This past
semester I had the privilege of hosting a small group at my home. At our church
we call them lifegroups. This was the second semester in a row that I had done
this with my wife and we were really exited about being able to study the bible
and grow together with our peers. Our group was held on Sunday nights at 6.
During the fall we had it on Tuesday nights but because of my school schedule
this was not possible so we changed the date. We chose to study the book of
Philippians this semester. The book was used to lead the study was from a
series of bible study guides called LifeChange.
The reason we picked this book was because my wife had done another bible study
that used this study guide and she had a great experience with it.
One of the
first things that were different about this semester was that our group changed
pretty drastically. We only had 4 returning members from the previous semester.
This was a bit sad because our group grew really close the previous semester
and we saw some great growth in the people attending. Our group got 19 sign ups
out of the possible 20 that each lifegroup was limited to. So this was a new
group with all new personalities and this would allow for some new insights and
experiences to be had. Another difference was that we were now studying a book
of the bible instead of a devotional personal growth type book which is what we
did the previous semester. In the fall it was our first lifegroup so we decided
that doing a personal growth book would be better to help people get
comfortable and be able to share more. Not everyone has great understanding of
the bible so we wanted the group to get comfortable with each other first and
knew that we would study a book of the bible in the spring.
I want to
talk about what one of the greatest difficulties throughout the semester. This
difficulty was attendance. Most of our group was comprised of college students
and we soon came to learn that they would not be consistent in their
attendance. It seemed like every week we had about half of the group missing
for one reason or another. My wife and me discussed this and came up with the
answer that there are a lot of weekend holidays and school vacations that
happen throughout the semester. Sunday night is not a good night to lead a
lifegroup that is made up of mostly college students. There was one week where
not one person came that night for lifegroup out of the 19 people who signed up
and a good number of them never gave any indication beforehand that they
wouldn’t be coming.
This
difficulty then lead to the study not flowing as well as it could have because of
the inconsistency of the people attending. Every week people were coming in
that had not been there the week before and things that were being built upon
and verse that overlapped studies were being discussed a bit again. Though this
was not a great difficulty it still was something that had to be overcome every
week.
Things were
not all bad throughout the semester and that is why I wanted to get those out
of the way first. One of the great successes we had in our group was the
continued growth of some of the members in their walk with Christ. We had
members who had recently come to Christ and really did not know much about
church, the Bible or what it meant to be a Christian. Throughout our time
studying I could see them getting more and more involved and contributing much
more to the conversations. This was really exciting to see and watching them
learn about living as a Christian and applying it was worth every second.
Although
people could not come out every week the relationships that were built with the
attendees was another great success of the lifegroup. People really were
interested in the lives of others and one of the best times every week was
sharing prayer requests. As the semester moved on more and more people were
beginning to share prayer requests that were more personal. The lifegroup
really grew closer as people would open up more and bonds were created as we
prayed for each other. There were always people praying for each other and this
was amazing to witness.
Throughout
the semester I learned lessons about leading people that are important to
ministry. People may not always be able to come to services or lifegroup
gathering but making sure that I reach out to them and keep in touch goes a
long way. There was a person who came for the first month and couldn’t come
anymore after that time but still emails us every week letting us know what is
going on in her life. Sending a text and giving a phone call to our lifegroup
members goes a long way in establishing relationships and keeping the
communication going. The reason of the lifegroup is to develop relationships
and grow in our walk with God. There was never a time where we made anyone feel
bad for not coming although they displayed that they did many times.
Another
thing that I learned was that it is important to just spend time talking about
how the week has been and what is new in our lives. We would do icebreakers
most of the time but there were a few days where the conversation was going
well and people were interacting with each other and we felt like an icebreaker
would put a stop to something good that was going on. Having a plan is very
important but allowing things to flow naturally is also something that needs to
be allowed.
Food is a
great way to bring people together. Eating snacks or having a dinner together was
some of the moments that we will never forget. We just had fun breaking bread
together and talking about anything really. A lot of laughter was shared during
meals and after lifegroup while we had something to eat. Everyone contributed and
different people brought things every week.
Everything
that happened throughout the semester in our lifegroup worked as something I
could learn from and analyze to see how it could be done better. Things were
never perfect by any means but a lot of good happened. These are relationships
that can last for a really long time. Having a lifegroup meet at our home and
providing an atmosphere for spiritual growth was an honor for us. We loved it
even with the difficulties. It is a sacrifice of time that bears great fruit.
Small groups are an important part of every Christian community and I really
see myself always having one in one form or another. It has been a great
experience that I will continue to study and look to be more effective in.
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