"If you make disciples, you will always get the church. But if you try to build the church, you will rarely get disciples." -Mike Breen, "Why the Missional Movement Will Fail" Breen makes some great points in his post I...
Tag: missional
Small Group Leaders
5 Surefire Ways to Screw Up a Small Group (Commitment and Small Groups Series #4)
1. Make your group all about you. When you first looked for a small group, you may have done so in the same way you shopped for a new car or a new refrigerator. You looked for features you wanted,...
SG Movement/History
Lyman’s Legacy
I wrote yesterday about Lyman Coleman and his thoughts on small groups as an assimilation strategy for the church. Today, I want to share some more personal thoughts about Lyman. I first met Lyman Coleman in 1992 when I wrote...
External-Focus, SG Movement/History
Lyman Coleman: Small Groups Are Much More Than an Assimilation Strategy
I spent a day with Lyman Colemen recently and talked about small groups ministry over the last 60-some years. Lyman founded Serendipity House and for more than 30 years, he spoke at church conferences across America. At that time, he...
Ministry Leaders
It’s Not About Small Groups!
Recently, I was commenting on a discussion on the Small Group Churches site about why small group ministries sometimes fail in churches. The author of the original post, +Andrew Mason, suggests three very good reasons this happens, but I believe...
External-Focus
Healthy Groups Are a Community for the Community
Some churches call their small groups that meet in homes “Community Groups.” I like that name for two important reasons: (1) the name reveals where authentic Christian community takes place and (2) it indicates that these groups are a primary...
Leader's Heart-Overflow
Wanted: Authentic Small Group Leaders (Arm-Chair Theologians and Lone Rangers Need Not Apply)
Are you an authentic small group leader? If we as small group leaders say we should all be witnesses yet do not do so ourselves, this hypocrisy teaches people to be disobedient. It gives the message, “I say you should share...
Small Group Leaders
How and When to Launch a Small Group: The Role of the Holy Spirit, Prayer, Laundry Rooms, Swimming Pools, and Game Nights
Right after Heidi and I got married, we moved into a forty-unit apartment building. We wanted to start a small group to reach out to the people who lived there who did not have a relationship with God, but we...
Small Group Leaders
Your Small Group Can Be a Fireplace (but it’s not the fire)
Our country needs revival. Our churches need revival. And some believe small groups are the answer. They aren't. Small groups have no more chance of initiating revival than a fireplace has of starting a fire. No programs, methods, philosophies, or...