Building%20Christian%20Community

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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 8. Maintaining the network
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Building Christian Community

• SESSION EIGHT
• MAINTAINING THE SMALL GROUP NETWORK

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Its One Thing to Start
Its another thing to continue
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Small Groups Are

• Living things how can we keep them growing?

• We cant!

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1. Understand the All-By-Itself Principle

• Jesus also said, This is what the kingdom of
  God is like. A man scatters seed on the
  ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets
  up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does
  not know how. All by itself the soil produces
  grainfirst the stalk, then the head, then the
  full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is
  ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the
  harvest has come. (Mark 426-29)

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The All-By-Itself Principle

• Growth takes place without apparent
  cause, it is spontaneous
• There is order and process in this growth
• All we can do is prepare the way and remove the
  obstacles to growth
• Human anxiety does not make it happen!
• The life is in the seed. We must learn to release
  the natural growth potential
• This principle applies also to the growth of the
  kingdom in our lives and in the church

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2. Focus on Health
We are often so focused on FRUIT that we fail
to consider the ROOT that produces the SHOOT
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2. Focus on Health
We are often so focused on FRUIT that we fail
to consider the ROOT that produces the SHOOT
which produces the FRUIT!
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8 Characteristics of Healthy Churches
(Schwartz)

• Empowering

Leadership
Ministry

• Gift-oriented

Spirituality

• Passionate

Structures

• Functional

Worship

• Inspiring

Small Groups

• Holistic

Evangelism

• Need-oriented

Relationships

• Loving

Excellent criteria for an occasional small group
health check too!
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It Makes a Difference!
Growing and declining churches vary significantly
in all eight quality areas
Leadership
Leadership
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Ministry
Ministry
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Spirituality
Spirituality
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Structures
Structures
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Worship service
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Worship service
Small groups
Small groups
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Evangelism
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Evangelism
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Relationships
Relationships
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58
60
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40
42
46
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declining churches
growing churches
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3. Multiply Leaders - the Key to Reproducing
Groups

• Every person a leader
• Leadership development a priority of Jesus
• Need for training and nurture of leaders

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Leaders Leading Leaders

• Remember the Jethro leadership principle

Supervising pastor
Leaders of 500
Leaders of 100
Leaders of 50
Leaders of 10
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4. Keep it Challenging

• Re-define and re-state the vision
• The pastors role
• The cell supervisors role
• The cell leaders role

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5. Keep it Interesting

• Be creative
• Provide variety
• Have fun on the journey

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6. Be Prepared to Take Difficult Decisions

• Confront difficult people
• Close or re-form disfunctional groups
• Learn from mistakes failure is part of success

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But Small Groups Should be More than Just Alive
and Growing

• They should be on fire how can we keep them
  burning...?

without burning out?
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How Can We Keep the Fire Burning?
We cant! But we mustnt quench it either!
Quench not the Spirit.(KJV) Do
not put out the Spirits fire. (NIV) I
Thessalonians 519
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1. Check the Core Values

• Is Jesus at the centre?
• Is every member in ministry?
• Is every member growing?
• Is this a genuinely loving community? Do actions
  support words?
• Do we love the lost?
• Do we take accountability seriously?

Holy Spirit
Small Group
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2. Understand the Change Process
I Give Up!
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3. Watch for Signs of Overload

• Are relationships at every level in harmony with
  Ephesians 429-32?
• Are the people who cant say no saying yes
  too often?
• Are leaders receiving adequate support?

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4. Keep an Eye on the Family

• Is family/personal/ social life neglected?
• Are children and elderly included in the group
  network?

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5. Give Prayer Priority
Do not be anxious about anything, but in
everything, by prayer and petition, with
thanksgiving, present your requests to God
Philippians 46
Alone
Together
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6. Believe the Promise
When we have entire, whole-hearted consecration
to the service of Christ, God will recognise the
fact by an outpouring of His Spirit without
measure (Evangelism. page 699).