The Purpose and Power of Small Groups

Prepared by Bruce McFadden and Lisa Scheffler
for Equipping for Impact 2009

What do you hope to accomplish in your small group?

  • Build Community
  • Support and serve one another
  • Learn and grow together
  • Pray for one another
  • Encourage each other to use our gifts for the kingdom
  • Experience and apply the life changing power of the word of God
  • Understand more deeply the full implications of the gospel and the ministry of the Holy Spirit
  • Understand the character of God and allow our minds to be transformed
  • Become more Christ-like in our behavior

Why is group discussion important?

Identifies gaps in knowledge. People often over-estimate what they know, or have only a superficial understanding. Good questioning encourages people to go deeper.

Makes abstract knowledge concrete. When members articulate Biblical truth, and/or hear others doing the same, they can begin to apply it.

Encourages authenticity and transparency among group members. Discussion encourages people to "get real." This is turn, allows for accountability among members.

Encourages reflection and identification of the Holy Spirit's work in our lives. Good discussion can encourage the removal of our "spiritual blinders" so we can see God's work in our world.

Shepherding vs Wrangling

Shepherding
(Building community through discussion)

Wrangling
("I'm just waiting for my turn to talk.")

Engages everyone (Philippians 2:1-4)

  • invites and encourages everyone to participate
  • meets and loves people where they are at
  • embraces differences, while highlighting commonalities

Dominated by individual agendas

  • is dominated by one or two people waiting to get their "say"
  • feels exclusive by making assumptions about the uniformity of the group (i.e. that everyone has the same lifestyle, convictions, level of knowledge, etc.)

Is humble (Ephesians 4:1-3, 1 Timothy 2:24-25)

  • honors thoughts without necessarily agreeing with them*
  • encourages learning and exploration

*caveat: if correction in a non-negotiable area is needed, let the Bible speak. But the list of non-negotiables should be short!

Is proud

  • is threatened by doubts and questions
  • belittles lack of knowledge or misunderstanding
  • shuts down minority opinion

Is scripturally focused (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

  • goes to the Bible for truth
  • gently uses the Bible for any rebuking, correcting, reproofing and training in righteousness

Is opinion focused

  • relies on opinions or "worldly" counsel
  • focuses on MY thoughts, feelings and interpretations

Challenges members (Hebrews 10:24, Colossians 1:9-10)

  • encourages growth in the knowledge of God
  • digs deeper in order to apply God's truth

Is happy with the status quo

  • is complacent and superficial
  • stays on the surface and does not encourage life change

Has a learning objective

  • knows the material
  • aims to meet the needs of the particular group
  • keeps things on track

Wanders like the Israelites in the desert

  • is unprepared
  • allows discussions to be hijacked

Maintains integrity (Ephesians 4:29)

  • promotes authenticity and honesty, while honoring others outside the group.

A chance to "vent" and "dish"

  • allows members to gossip under the guise of "sharing," or "being transparent"

Strategies to Enhance Group Discussion

Strategies for engaging everyone in group discussion

Use your body language to reinforce your desire to include everyone (see "How to Succeed," page 2).

Invite and encourage questions, even difficult ones. (Remember, you are not the Bible-answer-man or woman!)

Consider breaking into smaller groups or partners to encourage everyone to participate (men only or women only in a mixed group).

Practice the art of silence. Use a 10 second wait time to allow individuals time to process, or gather their courage to speak.

Speak privately with dominant, or quiet members (Sheila, I love your depth of knowledge, but Max hardly says a word. Will you help me out by holding back..." Or "Max, I can see that you are working hard on your lessons; I bet we could all benefit from your insight..")

Strategies for humble discussion

Listen with a willingness to be influenced.

Validate ideas without agreeing with them, or provoking an argument. ("I can tell this is an important issue for you.")

Encourage individual follow-up and exploration. ("Tim, that's an interesting position. I'd like to hear more. Maybe you could research it a little for us.")

Speak from your own perspective using "I" statements. ("I think," "I believe," "I feel")

Diffuse challenging statements by using a redirecting question. ("How do the rest of you feel about this.")

Strategies for scripturally focused discussion

If the conversation wanders too far into opinion and conjecture, ask the group to bring it back to the Bible. ("Can anyone think of a specific passage that might address that?")

Bungee-cord the discussion. Always snap back to the lesson, and the Bible. ("We've only got 15 more minutes, let's get back to the Day 4.")

Follow up with individual members during the week if needed (Terry, I know we didn't get a chance to really get into your issue at Life Group, but I'd love to talk to you about your concern.)

Strategies for personally challenging discussions

Model transparency and authenticity in your own responses. If you act like "super-Christian," your group will not feel comfortable opening up!

Be observant and listen. Ask follow up questions to get at what is underneath what's being said. (see "How to Succeed," p 2)

Take note of significant realizations and epiphanies that group members share. Follow up from week to week. ("Tony, you mentioned last week that you wanted to spend more time in prayer each day. I'd love to help you come up with a plan...")

Strategies for an objective-focused discussion

Have a plan. Highlight discussion questions within the lesson that meet your group's needs.

Ask questions that are not in the lesson to stimulate additional thought. (see "Levels of Questioning")

Gently reign in off-topic discussion. You can always blame the clock. ("This is a really interesting topic, but we'd better get back to the lesson before we run out of time.")

Strategies for maintaining integrity in group discussion

Keep the focus on the individual group member and God, not other people. ("Sarah, how do you think the Lord would want you to respond to your mother?" not "You're mother sounds really difficult! You should get her to read...")

Levels of Questioning when dealing with a Biblical text

(Adapted from Costas Levels of Inquiry)

Level One: points to one correct answer from the text

These questions are useful for clarification, to check for understanding, and to encourage reluctant participants because there is a right answer.

Example: List the characteristics of the "natural man" that Paul gives...

Key words: define, note, describe, name, list, identify, etc.

Level Two: infer answers from what the text implicitly says

These questions are useful for digging deeper into the text, making connections between texts and gaining an understanding how the Bible fits together.

Example: When confronted with his sin, contrast how David reacted as opposed to Saul.

Key words: analyze, group, compare, contrast, infer

Level Three: think beyond the text, accessing prior knowledge and experience

These questions are useful in integrating Biblical truth into one's own thinking, enabling transformation and the application of God's word.

Example: Imagine, how would your life change if you really believed Romans 8:28 were true?

Key words: evaluate, judge, speculate, apply, imagine, predict, hypothesize

Why use these? All three levels are important, and not all study guides provide a variety of types. If you jump to level three without understanding what the Bible actually says, it leads you to incorrect application. But, if you don't get to level three, you've had an intellectual exercise that won't bring about life change.