A wonderful email popped into my in basket a while ago that impressed me.  It was from Andrea Myers to the members of the women’s small group that she was leading at that time.  She was getting ready to restart the group following the summer break.  With her permission, I want to share it with you as a great example of how all of us can help our groups ramp up to be ready to move into the next study.

Hi Everyone,

 We will be starting our ladies bible study this Thursday, September 19 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at my house. If you have not already purchased the book, you can purchase it online using the link below.  2 Peter is a very short book.  If you can, please read through all of 2 Peter (there are only 3 chapters) before we meet on Thursday.  Study 1 is entitled “The Finish Line (overview)”.

 I just wanted to set the stage a little for you. Hopefully, this helps to understand the book a little better:

• The Apostle Peter was the author of the book (although this has been disputed, because of this, 2 Peter was the last book admitted to the canon of the New Testament Scriptures)
• The audience was the church at large
• The book was written approximately A.D. 67

Peter wrote this book kind of like “his last will and testament”…..so that he might preserve a record of what he believed.  His fear was that as the church grew and got further away from the death and resurrection of Jesus that it might not be good.  We might want to think of 2 Peter as the “original recipe”…. the grassroots of our church…what Peter (the closest apostle to Jesus) thought the church should look like and what should be at the core of our faith.Have a good week and I’ll see you on Thursday,

 Andrea

Thanks, Andrea, and a tip of the hat to all of you who are going the extra mile to help your group members better understand the background of the Scripture that you are studying.  Contextual information is one way to make the Bible resonate with readers who are less familiar with God’s Word.  All good study Bibles have this kind of material in them at the beginning of each book.

We provide study Bibles for Group Life leaders. For all others, we have a study Bible for purchase at the Information Center. How about your group?  Have you tried any ideas to help your gang have success with your study?  Maybe you supplemented the study guide with additional resources.  Perhaps you used a video to enhance key aspects of the material you were reading.  Or maybe a music video helped bring a worship component into your group time.  What creative ideas have you tried out that you can share with us and the other group leaders who are reading this? Let us know by dropping an email to [email protected].

What it Means to Truly Follow Jesus

For months, as I drove back and forth between my house and my church, I noticed an elderly woman collecting tin cans from curbside recycling bins. She wore simple slacks and an overcoat. Walking along the side of the road, she stooped at each blue recycling bucket to fish out cans and drop them into her own white garbage bag. Was she a sculptor of tin? Did she collect those little metal tabs? Did her new cardio workout require intermittent squats? I had no idea.

One day while taking a walk, finally liberated from my minivan, I was able to chat with this woman. I learned that Miss Sarah was unable to make ends meet while living on a fixed income. She was gathering aluminum cans to be recycled for change in order to supplement what she received each month. It was a scenario I had not imagined.

Although I saw her on a regular basis, I had no idea what life was like for my neighbor until I stood next to her and heard her story.

For too long, my neighbor was a stranger.

Read full article on Smallgroups.com

13 Roles to Get Everyone Involved

The goal of a small-group leader is for the people in your small group to see it as “our group.” Good leaders proactively help make this happen.

God has gifted people in your group, so when you give them a way to use their gifts you not only share ownership, but also give them a way to serve in their sweet spot. That makes it a win for you as the leader and fruitful and fulfilling for the group members as they discover and use their spiritual gifts.