Small Group Studies: November 2009

 

Beth Moore studies for women. A great way to start Womens’ small groups!

Wanting to start small groups for women in your church? Using Beth Moore studies is a wonderful way to begin buidling relationships and give women the taste of what small group life can be.

Typically, women meet at your church once per week for about two hours for ten weeks. During the first week, they all gather together, collect their books, and watch an introductory video. During the subsequent weeks, they divide into pre-arranged groups and go to separate areas of your building. You do not need a large church to do this. The individual groups could meet in various areas of your building – the foyer, a children’s area, the worship center, a youth room, etc. All that they need is a place to sit and talk. During the first half of the session, the women gather together and discuss their “homework” for the previous week. This homework consists of daily reading from a workbook and the Bible and answering questions from Moore. Participants usually spend about half an hour to forty-five minutes completing the homework for each of the five sessions found in every week’s study. The questions are thought-provoking and inevitably lead to greater discussions and personal sharing.

In fact, the study sessions can be quite time consuming, and inevitably someone will not finish their homework, and as a result, will not show up for the study. You need to notify the women of this possiblity ahead of time. Give them some grace on the homework, and encourage them to attend, whether they have finished the homework or not. The real growth will occur during the sessions as relationships begin to evolve.

During the second half of the session, all of the women meet together in one room and watch the accompanying video session done by Moore – often from different locations around the world that correspond with the study. During Breaking Free, a study on breaking free from the bondage of sin, much of the video was taped in the southern United States on the grounds of a plantation. During Jesus The One and Only, much of the video was taped in Jerusalem and surrounding areas. This pattern is repeated, half the session discussing the homework and the remaining half watching the video, for the remaining weeks.

If your women are doing a ten week study, by week eight or ten you want to start planting the seed that they can continue as a small groups in their homes if they would like to. You then need to have another study ready for them to begin right away. Start promoting that study during weeks 8, 9, and 10. Let them know that a small group is exactly what they have already been doing. The difference is they will have a more flexible schedule and will be able to set their meeting day, time, and location (ideally in various members’ homes).

Check out all of Beth Moore’s studies here. You will need a Leader’s Guide, DVD, and one workbook for each participant.

Small Group Studies: October 2009

 

Formation: Building a Reliable Foundation

The first release in the new Small Group Life series from LifeWay Small Groups, Formation: Building a Reliable Foundation, is now available! 

From General Editor, Steve Gladen, Formation draws from the best small-group principles and practices in leading group members in a study of pillars of formation—mystery, purpose, the efforts of the enemy, atonement, community, and redemption. Participants will realize that because we are spiritual beings, we are always being spiritually formed. Employing a discovery Bible study approach, each episode of Small Group Life includes 6 topics, 6 missional challenges, free enrichment video downloads, and free children’s Bible study ideas that address the same topics as the adult experiences. There is a “2^nd Take” written for each topic for groups wanting more than a 6-week study. 

Small Group Life will incorporate the new Connect-Grow-Serve-Go designations into each small-group experience. Groups will participate in a warm-up, called CONNECT, designed to get members talking, involved in the conversation, and engaged in specific topics. CONNECT is followed by GROW, the heart of each Small Group Life experience. GROW is the primary vehicle for Bible study and includes basic doctrines, discussion questions, and embedded leader notes to help with facilitation. Each topic also includes a SERVE/GO missional challenge. 

As a response to the expressed needs in the small-group community, Small Group Life series is affordably priced and streamlined for ease-of-use and minimum preparation for both the group facilitator and group member. The SERVE/GO challenges get groups out into the communities  for ministry, leadership, and service opportunities. Small Group Life also has a 3-year continuity plan to help those small-group churches looking for an alternative to the “a-la-carte” approach to small-group curriculum and Bible study.  

• Affordable – Introductory $3.50 through direct channels, $5.95 retail
• Continuity – 3-year plan allows leaders to ensure groups are engaging Scripture
• Streamlined – Easy preparation and discovery Bible study method
• Customizable – Available by download ($30 per group/unlimited copies). Content may be modified or customized to include church logo or make content more suitable for church or group culture.
• Flexible – SGL utilizes a 6-lesson study that has a going deeper section at the end of each lesson enabling weekly groups to have a 12-week resource.
• Kid Friendly – Children’s Bible study activities available as free downloads to Small Group Life users.
• Host Driven – Conversation driven with leader notes embedded in each study so groups need only a host or facilitator for the study as opposed to an expert leader.
• Missional – Challenging groups to engage their culture through missional activities is part of the Small Group Life DNA. 

Order by visiting www.lifeway.com/sgl or by calling 800-458-2772. 

Future releases:

Formation: Building a Reliable Foundation

Mission: Invitation to the Adventure of Life

Freedom: Freedom Was Enough

Barbarians: A Call Into Unchartered Faith

Small Group Studies: September 2009

Health Care Reform For Your Small Group

 by Tonja Ward

American health is declining faster than the economy.  What’s the solution – another savvy health trend, health care reform, another diet book?

