What are they thinking?

At the beginning of the church year, it is always good to find out where your group members are in their minds.  What are they thinking?  To help assess this mystery, spiritual checkups are just as valuable as getting a physical checkup from the doctor.  Checkups are important because they can reveal to us if our small group members have been growing spiritually, if their concepts about the small group or even the church have changed in the last year, or other valuable information.  Also, checkups help us determine if our methods in teaching are effective, to what degree our students are maturing in their faith, and what specific subjects the teacher needs to address in the future.  

To help solve the mystery of what our students are really thinking, hand out a “what are you thinking?” response sheet before you plan next year’s teaching goals.  As you read the returned responses, the guide can be helpful to you and the pupils as they contemplate what they are thinking. 

Here are some specific areas in which the students can fill in the blank or complete the thought:

1.  I wish the Bible gave more specific information about...

2.  If Jesus lived in my circumstances, the first thing He would do is...

3.  One specific result of salvation taking place in a person’s life is...

4.  One thing the Holy Spirit revealed to me this past year was...

5.  I enjoy my small group because...

6.  I minister to others by...

7.  When the church, as a whole, brings up the subject of...I get excited. 

8.  One thing I believe God has told me is...

9.  People seem to notice I am used of God when I (do what?) ...

10. When I get to heaven, God might say, “you sacrificed for Me by...”

11.  When I think of my small group, the first thing I think about is...

12.  My group is important to me because... 

I have written twelve statements to which students can respond.  However, you may choose more or fewer statements for your students.  Because these are probing in nature, having fewer statements to respond to can give more time for thoroughness.      

Sometimes teachers tend to believe their students have not changed during the last year.  They have.  Over time, both teachers and students tend to soften or harden in their belief systems.  The question is not have we changed, but how much or in what way?  A challenge of every teacher is to initiate thinking in the group so both the teacher and pupils will know where they are and where they need to go. 

D.H. Lawrence opens up thinking in his poem on ‘Thought’:

• Thought is the welling up of unknown life into consciousness,
• Thought is the testing of statements on the touchstone of the conscience.
• Thought is gazing onto the face of life, and reading what can be read,
• Thought is pondering over experience, and coming to a conclusion.
• Thought is not a trick, or an exercise, or a set of dodges,
• Thought is a man in his wholeness wholly attending.

Sunday School and Small Groups are not only a place to fellowship and pray but to “think” and be continually reintroduced to ourselves.  In the Old Testament, the Psalmist had a new moment of self-realization when he wrote, “Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love” (Psalm 48:9, NIV).   In the New Testament, Jesus asked a probing question, “What do you think about the Christ?” (Matthew 22:42, NIV).

In your small group, what probing statements or questions will initiate thinking?  The Holy Spirit will help us as we solve the mystery -- “what are they thinking?”

Teaching and Remembering

Most teachers and preachers attempt to cover too much material in one session of teaching.  We can tend to believe the more information we carry into a classroom, the better.  However, it is better to teach less material in a way the class will remember it than to throw out many impressive facts that will not be remembered in five minutes.  This kind of thinking is not a license to prepare less, but rather a reminder to truly teach so the students can remember what is taught.   

Teaching so students will remember what is being taught involves several facets: 

1.  Do in-depth study and research for the lesson you are going to teach.  You will find normally find more information than you will need.  

2.  Cut out everything your have studied except the absolute key ideas your class or group needs to be taught.  This is a critical stage.  Remember, it is not the number of thoughts you take into the class that matters, but rather the number of ideas the students leave with.  

3.  Focus and focus again on these key thoughts you have chosen.  The earlier in the week you decide what these thoughts are, the more creative time your mind will have before you teach on Sunday.   

4.  Be sure these thoughts are listed in a simple way that can be easily taught and remembered.  If the thoughts are complicated and hard for you to remember, they will be close to impossible for the students to remember.     

5.  Arrive at your class or group realizing that curriculum only gives information.  Ultimately, curriculum does not communicate.  Communication is left in the hands of the teacher.  

6.  During your teaching time, use the five senses and other means for the new truths to take hold.  Help them to hear, taste, smell, see, and even feel with a touch what you are teaching.  

7. Do not simply give out information and go on to a final prayer to close your class.  Repeat and repeat again the simple truths they need to take with them.  If need be, play a game or take time for people to describe what something would feel like or smell like.  For example, tell your class the passage you will be teaching on next Sunday and ask them to come and share some details as to what they see in the story.  

In short, none of us have prepared enough, unless we have prepared a way in which people will remember our teachings.  This is how Jesus taught.  In learning, people still want to experience truths rather than be told the truths exist.  Many times, Jesus taught by telling a story.  He only gave a few truths at a time in His stories, but the impact was so powerful some of his followers remembered enough to write a gospel.  Others were so impacted they ultimately crucified Him. 

A prayer for all of us is, “Dear God, not only help me to prepare but, when I am finished, help them to remember what was taught.”

