Building Christian Community

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Building Christian Community

• Small Group Ministry in
  Todays
  Seventh-Day Adventist Church

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• 1. Small groups part of Gods kingdom plan
• 2. Life-changing small groups some definitions
• 3. Small group values the key to growth
• 4. Small group meetings and small group life
• 5. The goal of small groups holiness and harvest

6. Small group leadership 7. Developing a small
group network
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Building Christian Community

• SESSION ONE
• SMALL GROUPS PART OF GODS KINGDOM PLAN

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Created for Community

• Let US make man in our image(Genesis 124)
• I pray that they may all be one, Father!just as
  You and I are one. (John 1721,22)

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The Universal Human Need

• The silent churning at the core of our beings is
  the need to know and be known, to understand
  and to be under-stood, to possess and to be
  possessed, to belong un-conditionally and forever
  without fear of loss, betrayal, or rejectionIt
  is the search for the freedom to be who we
  really are. Gilbert Bilezikian

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Moses Method...
God
Moses
The Multitude
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The Jethro Principle...
GOD
Moses
Leaders of 1000
Leaders of 100
Leaders of 50
Leaders of 10
The Multitude
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Jesus Model

• 12 group members
• Inner group of Peter, James and John

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Heart to Heart

• Your success will not depend
• so much upon your knowledge and accomplishments,
  as upon your ability to find your way to the
  heart. By being social and coming close to the
  people, you may turn the current of their
  thoughts more readily than by the most able
  discourse. Gospel Workers, p193

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The New Testament ChurchA House-Based Church

• Day after day, in the temple courts
  and from house to house,
  they never stopped teaching and
  proclaiming the Good News
  that Jesus is the
  Christ. (Acts 542)
• Greet also the church that meets at their
  house. (Romans 165 etc.)

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New Testament Church

• Acts 115 120
• Acts 241 3000
• Acts 44 10,000
• Acts 514

Explosive Growth
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Martin Luther
But those who seriously want to be Christians
and to confess the Gospel in deed and word would
have to register their names and gather
themselves somewhere in a house alone
Here one could also conduct baptism and
communion in a brief and fine manner, and direct
everything to the word, prayer and mutual love
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John Wesleys Class System

• According to the judge-ment of our Lord and the
  writings of His apostles, it is only when we are
  knit together, that we have nourishment from Him,
  and increase with the increase of God.

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John Wesleys Class System

• Whitefield to John Pool My Brother Wesley
  acted wiselythe souls that were awakened under
  his ministry he joined in class, and thus
  preserved the fruits of his labor. This I
  neglected, and my people are a rope of
  sand...Wesley has been wiser than me because he
  penned his sheep.

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Eight Characteristics of Growing Churches

• 1. Empowering leadership
• 2. Gift-oriented lay ministry
• 3. Passionate spirituality
• 4. Functional structures
• 5. Inspiring worship service
• 6. Holistic small groups
• 7. Need-oriented evangelism
• 8. Loving relationships

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Most Important Growth Principle...

• If we were to identify any one principle (in
  growing churches) as the most important -
  even though our research
  shows that the interplay of all
  basic elements is important - then, without a
  doubt, it would be the multiplication of small
  groups. Natural Church Development, p 33

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Its a Fact...

• Small group evangelism and dynamic church growth
  are two sides of the same coin. They are one.
  Joel Comiskey

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Preparing for the Second Advent
The formation of small companies as a basis of
Christian effort is a plan that has been
presented to me by One who cannot err.
(Evangelism 115)
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Small GroupsPart of Gods Kingdom Plan

• Made in His image
• The Jethro principle
• Jesus modeled the ideal small group
• New Testament church
• Times of renewal
• Preparing for the Second Advent

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What Small Groups Will Do for You and Your Church

• They will help you and your fellow believers grow
  as disciples of Jesus
• They will build deep relationships between
  believers and a strong sense of community in the
  church
• They will help believers develop their spiritual
  gifts, releasing the ministry potential of the
  church, and freeing pastors for the specific work
  they have been called to do
• They will help more people come to faith in
  Christ

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Building Christian Community

• Small Group Ministry in
  Todays
  Seventh-Day Adventist Church

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Preparing for a Second Pentecost...

• The great outpouring of the Spirit of
• God, which lightens the whole earth
• with His glory, will not come until we
• have an enlightened people who
• know by experience what it
• means to be laborers together
• with Godbut this will not
• be while the largest portion
• of the church are not
• laborers together with God.
• Evangelism 699

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The Ever-Popular Pub!

• The bar flourishes not because people are
  alcoholics, but because God has put into the
  human heart the desire to know and be known, to
  love and be loved. Charles Swindoll

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Christs Method

• Christs method alone will give
  true success in reaching the
  people. The Saviour mingled
  with men as one who desired
  their good. He showed His
  sympathy for them, ministered
  to their needs, and won their
  confidence. Then He bade them, Follow Me.
  
  (Ministry of Healing 143)