is false. In other words, what is true must logically exclude its oppo- site. If the statements of Jesus, Peter, Paul, and John are all true, then as a matter of reality, no other person, including Mohammed, Buddha, Confucius, or oneself, can provide eternal life or salvation other than Jesus Christ.

This was an excerpt from Jesus Among Secular Gods, by Ravi Zacharias and Vince Vitale. Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Group Leadership

January 25, 2018

The Power of Authenticity

By Chris Surratt

A common fear for almost every small group leader is not being “good enough” to be considered a leader in a church based community. After all, how can I live up to the high standards of biblical leadership? If people only knew…

The things I have done in my past
My shortcomings as a spouse
My failure as a parent
My private thoughts
Sin based in my insecurities

The beautiful and freeing truth of authenticity is that being vulnerable to a group of people doesn’t require walking in perfection, it requires walking in confession. Scripture lays it out this way in I John:

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light,and there is absolutely no darkness in him. 6 If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. 7 If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:5-9

Our natural reaction to sin is to run and hide in darkness, but the power of the gospel frees us to come out into the light. Because of the blood of Jesus, we don’t have to be afraid of confessing our sin. This is not because our sin is not present or that it doesn’t have consequences, but through the gospel we can truly own our sin without justification. Not only that, but we can also confess to one another not so that we will receive forgiveness, but so that the forgiveness that Jesus has already given us can be pronounced again and again in our communities.

James gives us this hope:

15 The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect. – James 5:15-16

The work of Jesus makes confession and repentance more beautiful than burdensome. We can share “below the line of shame” because we already know that we are so broken Jesus had to die for us. But we also know that we are so loved that He was willing to die for us.

The only way for a small group to embrace this power of healing is for the leader to model and practice it from the beginning. Here are a few practices that will help your group begin to live in the freedom that comes from embracing authenticity.

Be willing to go first. A good practice of facilitation is to ask questions and let the group answer before giving your opinion. But when you’re leading with a personal question, it’s always good to model vulnerability by going first with your experience. This will help the group feel at ease about opening up and set up the culture of confession from the beginning.

Be prepared before the group meeting. Go over the study for the group time and mentally prepare your answers for each question. This will help you feel more confident about sharing something vulnerable to the group. The group members will then quickly follow your approach to the openness of the discussion.

Ease into the personal questions. Especially if this is a new group. It will take time to build the relationships and the trust necessary for open conversation. A group that “goes there” too quickly will scare off members that need more time. My first men’s group experience was like this. I didn’t know any of the men that morning when we were asked by the leader to go around the table and confess our biggest struggle. That experience kept me from having anything to do with men’s groups for several years. Give your group the opportunity to form relationships before asking them to get too personal.

Keep the focus on Jesus and grace. Continue to point the group back to the message of the cross. Authenticity will come when we think about the amazing love Christ had for us by laying down His life for our sin. When the conversation turns to judgement, gently remind the group that we are all sinners in need of the risen Savior.

Make prayer an integral part of the group experience. Oftentimes, prayer is a forgotten or hurried part of the group time. We have spent so much time in discussion that prayer becomes the final check off to completing the official meeting time. James said that confession leads to prayer, and prayer leads to healing. In order for group members to get to healing, there has to be concerted prayer. This sometimes means the group time may need to be interrupted to pray for a hurting member in the moment of confession. Be open to where the Holy Spirit is leading the group.

Chris Surratt is a ministry consultant and coach with over 22 years of experience serving the local church. Chris served on the Executive Team at Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN, and was on staff at Seacoast Church in Charleston, SC, for 15 years. He is also the Small Group Specialist for LifeWay Christian Resources. Chris’s first book, Small Groups For The Rest Of Us: How to Design Your Small Groups System to Reach the Fringes, was just released by Thomas Nelson. You can follow his blog at chrissurratt.com or follow him on Twitter @chrissurratt.

Group Leadership

January 23, 2018

5 Ways to Make Sure People Show Up to Your Bible Study

By Ken Braddy

We’re over halfway into January. New curriculum has been printed, Bible studies have started up again, and groups are gathering across churches on a more consistent basis at the close of a holiday rush.

