Tag: community

Hanging out with Jesus

Kevin Hendricks (Church Marketing Sucks) shares some thoughts from his community group last week:

Throughout the New Testament he spends a lot of time just hanging out with people. He’s not doing anything productive, he’s just hanging out. That Jesus–what a bum.

But I think Jesus was intentionally modeling the value of relationships. In many ways I think our faith is worked out in our relationships with others. When I’m really close to people I don’t have to do anything with them. We can just hang out.

and love this…

Contrary to what we may think, Christianity cannot be lived in a vacuum. No Christian is an island. We need each other. There’s value in just being with other people.

Mixing stages within groups

Brandi has a good post on a recent struggle they’re dealing with at her church and within her community group.

The group was initially intended to be a mixture of college students, single adults, and young married couples (without kids). Most of those people were already in care groups, but they weren’t attending for one reason or another. (We were attending ours, but mostly because we felt like we were supposed to. We were one of two childless couples in a group where kids outnumbered adults by a ratio of about 12:1. It was not the most fun I’ve ever had.) We were looking to try and provide a smaller, more intimate group where people who were just a life stage or two away from each other could get together.

She says that after a Christmas kickoff party they realized there were differences within their group.

The feedback we got was very clear – the college students don’t want to go to a couple’s group. They don’t want to have a discussion group, they just want to hang out with each other and have a good time. The couples (and older singles), on the other hand, want more than just a social meeting time. They want to have discussions and do studies and really dig into some stuff.

I think that’s an issue a lot of folks run into. I know we want to reach out to singles/college age folks with each of our community groups, but so far we’ve had limited success. Many blame their schedules but I wonder if there’s something deeper going on. Maybe they’re just not interested in church based community groups. Maybe they feel they have that already built into class, extra-curricular activities and work. Maybe the ho-hum of life hasn’t caught up with them yet. Maybe they don’t see the need for the relationships built within community groups.

I have to say that Laurie and I have talked recently about how beneficial our community group has been to us. Granted I do lead, so I kinda have to be there but we always have a good time during our weekly meetings as well as those extra events we plan and do with folks from our group during the week. It’s amazing to think about how limited our social calendar would be if it wasn’t for the relationships we’ve made in our community group (both past and present).

I don’t begrudge the college students at all. I think sometimes we forget that we’re older than we think we are. At 27, I don’t feel old, but at 19 I felt like 27 was a million miles away. We’ll figure out a plan for them, whether Aaron and I are involved or not. But it was clear last night that there are a lot of people at our church who are in a similar life stage that we’re in, and those people are looking for community. We are those people. And if we can provide that for them and for ourselves, then that’s what we need to be putting our efforts towards.

What about your group? Have you or other groups you know of had any luck attracting singles or college age folks?

re: Social networking and the church

Here’s some more Intranet/Social Networking info from across the pond:

Robin Farr, editor of the employee intranet for the provincial government of British Columbia, is humanizing the way it communicates with its employees.

She does this by continuing to transform the government’s intranet from the neglected, dull afterthought it was less than two years ago into a living Web where 30,000 employees can see themselves talking about their jobs, find ideas to make their work easier and more fun, shop for bargains, buy and sell personal items, send e-cards to colleagues for a job well done, and more.

Farr has done all this with a staff of three, including herself. She does most of the writing, and until recently did it all. She manages a videographer and one Web administrator.

The employee response is spectacular. The site averages 170,000 hits a month—a 2800 percent jump in traffic—among the 30,000 province employees.

How did she do it? In hindsight, it’s simple. Conversing with employees like ordinary people through video and even archived content.

Read the full story

10 horrible group icebreakers for your church group

No Parking sign
No Parking Please! | Photo by Jonathan Blundell

Aaron shared this list with his group the other night and with our community group leaders…

These are the 10 worst ice breaker ideas so please never try these in your small groups! 😛

10. Share the worst sin you’ve ever committed.

9. If you were God, who would you punish first?

8. Which person in this group do you think needs to find Jesus the most?

7. Which people at your church do you wish would find a different church, and why?

6. If you could erase any verse out of the Bible, which one would it be?

5. Share the juiciest piece of gossip you know so we can pray about it.

4. If you could have anything from your neighbor’s house, what would it be?

3. What’s your favorite of The 10 Commandments to break?

2. If you could change anything about your spouse, what would it be?

1. If you could commit any sin and get away with it, what would it be?

Community testimonies

Last week James and Mary shared their testimony for our community group. I wish you could have all heard it – but what happens at community group… stays at community group. 🙂
As a follow up to last week’s testimony Gaylan shared his testimony for us as well last night – just as awesome.

There’s just something about people sharing their testimony and how God has worked in their life that is encouraging and helps build community. And when we can see others being honest I think it encourages us to be honest as well.

