Where to Find Small Group Study Material
If you're trying to figure out what your small group can study for the upcoming semester or year, check out the links/ideas below. Here are some specific links to try: Northpoint Community Church Small Group Studies Saddleback Church Small Group Studies Small Group Studies from Lifeway Smallgroups.com- seems to be some more options here Try these specific studies: The Daniel Plan A group in our church went through the Daniel Plan and liked it. It's a group based on exercise and eating right, so if people don't understand what they're getting into and aren't committed, they'll drop like flies. But, those who ...
6 Different Group Discussion Styles
After a church decides the purpose of their small groups, the next big task will be to decide what sort of lessons their groups will use. Our church has used different types of lessons over the past few years and I thought I'd share 6 different group discussion styles a church could decide to use. Mirroring the Sermon Storying the Bible Inductive Bible Study Using Study Material Teaching Responsive Discipleship 1. Mirroring the Sunday Sermon: This is where all small groups lessons reflect the main point of the Sunday morning sermon. The idea is to take the point further and discuss how ...
Discipleship is _________________?
If you had to answer the question, “What does discipleship look like at your church,” what would you say? What kind of disciple is your church trying to create? Every book/article I’ve read on discipleship recently keeps coming back to this main question. Since our church (Velocity) began 5 years ago I've always thought we answered that question pretty clearly through our mission statement. “Velocity exists to Ignite the Faith that Fuels Your Life to Impact the World.” For the last 5 years we've explained our statement in the following way. We want to help people Ignite their faith for ...
Jesus is Not Your Boyfriend
Jesus does not want to be your boyfriend. But, if you spend too much time around many churches today, you might think differently. In fact, I think this idea has become so ingrained in our churches, most of us don’t even recognize it’s there (or a problem). But, it’s a huge problem, and can be especially confusing to a man attending church for the first time. So, I’d like to share 3 ways the church unintentionally encourages this idea and how we can change it. 3 Ways the Church Makes Jesus Your Boyfriend 1. What Jesus looks like. Whenever you ...
Jack Bauer of the Bible- Part 2
24 has been one of my favorite t.v. shows over the last few years and if there's one dude in the Bible who resembles Jack Bauer- it's Elijah. His life plays out just like a summer blockbuster movie. If you think God did some cool stuff in the life of this one man in the first two weeks of this series- wait until you hear the final two weeks. Listen to the final two parts of our 4 week sermon series below to find out what happens next. This is a dude's dude! Epic (The Story of Elijah)- Week ...
Jack Bauer of the Bible- Part 1
24 has been one of my favorite t.v. shows over the last few years and if there's one dude in the Bible who resembles Jack Bauer- it's Elijah. His life plays out just like a summer blockbuster movie. I've loved learning about the God of Elijah and I hope you will also. Listen to the first two parts of our 4 week sermon series below to find out more. This is a dude's dude! Epic (The Story of Elijah)- Week 1 (Is God trustworthy?) Epic (The Story of Elijah)- Week 2 (How far will God go for His kids?) If you ...
3 Things Jesus Calls Us To
Thanks to Mike Carlisle for collaborating on this post. http://radicaltreeoflife.blogspot.com God asks His followers to commit completely to following Him and there's only one other type of relationship on earth that can be compared to that level of commitment: marriage. There are 3 things that Jesus calls us to that are similar to the commitment of marriage. (1 and 2 won't make sense until you understand 3.) 1. An Exclusive Relationship: You can't say you love your spouse and have a boyfriend/girlfriend on the side. In your commitment to marriage, your committing to love and pour all your affection into ...
4 Ways to Help Guys Love Groups
My Bible was beginning to literally fall apart so I took a trip to my local Christian Bookstore. I was in the store about 5 minutes before I suddenly realized I didn’t belong. I felt like I accidently time-warped into a Bath and Body Works that smelled like cinnamon, and everything was pink, and sold “trinkets”. What man buys “trinkets”? In fact, the only people in the store were a group of older women waiting in line to use the bathroom. I took a few minutes to look through the Bibles before I realized that almost every single one was ...