Apparently, my Nativity scene—and yours—are all wrong. So are many of our favorite Christmas songs. Jesus was probably born on the ground-floor or courtyard of a home, not a barn. The wise men were not present at his birth, and we don’t know for sure there were three of them. Jesus’ birth likely occurred in the spring, not in December. …

God often takes us places we didn’t plan to go. As I got into my rental car in Louisville, Kentucky, to head out to The Groups Conference in Mattoon, Illinois, where I was speaking last weekend, I set the route I wanted to take in Google Maps and headed out. I was driving along the highway with the radio cranked …

Small groups are taking the mannequin challenge. Many have been doing it for years. I admit, I don’t get the current #mannequinchallenge fad. I also admit that some of the videos are fun and creative. Here’s a short one as an example: This may be the latest cultural fad, but it’s nothing new for many small groups, and the church …

“How can I get people in my group to pray out loud?” “What can we do to go deeper in our prayer time?” “How do I keep our group engaged during prayer time? We spend more time sharing requests and stories than actually praying!” As I train and coach leaders, many of the questions I receive focus on small group …

Small Group Ministry Leader, if you discovered that one of the small groups under your care was engaging in idol worship, what would you do? Small Group Leader, if your small group ministry leader came to you to warn you to stop worshiping idols, how would you respond? In both he Old and New Testaments, idol worship is strictly forbidden …

Here are the Small Group Leader TIPS for the last week as Tweeted, posted on our Small Group Leadership Facebook page, and posted on LinkedIn. Monday, July 25 Tuesday, July 26 Wednesday, July 27 Thursday, July 28 Friday, July 29 Go ahead: Tweet these (or post on your favorite social network, or just email them) to your followers! Or just …

Here are the last two weeks of Small Group Leader TIPS as Tweeted, posted on the Small Group Leadership Facebook page, and posted on LinkedIn. *     *     *     *     *     *     * Monday, 4/25: Be sure you are not in God’s way of working in your group’s or individual’s lives. Let God work. #ministry Tuesday, 4/26: In your meeting agenda, …

Oops! I’m not sure how it happened, but last week’s TIPS never actually posted. So guess what? It’s BONUS WEEK! You get two week’s of Small Group Leader TIPS s Tweeted, posted on the Small Group Leadership Facebook page, and posted on LinkedIn for the price of 1! *     *     *     *     *     *     * Monday, 4/11: Whenever you see …

How do you get small group members to invite people to their groups? I spoke at +Greenwood Christian Church this past Saturday, particularly on the topic of moving small groups from good (comfortable, focused mostly internally) to great (costly, missional). We spent time talking about the importance of members inviting people into their groups as part of carrying out Christ’s …

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege to partner with this week’s guest blogger in many different ways. I edited his book, Christ’s Basic Bodies, written and led training seminars for the ministry he founded (TOUCH Outreach Ministries), and interviewed him for my blog and other writing projects. Neighbour is one of the pioneers of the groups movement in America …