Called to Gather Together in Groups
Pondering Point
Things to appreciate about MG/SG from the life of Apostle Paul:
- People who lack a God-centered family life can find such a family in the life of the church.
- People benefit from having others further down the path to help with mentoring in life and faith skills.
- God will call people together into a group to be a blessing in His church.
Paul’s life story highlights the need to have people in our corner spiritually in the face of life’s battles, especially spiritual battles. We need people like Barnabas who will go to bat for us (Acts 9:26-27), people like Peter who will defend us against adversaries (2 Peter 3:15-16), and people like James (brother of Jesus) and the Apostle John who offer the hand of fellowship when others seek to disgrace us (Galatians 2:9).
Paul wasn’t tight with all of these people. But they were still blessings to each other as brother and sisters in Christ. You won’t be able to connect deeply with everyone but anticipate that God does want you to connect deeply with at least a few people.
Prayer for the Day
Father God, continue to bring people into my life to connect with for whom we can have each other’s back spiritually and who can stand together in times of trouble, especially a few who can be in a micro-group that You bless. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Establishing Ground Rules for Micro and Small Group Life
- Confidentiality: What is shared in the group stays in the group. We hold things shared in the group confidential unless given permission to share these things with people outside the group. This must be a safe environment where people can be real, open and honest with their struggles and their victories.
- Transparency: It’s easier to love someone as God called us to do when we know them in deep and meaningful ways. We encourage you to share from your heart; let down your walls. Not just your struggles and fears, but also positives – dreams, hopes, answered prayers, etc. We understand that’s easier for some and we’ll respect your boundaries.
- No Convincing: Differences of opinion are welcome. However, please don’t try to convince others to your way of thinking.
- Listen: Value one another during discussions by really listening to what is being shared. Try to hear what’s being said without thinking about what you’re going to say next or how you’re going to respond. Be aware of how much you are talking – we want to give everyone a chance to share in the group.
- Pause: After someone shares, give a pause to allow the group to feel the weight of what was just shared and to fully consider it before the next person shares. This also provides the person sharing with the opportunity to continue with their thought without feeling rushed.
- Don’t Fix: Let’s try to hear what people are sharing without trying to fix them. If they want your advice, they’ll ask for it.
- Don’t rescue: When a person shares a deep personal and/or painful moment, some try to make them feel better about themselves or the situation. Often this causes people to stop sharing and results in them not going as deep as they might have gone. Resist temptations to “rescue” people.
- No Cross-talk: Be considerate of others as they are sharing - don’t be having side conversations.
- Use “I” Statements: It’s easy to talk about the issues of others, we want you to put yourself on the table. Try to use “I” statements rather than “them”, “the church”, “us”, “we”, etc.
This is the fourth week of the Micro-Group lessons.
The start of the first week is available here.
The start of the second week is available here.
The third week starts here.
The fourth week starts here.
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