Here is a great word from pastor Rick Warren about small groups. We may attract attenders through the Internet and a worship service, but disciples are made in small groups.
Small groups provide the kind of accountability and support we need to mature as believers, so here are four reasons why they are important to King’s Grant.
1 – Small Groups are Relational:
You can’t have a conversation with 300 people or 30 people, but you can have a conversation with a small group. Generally, when there are more than 10 in a group, people stop talking. It is impossible to learn how to love your neighbor as yourself unless you are involved in a small group of some kind. You don’t need a lot of friends in life, but you do need a few good ones, and you find those solid, supportive friendships in small groups.
Small groups allow us to know people, regardless of how big the congregation becomes. You don’t have to know everyone in the church as long as you know somebody in the church. If you miss a weekend service, not everyone will know you weren’t there, but your small group will know. Even the largest congregations seem small when your members are in small groups.
2 – Small Groups are Flexible:
Small groups can meet anywhere. They can meet in a library, at a coffee shop, in a park, outside, inside, in an office during lunch, or in a home. The Bible says, “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20)
3 – Small Groups are Expandable:
We will run out of space and money if we try to build enough classrooms for our groups to meet at the church. On the other hand, if our small groups are meeting across the community, then we will never run out of space.
Don’t let buildings limit the number of small groups we can have. That’s like letting the shoe tell the foot how big it can be. Buildings are just a tool for ministry. Invest in people; they will last forever.
4 – Small Groups are Economical:
When people meet at the church, we pay for the lights, and we pay for clean up. But if a family hosts a small group in their home, they don’t expect the church to pay for utilities that night or to send a custodian over to clean up. In fact, they’re usually glad to take care of those things as part of their ministry to others.
Think about it: you bring a guy into the church for a meeting and he might sit there like a bump on a log, but you put him in a home and give him a cup of coffee, and he may talk his head off. Why? Because you’ve put him in an environment that encourages fellowship.