Doubling Your Small Groups — a Worthy Goal
“If you wish to build a ship, do not divide the men into teams and send them to the forest to cut wood. Instead, teach them to long for the vast and endless sea.” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry We can reach our nation for God with an army of small group leaders like you who long […]
Legos® & Building Small Groups: 3 Steps for Building Something Great Out of Something Small
When Godtfred Kirk Christiansen took over The Legos Toy Company from his father in 1957, they made 265 different toys. Their focus was almost nonexistent. There were just too many different things to think about. There was no way to concentrate, drive innovation, and to expand the number of people they impacted. But the problem […]
Steve Gladen: Small Group Health VS Numerical Growth
All Types of Churches to Reach All Types of People A very small church may be very healthy; a very large church may be very unhealthy. This is also true of small group ministries—size is not indicative of health. When we have shared what works for us at Saddleback, sometimes the response is, “Sure, that works […]
Making Disciples like Jesus through Small Groups
Doubling groups is a worthy goal. Here is why. There is no discplemaking without small groups. It is the way Jesus did it. He gathered a group together and taught them. He taught them in the context of a group; in the context where they could discuss what was taught. This is how life-change happens. […]
4 Ways to Bounce Forward through Tough Times
It might be fashionable to say that brighter days are ahead. That we’ve got this. This kind of messaging might even help people feel hopeful. And I hope they are right. But we need something more than just feelings if we are to move forward with Small Groups. The last few years have taught us […]
6 Questions You Need to Ask Small Group Leaders
Meeting with small group leaders is one of the most impactful things you can do as a small groups point person. Group leaders need care, coaching, and encouragement to stay in the game. While we all know this to be true, have you ever walked away from a one-on-one meeting with a leader and though, […]
4 Keys to Flourishing Small Group Friendships in 2023
Everyone knows in their heads that friendships are important. The pandemic seemed to heighten interest in the topic of friendship. You could hardly turn on your phone or TV without a significant number of popular culture events and stories through the news and social medias related to the subject. But the experience of many is […]
The Ultimate Christmas Playlist to Guide your Group in Prayer
How do you feel about Christmas music? When fall ends and the Christmas season is ushered in with enthusiasm, you begin to hear Christmas songs everywhere; what is your reaction? You either love it, hate it or tolerate it. Here in Ottawa, Canada, we have a radio station that starts playing Christmas music right after […]
5 Steps for Purposeful Conversations
I’m sure you know people that are famous for being good communicators and listeners. After all, they can carry on a conversation with anyone. You might even think they can “get a conversation out of a brick wall.” But don’t confuse effective communication with meaningless noise. Yes, there might be fewer uncomfortable moments of awkward […]
Failing at groups
One of the major themes of the Bible is that: FAILURE IS NOT FINAL. We can risk failure because we know that God is a God of a second chances. We can recover from failure because we know that God forgives and restores. Consider the story of Jonah. The […]
