The healthy big group really needs some healthy small groups in order to grow and stay healthy.
I'm talkin' church-talk here.
Q: Where did the early church meet for fellowship? A: They met in the temple and from house to house.
Das ist die Vorlage, (the templet for fellowship). Das ist unsere Musterkirche, (yes, that’s the model church)! Do you want to see growth and spiritual births like they did? It’s as small groups stay honest with God and each other.. it's as they lovingly win people to Jesus and minister to them (instead of lovelessly scatter them far away) that a local church is to grow and then multiply! That's how we're to glorify the Lord!
“With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” Acts 2:46-47
“They worshiped together regularly at the Temple each day, met in small groups in homes for Communion, and shared their meals with great joy and thankfulness, praising God.” tlb
“Every day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ." Acts 5:42
They church leaders tactfully fished for people, they actually modeled this winning of souls, and they remained lovingly inclusive when there was no sin or heresy involved in the group. With grace and truth the leaders were committed to equipping all the believers in the church and small groups.
They had no: Do as I say not as I do mentality.
Why should a Christian church have a small Bible based group ministry?
This is what God wants. People are lonely and needy. We need Jesus. In a big growing Christian church it’s too easy to become a lost face in the crowd so fellowship is to happen in small groups that grow healthy and multiply.
They’ve been called a lot of things over the years: life groups, cell groups, small Bible studies, but whatever you wish to call them they’re a very important part of many churches of different sizes.
Some local churches wrap their entire identity and infrastructure around their small groups ministry, or what they want to see happening in them. Others depend on small groups for growth (spiritually and numerically). There has been a growing trend that even uses an expanded small group model as a cross-cultural church-planting tool. But ask yourself, what should be the purpose of a small group ministry?
The same as the church—to acceptably worship the Lord, to make and develop disciples of Christ by passionately reflecting his light, light, grace and love. See Luke 10:27:
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
A great commitment to the the Lord and the Great Commission is so vital in big church and small groups! And to the two greatest commandments (above) highlight three areas that make for a strong foundation in any local church or small group.. or individual Christian's life. Think 'bout the spiritual growth, learning, and serving.
Muse on the four aspects that make for wellness in big and small church groups. Remember when the Apostle Peter commanded, “Be saved from this perverse generation!’ 41So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. 42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. 44 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; 45 and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. 46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.” Acts 2:40-47 nas
When we get back to Bible principles wisely applied we'll see Bible results!
So how was the Lord adding to His church daily? It was through the church obediently witnessing in the power of the Spirit daily.
First century Christians were not at all content to meet once a week for “big church as usual.” No, they met daily (Acts 2:46), they cared daily (Acts 6:1), they won souls daily (Acts 2:47), they prayerfully searched the Scriptures daily (Acts 17:11), and increased in number daily (Acts 16:5). God blessed them. Spiritual growth come from abiding in the vine, it comes from our vital connection to the living word of God. There’s zero spiritual growth apart from the Word.
Faith was a day-to-day reality for the early church, not a once-a-week big gathering type of ritual. Why? Because the risen Christ was a living reality to them 24/7/367. Yes, a moment by moment daily reality.
* The Church Waiting for the Spirit (Acts 2:1)
* The Church Worshiping in the Spirit (vv. 2-13)
* The Church Witnessing in the Spirit (vv. 14-41)
* The Church Walking in the Spirit (vv. 42-47)
So why does the Church exist primarily? Well, this is for..
1.) The exaltation of Jesus Christ.
2.) The equipping of the saints.
3.) The evangelism of the world (the outflow).
Corporately our ministry is to be:
1. Upward – Every church, every department of every church, and every Christian. Go vertical, seek first!
2. Inward – It should only have two horizontal (people-ward) ministries. Think about it (Col. 1:28)
3. Outward – a.) To biblically win souls and, b.) To biblically prepare Christians to go win souls.
"Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:" Psalm 103:1-2 kjv
* Ephesians 1:5,6 - you were made for “the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace”;
* Ephesians 1:12 - “..we should be to the praise of his glory.”