We all want people to come to our Bible study group this new year, but what can we do to actually get people to attend? I believe there are five ways to help people decide to come to your Bible study group:

Give them an assignment. If people have a job to do, they are more likely to show up weekly. Place someone in charge of nametags, announcements, or prayer time. Ask someone to lead a portion of the study, or organize group activities. One group leader that I knew had 42 different things he asked people to do, and his group’s attendance was always one of the highest among all of our adult groups.

Pose a controversial question. Some time before the next group gathering, email or text group members something from your group’s Personal Study Guide (PSG). Call attention to a section of the PSG, such as a statement by the author, a question posed in the curriculum, a quote, or an activity. Use the PSG to pose a controversial question. Stir the pot. Urge your group members to think critically. Promise to address the question or comment during the Bible study. They’ll have to show up the following week to find out the answer.

Preview the next session. Movie theaters have learned the value of making us sit through 25 minutes of “coming attractions.” They know that to get us to return in the near future, they need to pique our interest in the present. At the end of each Bible study, spend a minute previewing the next study, encouraging your group members to study in advance and to come prepared to engage in next week’s Bible study.

Teach with excellence. One of the quickest ways to drive people away from your group is to get into a teaching rut. If your group members can predict what is going to take place each week, it’s time for you to shake things up. Learn to incorporate new teaching techniques each week (there are eight different learning approaches). The variety will spice things up, and your group members will appreciate the new ways they’ll be engaged each week.

Reach out to them. It’s a mathematical fact that about 50% of your group’s members will not be in attendance each week. Normally, groups average an attendance of 50% of their enrollment. Every week group leaders should contact every absent member and discover if there is a ministry opportunity. Sometimes sickness will keep people out of Bible study. Travel will as well. But sometimes you will discover another reason someone has missed, and you’ll discover an opportunity to minister to the person and their family.

Ken Braddy is a group leader, and manages LifeWay’s adult ongoing Bible studies. He blogs daily about groups at kenbraddy.com.

Group Leadership

January 18, 2018

Handling Divisive Issues During Group Discussion

By Dwayne McCrary

Everything seemed to be going fine as Paul shared the gospel with the people of Athens—until he brought up the resurrection of Jesus (see Acts 17:32). The debate was now on. Some ridiculed Paul, others asked for time to think about it, and some accepted the gospel. God’s truth has a way of bringing out the best and worst in people. We cannot teach the Bible avoiding divisive issues. The Bible is brutally honest and touches our deepest emotions, some of which we don’t want exposed. But that is how a two-edged sword works.

When a divisive issue comes to the surface in a Bible study group, how do we deal with it?

Let Scripture speak. God has given us His Word so that we may know the truth. Too many times, we spend more time worrying what this person or that person says than we do about what the Bible says. The God of the Bible is capable of defending Himself and His Word….if we let Him.
Make sure all of Scripture is given the opportunity to speak. Ignoring the whole of Scripture will get us in trouble. Too many causes have been justified by the misquoting of a Bible verse or passage. The Bible is not a collection of individual tidbits of wisdom and stories. Rather, it is a complete unit and must be treated as such.
Set ground rules and use them. Discuss with the group some ground rules for discussion: being respectful of others, disagreeing without being disagreeable, attacking an idea without attacking the person, and other rules may need to be considered. I know some groups that set time limits for discussion. The issue is not so much about having rules as it is enforcing the rules. Displaying the rules of discussion for the group can be helpful.
Plan your discussion. Many times heated discussions happen because we failed to craft meaningful and substantive questions that move the conversation to conclusions. Discussion as a Way of Teaching by Stephen D. Brookfield and Stephen Preskill and Engaging Ideas by John C. Bean are great resources for learning how to plan a discussion. A key is thinking in question sets, moving from the general to the specific so a final conclusion can be drawn.
Anticipate the hot buttons. If you know your group, you can anticipate some of the potential divisive discussions. When planning the discussion, create contingency questions or responses that will help you keep the group on track. You may only use those contingency questions and remarks occasionally, but when you need them they become invaluable.

We can’t avoid all potentially divisive issues in a Bible study group, but these five practices help me when approaching these types of issues.

What other practices have you found helpful when dealing with potentially divisive issues?

G. Dwayne McCrary is a project team leader for ongoing adult Bible study resources at LifeWay, including the adult Explore the Bible resources. He also teaches an adult group and preschool group every Sunday in the church he attends.

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