Category: Small Groups

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Small Groups

25 Tips to Become a Better Small Group Facilitator

Start a Bible study . . . they said. It will be easy . . . they said. Well, facilitating a small group discussion as part of a Bible study or small group is not as easy as one thinks. In this post I give you twenty-five tips that will help you become a better small group facilitator. Leading a small group discussion is difficult.

Photo Credit: Kahunapule Michael Johnson

PREPARE WELL.

Don’t just show up and wing it. Pray, read the passage several times, and write out your answers to the questions. A great small group discussion doesn’t just happen. It takes preparation and hard work.

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Small Groups

10 Tips to Grow the Size of Your Small Group

FROM SIGN UP TO SHOW UP

Tips to Get People Who Express Interest in
Your Group to Actually Show Up and Join[ref]A special thank you to Valerie Mota for her input, insights, and improvement to these ten tips![/ref]

At our church we sometimes have trouble with people that sign up and express interest in joining a small group, yet the people never actually show up for the group. This blog post contains ten tips that will help you maximize the amount of people that actually show up for your small group after signing up.

Photo Credit: Dave Catchpole

SHARPEN YOUR FACILITATION SKILLS.

While you might select solid curriculum and provide tasty snacks, if you are a poor facilitator people will visit and not come back to your group. Start with your facilitation skills and make sure you are a good facilitator.

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Small Groups

How to Use the Topical Studies by Chip Ingram in a Small Group

One of the tools for small groups that I encourage the facilitators at our church to use are the topical studies by Chip Ingram and Living on the Edge. These studies utilize a DVD teaching for about twenty minutes per lesson and come with a great study guide for the participants in the small group.

Photo Credit: Living on the Edge

In this post I provide you with some helpful tips and tools to use if you want to use the Living on the Edge topical studies in your small group.

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Small Groups

How to Experience Biblical Fellowship in Your Small Group

When people gather together in a small group for Bible study the thing that often happens first and most naturally is fellowship among the people in the group. When people gather together they naturally start to get to know each other and build relationships among each other. However, that fellowship needs to be biblical. And if a small group facilitator is not careful to cultivate and maintain biblical fellowship, that can cause issues further down the road in the small group. In this post I show you can maintain biblical fellowship in your small group.

Photo Credit: WELSTech Podcast

Fellowship is “the dynamic that builds and holds a small group together”
Neal McBride, How To Lead Small Groups, p. 25

I. ACCORD: THE “COVENANT OF LOVE”
(serious about loving each other)[ref]The three main headings to this blog post about “Accord” “Authenticity” and “Action” are based on Dr. David Ward Miller’s “LIFEGroup” material he has asked me to use at our church. This is blog post is based on his framework with me filling in a lot of the details.[/ref]

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Small Groups

Small Group Facilitator Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

In the years I have served a small group facilitator and small groups pastor, these are some of the most common questions I’ve received about how to facilitate and lead a healthy small group. Hopefully they help you as you seek to facilitate a small group and help people grow in their relationship with God.

Photo Credit: Milos Milosevic

HOW DO I FIND PEOPLE FOR MY SMALL GROUP?
First, pray that God would lead you to people who need to be part of your small group. Second, think through these five categories of people in your life that might benefit from your small group: family (immediate or extended); friends (neighbors, kids, sports, school); factory/firm (work, professional areas), fun (gym, hobbies/hangouts); fellowship (church relationships).[ref]Steve Gladen, Planning Small Groups with Purpose (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2018), 183.[/ref] The best way to grow your small group is for you and your small group to invite people that you know.

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Small Groups

Four Tips for Using Wiersbe Bible Study Guides

The Wiersbe Bible study guides are my favorite tool I suggest small groups use to facilitate a discussion of the Bible. You can use the Wiersbe guides for your own personal Bible study, or in a small group Bible study. Whatever format you choose to use the Wiersbe guides in, here are four tips to help you get the most out of them. 

Four Tips for Using the Wiersbe Bible Study Guides

I. PRAY

Before doing your Bible study pray to God about what you are going to be reading and studying. Ask God to help you learn his Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17) and ask God to help you apply his Truth (John 17:17).

Praying before you study will prepare your heart and mind for what God is going to have you read, learn, and grow. The prayer does not have to be long or thorough. Just a simple, “God, please help me to learn your Word and apply your Truth” is sufficient. 

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