* Revelation 4:11 kjv - “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
* 1 Peter 2:9 nkjv - “you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light..”
* John 4:23 - “The true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.”
For us together it's upwards first (prayer, praise and worship), then inward (edification, equiping), then outwards to win people, then onwards together as Christ leads us all the way Home!
I challenge sayin’ live balanced and red-hot spiritually. Yes, as the Lord leads you in ministry. Directed service sure beats so called “Christian service” (live directed by the Spirit of Jesus in helping people). We must not emphasize one of these to the exclusion of another.
Remember no real Christian dislikes biblical evangelism. It’s respectful, tactful and spiritually uncompromising. Perhaps a person dislikes some religious, off-base caricature of evangelism–that’s totally understandable (like from out of spiritual anemia and malnutrition, or from pressure to perform)!
Factoid: It’s the well-fed, wisely cared for, gently nurtured sheep that naturally reproduce.
The Church exists to worship and glorify the Lord. That’s our first priority and only vertical ministry. The early church is the pattern church (Jesus is returning for a church without spot or wrinkle and they had some, but the early church of Acts was the only church that reached their entire generation for Christ).
An Every Member Involved Kind Of World Evangelism -- That’s Our Horizontal Task!
To love God with all our heart and soul is to acceptably love Him with passion, priority, and trust! We cannot go out into the darkness of the world and work at our jobs and deal with family and keep our passion for God at the same time without some help.
Similarly, we cannot be bombarded by lying or other media with ads and strange noises in our cars and keep God first in minds and our priorities. And we all alone cannot listen to the news, the politicians, and then worry about our bills while naturally keeping our focus and trust on God. We need to see the example of other believers and receive their gracious truthful encouragement.
We are to be dependent upon the Lord who meets our needs, and to be interdependent with each other praying to the Lord over the needs. We need the promises and others who know us and them. You know that can remind us of how God has taken care of our needs in the past. He keeps all His promises. A small group of on-fire believers can provide all of this in a way that a large congregation of believers can’t.
To love God with all our mind is to learn the truth about Him and to see the world from His perspective. Yes, through His point of view.
I’ve heard is said that the best preacher in the world is still limited by the fact that sermons have no interaction. With a small group, people can actually question, give fitting illustrations, even express some doubts, and really know others are listening. Are caring.
Loving God with our mind is taking biblical truths and relating them to where the rubber meets the road in our lives.
Biblical inspiration without wise application leads to frustration or perhaps spiritual constipation. We can learn by seeing others apply God’s word.
While many decent pastors and preachers add application into their theological messages and discourses, it’s also important to have a fellow believers who can look through our particular situation on a personal level and know which of God’s passages or verses or truth principles directly relate to us.
To love God with all our strength and then to love our neighbors as ourselves--these aspects are related.
Not long ago my wife Liney and I lost our second son to Covid 19 and our small group of Christian friends really helped us get through this time. Crisis happen -- be not spiritually isolated away from Christian fellowship.
Should each member of our church or small group isolate or infiltrate in these perilous times? Should we infiltrate without any spiritual support?
"I'm not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one." John 17:15
Are things really getting better here on earth? Is humanity actually improving the world around it? Isn't the Bible very clear on all this: our culture is currently dark, and it is getting darker pretty fast. That is what the Bible teaches. It is not going to get better really; it is going to get worse before it gets better in the millennium. Despite the fact that humanity has increased in many area like in scientific, in medical, in historical, in educational, in some psychological, and in some technological knowledge to an astounding degree, we have not in any way, shape, or form changed our own basic nature inside. And we have not improved the society around us.