Both weeks I modeled the testimonies after our November series at encounter. Each year 3 or 4 people (or couples) have been interviewed by Brian during the month of November to share their various testimonies. These seem to be some of our most highly attended services as well as our top downloaded podcasts throughout the year. So it was great bringing this idea down a few notches and making it work in our small group. In fact for James and Mary I just used the list of questions that Brian asked them several years back in the early days of encounter.

But I got to thinking last night, this is something that any group can do with little or no preparation – just a willing individual or individuals. The questions may differ but they are built around 3 main questions:

  • What was your life like before Christ?
  • How did Christ call you to be His disciple?
  • What is your life like after coming to know Christ?

Those are the basic questions to build an interview from. Hopefully with people in our community groups we know a little more background of the individuals and we can ask more detailed questions about specific situations – but even with those three questions I think we can all add transparency and honesty to our community groups.

Any other thoughts or ideas that you’ve seen work?

Community resoures

I send some of these things out to my community group leaders via e-mail but thought I’d start trying to share some of them here as well.

If you haven’t subscribed to the Threads podcast – there’s no better time than today.

They also offer other podcasts as well as the option to download individual episodes online. One of my favorite episodes is #5 that talks specifically about learning styles – something I’m trying to learn more about and put into place in my small group. It’s easy for me to see it on Sunday morning but harder to visualize in my group.

“Culture never informs Scripture but Scripture informs culture.”

Using media might help people see God in a new way.

—

Effective Small Group Bible Study

How do you know when a Small Group Bible study has been effective? Try this simple assessment tool:
* Do people love God more? — They are experiencing more of God’s presence, peace, and power in their lives and there is a greater desire to draw near to Him.
* Do people love one another more? — They are more “other-focused,” naturally serve one another, and build each other up in love. This results in developing people’s sense of belonging and gifting.
* Do people love the lost more? — Their compassion and concern for the lost is intensified and they become more Kingdom-minded in their daily affairs.
* Do people love God’s Word more? — They take more initiative in seeking to know the Lord through His Word. They understand His grace more, and they are compelled to share biblical truth with others.

What is the common thread in these outcomes of effective Bible study? People love more, and they are empowered to fulfill The Great Commandment so they can effectively engage in The Great Commission.

Small group leaders can create an environment that gives birth to this life-giving, Acts 2 dynamic. However, it is important to remember that you can plant and water, but God is the One who makes it grow (1 Corinthians 3:6-7). Just know that the faithfulness the Lord honors is showing up, making time for the group each week, and being obedient to what He is leading you to do.

(from the Smallgroups.com newsletter)

—

Ideas for Small Group Worship and Prayer

READ together the following passages of scripture before starting your time of praise.
Psalm 103:1-5; Jeremiah 29:11; Psalm 104:33-34; Psalm 105:1-3

Say something like: Our only props tonight are our two hands and ten fingers. I am going to guide our group through a time of prayer and praise. Please pray as I direct you. There will be times I will ask you to pray silently and times I would like to ask you to pray sentence prayers out loud. These prayers are to be short and in popcorn style (praying when something comes to mind and praying more than once if you want). If you feel uncomfortable please feel free to pray silently.

First, I want you to hold out your hands cupped together as if you are receiving something, and we will pray sentence prayers (out loud) thanking God for his provision. Thank Him for the things he has given us, like our families, jobs, friends, salvation, etc.

Allow this to go until there is silence and you feel as if everyone has prayed.

Next, I want you hold up the thumbs on your hands and pray prayers that thank God for those promises that you cling to when life is hard. For example: “Lord, I just praise you for the promise that you will never leave me nor forsake me.”

Again, allow this to go until there is silence and you feel as if everyone has prayed.

Now, would you please hold up your pointer fingers? Please, in popcorn style, simply name the people in your life who have helped point you in the way of salvation, either by their words or their lifestyle. Someone speak a name, someone else go ahead, and continue speaking one name at a time until you have exhausted the list of people who have influenced you to Christ.

Allow this to go until there is silence and you feel as if everyone has prayed.

Now, add to your thumb and pointer finger your third and tallest finger. Thank God, silently, for your personal savior, for Jesus who allowed himself to be crucified so that our sins would be canceled out.

Allow for a few minutes of silence and then go on.

Next, look at your fourth finger or the ring finger. This finger, because we wear wedding rings on it, reminds us of our commitments. Take a minute now to thank God for the responsibilities he has entrusted to you. It could take the form of thanking God for the wife and kids God has placed in your life, or it could be the job or ministry or friendships He has given you. You may pray these prayers silently.

Allow for a few minutes of silence and then go on.

Lastly, looking at your little finger, let us remember all the little things in our lives that bring us joy. For me, it might be good books. For you, it might mean playing racquetball on Monday afternoons. Pray sentence prayers of thanks to God for the small things in life that bring us satisfaction and a sense of well being. You may want to pray short sentence prayers several times as things come to your mind.

Allow this to go until there is silence and you feel as if everyone has prayed.

After you feel as if everyone has prayed, close your prayer time with a prayer of thanks and praise for all God has given and done in your lives.

(from WorshipWorks)