Small Groups

Our church is growing by leaps and bounds. Many talented people are attending and joining. We are in the middle of a building campaign, right now we meet in a beautiful high school facility .

We are moving from being a church with small groups to a church of small groups. This involves rethinking our ministries - while we are called to serve, we are also called to be spiritually nourishing ourselves. This is a wise change, as it will help prevent ministry burnout.

Ideally, everyone serves in some capacity. And everyone is connected to a small group of other believers who grow in God's word.

I think about verse 11, how God gave us different gifts and ministries. In small groups, we can begin to flex those ministry muscles in a safe and supportive environment. As we get encouragement from others, we might find we do have a gift for teaching, or find we are really into Biblical scholarship, or get prodded to start doing something that we've been just talking about for years. In small group we can be prepared for works of service...so we build up the Body of Christ. It's this nurturing environment that allows us to mature, gain insight, speak the truth in love with eachother. Without this nourishment, our service can become stale, we dry out.

I've been in both types of situations: serving without ongoing support and nourishment, and having the intimate and positive influence of a small group, which strengthens us for service. The latter situation is what Christ modeled for us with His disciples. It works.

Created about 4 years ago