Our confidence has increased perhaps, but our inner peace of mind has diminished it would appear. Our accomplishments have increased in areas, but our sense of real purpose and meaning in life have all but disappeared. Instead of improving the moral, social and spiritual quality of our lives, our discoveries and accomplishments have merely provided new ways to show ourselves for what we really are: depraved, sinful, and wicked. Hasn't man in our day simply discovered new ways to corrupt and destroy himself? Sadly yes! We all desperately need Jesus Christ! And it’s time for big and small group koinonia fellowship, believer! Nothing replaces the church well, and God wants each of us well on multiple levels!
Small Life Groups should be a place where we can properly, rightly, freely “love our neighbor” instead of oust him or her.
Whether it’s through prayer or meeting a physical need it’s time to love God more and show more love to saved and lost sinners.
Small groups provide encouragement, equipping, edification and a place of rest so that members can love God with all their strength even outside that group. The small group can be a place to spiritually recharge so to speak and share how God is working.
God knows we are fragile human creatures who need constant reminders of what we are supposed to be and do in Christ! A local church small group is a tool to help with this.
Regularly meeting with a committed group of believers allows us to shore up, to rebuild, to reinforce the core of what we believe so we can live it out before a watching world. it’s there we can learn more about God from the Bible, as well as maintain the strength to go serve others needing Him.
Churches shouldn’t have small groups merely to gather more people they don’t care about, or to follow the next big ecclesiastical trend. They should have small groups when and if they are the best way to make and develop disciples of Christ--people He cares about!
The Early Church Was W-E-L-L:
1). W- WORSHIPPING CHURCH - Prayer and praise with the right address attached.
2). E- EVANGELIZING CHURCH - Witnessing to sinners of Christ, of His work, plan and His love is imperative. That’s the natural out-growth of being fed in the word for every member. Poorly fed, non-cared for or nurtured sheep naturally don’t reproduce. They sense their inner lack.
3). L- LEARNING CHURCH - Bible
4). L- LOVING CHURCH - Fellowship
Please think about these following four ingredients for successful small groups, for churches, as well as for personal, fruitful Christian living!
Hey, you can become and do all that God has planned for you. You too can become an effective audio-visual witness starting at home and in your small group! You can cross the street with Jesus and His Message, as well as cross a sea with Him leading you.
"For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:10
It’s not primarily about rules and formulas—It’s about relationship. First upwards, then outwards. He said He’ll teach us to fish for men (for people).
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| Photo by Anne Nygård |
It’s about simply walking in obedient fellowship with Jesus the ultimate Fisher. Fish and use bait wisely.
It's about planting and watering seeds too. It's about caring, nurturing, tending small plants for growth. It's about proper obedient sowing to the Spirit, instead of to the flesh or to the world. It's about reaping a harvest for the Lord not hindering any of this!
Hey, if it’s not one of these four (above), then we’re not interested in doing it here in our small group.
I like to tell every baby Christian that I meet about the four ingredients for them to grow up fast. God wants us all to spiritually mature.
What is the value of prayerful group Bible study?
I want to get to know God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit better!
Is it weird and wrong to attend two or more different churches? We can be accountable in one where the leaders and others know and pray for us.
Why does God call His house a house of prayer (Isaiah 56:7)?
Personally, when my love lags, or I start to stumble like when walking in the flesh, then I check my sowing habits in these four areas first (to which of the four am I not sowing to. Am I guilty of some weird mixed-sowing?
Think about how Dawson Trotman with the Navigators used that mariner’s wheel to illustrate the two horizontal and two vertical ministries. We are not to emphasize one aspect to the exclusion of the others.
The Websters dictionary on “Well” is defined as: better, in good health and good condition.
Do you personally know Jesus Christ? He can give health on every level! Are you and I like that in our church or small group?
Mr. Wayne Dyer in 1940 voiced, “You can set your body up to be sick, or you can choose to stay well!”
Spiritually speaking like in a church? Sure, that’s true.
Mr. James Freeman Clarke in the 1800s said, “Never be hasty. Get plenty of exercise. Eat only what builds up. Always be cheerful. Get the rest you need. You may expect to be well.”
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| Photo by Jonas Jacobsson |