We often ask ourselves how we are going to reduce the risk of lifestyle diseases that plague our families.  We are wives, husbands, mommies, daddies, career men and women, board members and teachers striving to remain fit … we work, play, cook, clean, taxi, pack lunches, keep a budget for our time, money and food, work.  Whew!

We are sure you can relate.  We’ve followed what the world says about food … eat this – not that, count points – do low carb/no carb.  In the end we experienced utter confusion! 

How about you? 

We found true peace and direction in our spiritual lives – through praying, reading our bibles and meeting with fellow believers.  Then a light bulb went off – we serve a God who says “All things are possible through Christ!”  

We realized an ever deeper secret to wellness and turning over a new leaf – it’s a change of attitude to “Eat to Live, Live to Worship and get Full on the Word” … We call it The 9 FITatudes.  

We used the Beatitudes as a model for The 9 FITatudes to identify essential components of the attitude needed to enjoy a High Performance Lifestyle.  We found we must work together to bring about this lifestyle change.  That’s why the FIT in FITatudes stand for “Feeling Inspired Together.” 

With the FITatudes, your small group can journey to wellness together – not through health care reform or another diet book.  Instead, the focus will be on Christ to make our paths straight!  Doesn’t that make sense?
The 9 FITatudes Small Group 12 week Curriculum will allow you to:

• Connect the Word with wellness
• Learn how God’s Word can place your focus on Him and less on food
• Gain Biblical wisdom for your food and lifestyle choices
• Experience a season of change from the inside out
• And know that “You are not Alone” in your wellness walk

 Science finally caught up with what we have known for years in reading our bibles.  We are relational beings “birds of a feather flock together.”  You are already in a small group so why not flock together for health and wellness too? 

We realize that 12 weeks may seem a bit daunting so here’s how you can start taking “baby-steps.”  Check out our free Essential Foods and Nourishing ‘Snacks’ that you can start using today. These are “snacks” that will feed the body and the soul.

 Next, give your group a “warm up” with our free e-book gift Just Tell Me What to Eat.  Get to know the 9 FITatudes and their scriptures TOGETHER at your next small group meeting. Set some goals TOGETHER as a small group and let God lead your journey to wellness.  Download it at www.FITatudes.com.

Tonja Ward is the health editor for Houston Style Magazine and is a health counselor and fitness professional. She also teaches children’s ministry in the Greater Houston Church, and serves on the advisory board for the Center for Research on Minority Health at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. She developed Fitatudes with Diana Patton.

Diana Patton is an inspirational speaker and certified Health Counselor. She contributes a monthly article to Toledo’s newspaper, Soujouner’s Truth.

Just go to our website for free downloads!

www.FITatudes.com

Small Group Studies – August 2009

FREE SMALL GROUP STUDIES!

Southwest Community Church of Indian Wells, California has some small group studies that they would like to donate to another church for the cost of shipping– ideally a smaller church with little or no small group budget.

 “We have an excess of curriculum that we would like to donate to a smaller church for the cost of shipping.  I have an abundance of the Contagious Christian, the MADE study (DVD, study guide, and devotional, which we did for our spiritual growth campaign), the Book of James, Developing a Faith that Works, by Rick Warren, both volumes.  Great studies, we just do not have the room to store them.  We are working on a lending library with only 2 copies of each study and since we no longer sell the curriculum ourselves we need to get rid of the extras that we have.”

If you are interested, please email Deborah Sterud – Deborah@southwestcc.org

 

REGROUP

In this novel approach, Henry Cloud, Bill Donahue, and John Townsend have created a small group study that simultaneously trains leader and small group members. DVD based, the study uses small group vignettes to show both desired and undesirable small group behavior. When I first began reviewing this material, my thought was that it might be better suited for relatively new groups. However, while watching one vignette of a small group member texting during a small group meeting (undesirable behavior, just in case you don’t know), I had to admit that I have been guilty of such behavior. Have members who continually show up late? Have members who never stop talking? ReGroup gives you the opportunity to show them how such behavior affects the entire group. After watching the vignettes, group members then have the opportunity to discuss topics such as active listening, giving and receiving feedback, group prayer, calling out the best in others, and more.

A great tool for new groups, and also for those of us who might need a gentle reminder on the subtle art of fellowship.

Small Group Study Ideas – July 2009

 

God + the Arts series

Where faith intersects life.

There is a reason great movies stir our soul and kindle something deep within us. What is it about these powerful stories that make us weep, make us laugh, and make our hearts come alive? Is it not that these stories borrow from The Story. It is no accident that great movies include a hero, a villain, a betrayal, a battle to fight, and a rescue. It is The Epic Story. Great movies speak to us because they are echoes of the larger story, and story is the language of the heart. It was through story that Jesus captured peoples’ hearts and illuminated truth, and it is through story that He speaks still.

