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 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 FOUR
• SMALL GROUP MEETINGS, SMALL GROUP LIFE

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The Four Parts of a Small Group
Meeting
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Small Group Meeting Agenda
ORDER
ACTIVITY
RELATION
FOCUS
You to Me
Entrance into Fellowship
CHRIST
WELCOME
Us to God
Exaltation in His Presence
CHRISTS PRESENCE
WORSHIP
God to Us
Edification in the Word
CHRISTS POWER
WORD
Evangelism Vision Prayer
God through Us
CHRISTS PURPOSE
WITNESS
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The Four Parts of a Small Group Meeting

• Greeting and welcome
• Time to catch up with each other
• The ice-breaker

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Breaking the Ice with the Ice-Breaker

• The Ice-Breaker
• creates a relaxed atmosphere
• enables everyone to say something
• can lead into the Bible study or worship period

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The Four Parts of a Small Group
Meeting

• Acknowledging the presence of Jesus

• With singing

• Meditation with instrumental music

• With testimony, prayer or Scripture

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The Four Parts of a Small Group
Meeting
The Bible study
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Small Group Bible Study Should Be Relational

• Three Questions
• ? What is this text saying
• ? What is this text saying to me/us
• ? What are we going to do about this

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Relational Bible Study

• Asks not only What does this mean? but What is
  God saying to me/us here?
• Based more on real life experience than on a
  collection of doctrinal texts
• More concerned with making Christianity real than
  with proving a point
• Concerned not only with the original characters
  associated with the story, but where we see
  ourselves in it
• Accepts all opinions as equally valid
• It allows the group to grow together even when
  there is serious disagreement

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The Four Parts of a Small Group
Meeting
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Witness Praying for Group Growth

• Spirit-led prayer
• Informal, usually seated
• Conversational prayer
• Smaller prayer groups
• Special prayer for individuals

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The Afterglow

• Begin and end the meeting on time
• Simple refreshments afterwards
• Informal some leave, some stay
• Sometimes the most important time of sharing

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Remember the Goal

• The Goal of Small Group Meetings
• Life transformation
• Building community
• Kingdom growth

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Group Life Outside Group Meetings

• Social events
• Community service
• Church involvement
• Retreats
• Mentoring

Community cannot happen in a weekly
meeting alone
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Stages of Small Group Development
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When the Group Gives Birth...
the gain is greater than the pain!