Winter Groups
ISSUE 2 VOL UME 2 Jan u ar y 1 9, 201 1
Begin Week of
January 30th!
Group
Focus 2011
Winter Groups
It’s hard to believe that we’ve completed our
first full year of Groups! Thank you for
jumping in and getting on board with this system •
of groups. I know it’s far from perfect, however,
we are seeing people connect that hadn’t
before and stories of people growing in their
faith, so I think we’re on the right track. We are
also seeing some people move toward
leadership which is really exciting. Our ability to
reach out to and connect with more people is
largely dependent on new leaders so THANK
YOU for your participation and faithfulness.
Here’s the winter semester rundown of info you
will need:
Group Leader Meeting
Sunday eve January 23 at 6:00
in the café.
• This Sunday (the 23rd) will be the last day
people can register for groups. Catalogs
and registration cards will be available at
the Connection Center on January 30,
however, after this week we will not be
• Pray—God calls us to pray, He expects us
publicly encouraging people to join groups.
The exception to this is the “Loving My
Church” (membership) group that will be
meeting for 2 weeks in February)
• Be sure to contact every member of your
group before your group begins. Welcome
them, and make sure they know the time
and place of your first meeting.
• Have a syllabus ready to handout at your
first meeting and copies of the Group
Covenant. You should plan to cover and
A publication to
encourage and equip
Group Leaders
www.NCGrouplife.blogspot.com
have members sign the Covenant no later
than week 3.
Be thinking about your Play Date and your
Serve Date.
• Pray for a discerning eye toward new
potential leaders. Always be looking for
opportunities to share some of the Calendar
leadership responsibility.
• Find and work with a Coordinator. Identify
one person to specifically help you with January
contacting, praying, and possibly even New thru 30 series!
leading your group. 23rd—New Members joining in
a.m. services
• Remember to “Think Life Change”. We
do groups because we believe this is the 23rd—Group Leader Meeting
best place for sustained life-change to take 6:00 pm
place. Everything you do should be
centered around the reality that God is in
the business of changing lives, because He February
loves us far too much to leave us the way 20 & 27 - Loving My Church
we are and our job is to provide the
environments and relationships that allow 5-7 pm 2 week group
life-change to happen. All Group Leaders should plan
to attend!
to pray and I believe He longs to hear our
prayers. Pray for your group members, for March
God’s transforming work in their lives as
well as your own. What are your plans for the
summer semester?
Know that I greatly appreciate each and every-
one of you. I understand the sacrifices you are
making in order to provide leadership for your April
group. Thank you. Easter
Linda Get your group info for summer
semester to Linda!
The Truth About Transformation
The following is located at: http://SmallGroups.com/articles/2008/thetruthabouttransformation.html
What it really takes to help people change their
minds
Dan Lentz | posted 6/18/2008
Have you ever changed your mind about some-
thing? I have changed my mind more about things in transformation to take place. Real application of a
the last few years than I would have ever dreamed
possible.
More than Knowing
For example, when I started working at an industrial out or experiencing the truths of those studies
job, I had the idea that a person should not miss
work for anything—even when you're sick. So for
more than six years straight, I never missed a day of So how can you help the process of genuine
work because of illness. Did I get sick during that
time? Yes. But I just strapped on my boots and said, suggestions:
"No matter, I'm going to work."
That line of thinking started to spill over into how I
viewed other people. I had friends at the company
who, every month or two, got sick and missed a day
of work. I became convinced they had poor values,
and that they were either uncommitted, lazy, or just Don't make application theoretical. In other
wimpy. I knew that everyone has times when they
don't feel well, but I truly believed that if a person
was committed enough, he or she could still make it
to work.
But then I started to change my mind.
Why? Over time, I got some information from my
"wimpy" friends that helped me understand why they
struggled to make it to work when certain health
conditions were a problem. The information helped
me to empathize with them. Still, down deep, I was
doubtful that they really needed to be off work as
much as they were.
But then something really caused me to change my
mind: I got a chronic illness. I—the guy who thought
anyone who would let illness interrupt everyday life
was just wimpy—became chronically sick. And I
stayed chronically sick. Low and behold, it did inter-
rupt my everyday life. It did make work and normal
activity impossible at times. That's when I got it. I
changed my mind.
So, what does it take to change your mind?
Spiritual Transformation
Knowledge about something can change a person's Pray that the Holy Spirit would be constantly
mind, but what really tends to do the trick is
knowledge coupled with a related experience. We
can have a lot of information that would lead us in a
direction to change our minds, but knowledge of the Remember that changing a mind goes beyond
truth doesn't always tip us over the edge until we
have a relevant experience.
True mind change, in a spiritual context, is called
transformation (Romans 12:2). So when does
transformation happen? Does it happen when we
receive information regarding biblical truth?
Sometimes. My experience has been that biblical
truth is very important to the transformation process.
Still, we often allow truth to change our beliefs, but
our actions don't always flesh that out.
Sometimes we need to both understand and
experience the truth in order for genuine
truth is where life-change happens—not just talking
about application, but living the application.
Academic or informational Bible studies can be
important within a small group, but if you're not living
together in community, your group members may
not be changing their minds as much as you think.
We are
transformation? Here are some practical
Better
Always allocate a significant amount of time to
focus on the application of any study you are
doing. At least half of any "lesson time" should
focus specifically on application.
Together
words, share as many personal and specific
examples of application as you can, including
past victories and defeats. Encourage and
spur one another on through those examples.
Be intentional about planning experiences into
6 Leadership
group life—service projects, prayer walks,
confession exercises, hospital visits, and so
Essentials
on.
Discern specific areas where transformation is
slow for your members, and plan experiences
1. THINK Life change:
around those areas. For example, if several
group members are having trouble loving Why We Do Groups
people of a different ethnicity, plan a time
when they can serve others of that different 2. Cultivate RELATIONSHIPS
ethnicity.
How We Build
Draw the connection or ask questions about how
God is using specific circumstances to trans- Community
form your group members. Here's an example
question: How is God using your current 3. PROMOTE participation
suffering to change your mind about things? How You Lead a Group
Recognize and celebrate times when people
4. REPLACE yourself
acknowledge they have changed their mind at
a deeper level about deeply held issues. How You Intentionally
Apprentice
renewing the minds of your small-group
members. 5. Provide CARE
How You Handle Tough
knowledge. It requires knowing the right things and Situations
living those things as well. Don't let your small group
settle for just the first step in the process of genuine
6. MULTIPLY influence
transformation.
How You Maximize
—Dan Lentz; copyright 2007 by the author and
Impact
Christianity Today International. Originally
appeared on SmallGroups.com.