In
the book of Acts we can see a living description of what made up the small home
groups of the early church. Read the following passage and identify the four
areas as seen in the picture above…
Acts 2:42-47
42
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship,
in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43
Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done
through the apostles.
44
Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,
45
and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as
anyone had need.
46
So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread
from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being
Each component is like a pillar that is essential to upholding the group and keeping it a place of strength and shelter. Look at the picture below to see this in diagrammatical form….
Take away or
change any of the elements in the above diagram and the group would either
collapse or miss its purpose of being. If any other foundation is used other
than trust in Christ it will merely become a social club, cult or false
religion. Take away any of the pillars and the group will ultimately collapse.
Imagine the people in the group standing on the ‘roof’
- take away one pillar and they can still stand if place in the strong
corner, but move out any further ant the people will fall – think about what
this practically means in a small group.
Component
|
Nurture
|
Worship
|
Community
|
Mission
|
|
Definition: |
Being fed by God to grow like Christ. |
Praising and magnifying God by focusing on His nature,
actions and words. |
Fellowship centered around the experiences we share as
Christians. |
Reaching out with the good news of Christ’s love to
people in need. |
|
Goal: |
Growth of mind and Spirit towards the image of Christ. |
To bring joy and glory to God. |
To knit us together in love and build us as whole people. |
To help people know God and become like Jesus. |
|
Examples of Activities: |
1.Discussing
the Bible inductively, books, lectures, tapes. 2.Memorizing Scripture. 3.Sharing with each other. 4.Praying 5.Meditating |
1.Praying 2.Singing 3. Reading worshipful passages from the Bible or other
books. 4. Writing and reading poetry. 5. Kneeling, 6. Lifting hands 7. Writing a letter to God. |
1.Sharing with prayer partners. 2.Bearing each other’s burdens. 3. Helping each other develop gifts. 4. Eating together. 5. Recreating together. 6. Going on a retreat or conference. 7. Interceding for one another. |
1.Praying
for non-Christian friends. 2.Praying
for unreached peoples. 3.
Reading books on evangelism. 4.
Sharing the gospel with a specific group. 5.
Running an evangelistic book store etc.. 6.
Befriending overseas worker. 7.
Raising money for world hunger relief. |
Ten Theses of Small Group Dynamics…..
|
1.
Shared Christian
Experience is the basis for community. 2.
Building Community
strengthens commitment to the group. 3.
Prayer Partners are
the basic building blocks for strengthening community in a small group. 4.
Playing well together
often leads to praying well together. 5.
Nurture energizes
mission. 6.
Worship is a response
to nurture. 7.
Worship unites the
group (that is, builds community) around a common focus on God and leads
to mission. 8.
As a group is involved
in mission, community is strengthened (conversely: Lack of mission
weakens community). 9.
A group covenant which
represents group consensus can solidify commitment and clarify mission. 10.
A good ending makes a
good beginning. |