This growing line of small group studies will help you see something greater in movie epics of stage and great music from the past and present. Some of the books in this series feature “dinner and a movie” nights. Guided gatherings give you outlets for discussing the core truths inside the film and songs, uncovering worldviews, and providing a new way to watch movies and listen to songs.

Titles: (click on a title for more information)

• Finding Jesus in the Movies
• Finding Redemption in the Movies

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Soul Café series

A Guide to spiritual conversations.

Millions of spiritual sojourners don’t yet connect with church or see it as the epicenter of their spiritual adventure. In fact, a dorm room, a café, or a coffee house can become the processing plant that leads to weighty, group-dynamic discussions of spirituality, truth, and matters of the heart. Soul Café is series of open-ended conversations developed to drive you deeper into the story God is revealing. Soul Café is not a place for being comfortable or indifferent. It’s personal. Penetrating. Raw. The conversation demands something from you. It isn’t for the religiously refined; rather it’s much better suited for spiritual barbarians.

Titles: (click on a title for more information)

• Story. Narrator. Intrigue.

 

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MORE series

More depth. More meaning. More life.

Ever felt like there’s something in Bible study that others are getting but you’re not? The more they carve and dig and analyze, the more lost you feel, the more distant and mysterious the big picture remains. But what if there was a way to put the pieces of Scripture together so that each slice seemed to be a part of a single story? What if you could see the individual books and chapters united by common threads, held together by context and connections, an amazing meshing of God-inspired purpose extending far beyond time in both directions? You’d not only find the “more” in your Bible study, but more in your relationship with God, with each other, and with each day’s experience of life. You’d enter the real adventure, and find something about it that you never saw before. Something MORE.

Titles:

• Song of Songs: The Epic Romance
• Mark: Beyond the Red Letters
• Job: A Messy Faith
• Colossians: Embrace the Mystery
• Ruth: Gleaning Hope

Are People in Your Church Hurting?

by Pastor Steve Gladen

Read the news. Every day in every city around the world, hurts, hang-ups and habits are the secret and sometimes not-so-secret ways that the enemy uses to try to defeat both believers and non-believers. These are the wounds that continue to infect even the most healthy-appearing people. Despite the appearance of health and vitality on the outside, these “issues” continue to fester and sicken, weakening the church and the community from the inside.

Jesus gave us one of the most effective teachings on the topic of personal spiritual healing and renewal in the Beatitudes.

This fall, your church can join Rick Warren and Saddleback Church in the path of freedom from hurts, hang-ups and habits in a brand-new, 8-week church-wide spiritual growth campaign called Life’s Healing Choices.  This experience will transform your church and begin to transform your community. I invite you to suggest that your church take this 8-week journey on the Biblical road to total spiritual renewal for every member of your community.

YOUR CHURCH WILL BENEFIT

• People in your church and your community will discover how to get freedom from their hurts, hang-ups, & habits
• This is a great outreach opportunity
• Grow more small groups
• Great spiritual growth for participants
• Another way your church will be seen by the community as relevant and important

• For more people to come to church
• For more people to get into small groups

 The Life’s Healing Choices campaign delivers complete, ready-to-use resources with an online access pass. For more information please visit the Life’s Healing Choices website.

Small Group Study Suggestions

REFUEL

As a Christian, you know you need to have devotions. You’ve heard it from your pastor; you’ve seen the study guides; you may have even made a dent in the One Year Bible. Some of you have valiantly set your alarm clocks back an hour for morning quiet time, only to find that life creeps back in to steal your resolve. It isn’t because you don’t love God. You quit because you “bought into” someone’s unsustainable habit at an unreasonable pace.

But you don’t have to keep running on empty. Bestselling author Doug Fields offers an uncomplicated, practical plan that you can carry out. This book won’t teach you how to “cram God” into your already-full schedule. Instead, Doug will show you a practical, doable way of setting God first, and then letting everything else in your life fall into place. You will experience the fullness God has for you-just take some time to refuel.

Buy Refuel Here: http://www.saddlebackresources.com/en-US/Resources/ProductDetail.htm?sku=PB301800

FOUNDATIONS

Until recently, this study was not available in a small group format outside of Saddleback Church.  I am thrilled to announce that small group studies are now available!  These eleven wonderful studies are DVD based and each four week study covers a different topic.  Topics include: God, The Bible, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Creation, Salvation, Good and Evil, Sanctification, The Afterlife, The Church, and The Second Coming.

Have a hard time getting your people into traditional classes? This is the answer! Give them the opportunity to learn and explore these issues in a group environment.

Get Foundations Here: www.saddlebackresources.com/en-US/SmallGroups/Foundations/FoundationsSmallGroupStudy.htm