Shaping the Church's Future Through A New Discipleship Group

When we begin a new Discipleship Group, with shaping the future of the church in mind, there are several key factors for every leader to remember.  Such key factors must never be abandoned as the group continues.  These factors include: 

1. Remember you are training each group participant to think theologically.  Also, you are leading them individually to courageously explore their personal past and rethink how they arrive at theological answers. 

2.  Remember, in most cases, you are learning to relate to future leaders of the church.  Class discussions and problem-solving moments are only rehearsals that are preparing us to work together in the future.

3.  Remember, you are training them to fulfill the Vision Statement of the Church.  Nowhere else can this be taught so easily, as personal mentoring becomes part of the process.

4.  Remember, as new people come into the church, the personal identity of the church is always being affected.  Just as individuals have a personality, so do churches.  When the need exists, Discipleship is a great place for the present personal identity of the congregation to be better tweaked.           

5.  Remember to choose people for Discipleship who are teachable and willing to be trained in their ideology and philosophy of what the life of the church is all about.  

6.  Remember to look for future doors of change the church’s congregation needs to go through and allow these, if suitable, to be part of the Discipleship’s discussion.  These can become part of the group’s problem- solving exercises when discussing faith, commitment, and discerning God’s will.

To sum it up: 

The writer of Proverbs reminds us all that iron sharpens iron. In the Amplified Version, Proverbs 27:17 reads, “Iron sharpens iron: so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend [to show rage or worthy purpose].”  Shaping the church’s future sounds like a long hard tedious task when we think of pieces of cold iron.  Teachers of groups shape groups, and groups shape their teachers.  Both are continually agents of the Holy Spirit as the future of the church is shaped by Discipleship.  If there is any friction around you, make the most of it. Iron does sharpen iron and he who has begun a good work in you will complete it.  Real Discipleship always shapes the church’s future.   

Happy Discipling!!

Want to start a new small group?

There are different types of small groups.  The type of group your church starts will have different kinds of expectations for the participants, and your church will experience different results.  Before beginning a small group, determine the needs of your congregation.

Although there are several types of small groups, below are three to consider:

1. Task-Oriented and Service-Oriented Groups

These types of groups are important for the ongoing ministries of the church; however, they offer the least opportunity for biblical training.  Examples of these groups would be preparing food for the sick, gathering weekly to clean the church, choir practice, etc.  When these groups meet, scripture may be read, prayer offered, testimonies given, but there is not sufficient time to explore principles for spiritual growth.  The key purpose of these groups is to perform a specific task and does not emphasize deeper Biblical learning.  

Churches need these types of groups, and they are critical for various needs of the church.    However, it must be remembered that these groups are at an entry level spiritually.  As soon as possible, it is important for those in these groups to become involved in a group that will challenge them more as they mature spiritually.

2. Bible Study and Book Study Groups

When it comes to Christian Education, Bible study and Book study groups, along with Sunday School classes, make up most of the groups within most churches.  These classes and groups have proven to be essential over the years, and we need to continally begin new classes in this category.

Some weaknesses can develop within these groups that can hinder the educational and discipleship process.  For example, if the attitude prevails to “come if you can” or “it really does not matter if you miss,” then the learning process will be greatly impaired.  The class purpose, that should include learning, experiencing, and sharing our faith, will then degenerate and discipleship will suffer.

Churches need to have more Bible study and Book study groups.  One of the responsibilities of the Pastor and other lay leaders is to notice those within these classes who are more spiritually intense and have a greater hunger to grow spiritually.  When that happens, the church needs to provide a higher level of spiritual training.  This higher level of training will produce more and better equipped church leaders in the future.

3. Discipleship Groups

Discipleship groups meet once a week for approximately one year.  The main reason for this is that groups almost never become a community in less than eight months.   After these closed groups meet for a few weeks, no one else is permitted to join the class.  One reason for this is because of the need to move forward in the curriculum as much as possible, and also the process of bonding in which the group will be engaged.

It needs to be noted that the people in Discipleship groups should be chosen by the Pastor or Small Group leader.  These groups may contain two or three people or as many as fifteen.  Whether they meet at home or at church, these individuals meet with a hunger to grow spiritually.  In other types of groups, participants may attend wanting to be affirmed.  In Discipleship groups, participants attend wanting to be changed.

Just like attendidng a new exercise class, because of life’s distractions and changes in personal schedules, some will not finish the course.  For those who do, they will never forget the time spent together.  

Overall, Discipleship groups are the most rewarding level of small groups!

TO RAP IT UP --  

Discipleship through Small Groups is absolutely necessary.  Everyone being discipled should be led into a group or, as John Wesley called them “little churches.”  It is here our learning takes on a broader dimension. 

John Wesley was right when he taught us that if we do not have spiritual companions on the way to the New Jerusalem, we must take them -- for no one can travel that journey alone.