July 27, 2010
Contest Time: Get the Word Out
You could win an iPad just by sharing the news about SmallGroups.com.
First, if you haven't seen the new Small Groups Digizine, click here to check it out. It's a free resource with content from John Ortberg, Mark Batterson, Heather Zempel, Pat J. Sikora, and more, and it's specially designed to equip and inspire small-group leaders as they prepare for the fall.
Second, we need you to help us spread the word about our new Digizine, and about the great resources available through SmallGroups.com. We want as many churches and small-group leaders as possible to be aware that they can have unlimited access to hundreds of downloadable, high-quality training resources and Bible studies, plus the largest archive of free articles, icebreakers, and expert advice available online.
That's why we are giving away an iPad (retail value of $499) in our new sweepstakes—plus several other fabulous prizes, including SmallGroups.com memberships, magazine subscriptions, and more. (Click here for official rules.)
There are four ways you can help us spread the word, and each one will get you entered into our iPad sweepstakes:
- Become a fan of the SmallGroups.com Facebook Page.
- Follow SmallGroupscom on Twitter and use the hashtag #SGDigizine to re-tweet one of our posts (limit one entry per day).
- Mention/review the Digizine (or a SmallGroups.com article or download) on your personal or church blog, then post the link in the Comments section below. Note: you've got to post a comment below with a link to your blog, or we'll never find it.) Again, this is limited to one entry per day.
- Click here to sign up for the SmallGroups.com newsletter. (Every person that signs up for the newsletter during the month of August will automatically be entered to win.)
And that's all you have to do! As you can see, it's possible to get your name thrown in the hat multiple times if you take a varied approach. Once we have all of the names collected, winners will be determined by random drawings. The contest runs all the way through the month of August, and we will be giving away lots and lots of prizes—so get busy!
Oh, and here's the official prize list, if you're interested:
- Grand Prize: An Apple iPad 16GB (retail value of $499).
- First Prize: Five entrants will receive a one-year Church Membership to SmallGroups.com (retail value of $199). Any winners that are already SmallGroups.com members will have their subscriptions extended by one year.
- Second Prize: Ten entrants will receive a one-year subscription to their choice of Christianity Today magazine, Books and Culture, or Leadership Journal.
- Third Prize: Twenty entrants will receive a free downloadable Training Pack or Bible Study from SmallGroups.com or BuildingChurchLeaders.com.
posted by Sam O'Neal | Comments (12)
July 27, 2010
Poll Time: Biblical Interpretation
Which people in your church have the most influence when it comes to understanding and applying the Bible?
I've been thinking a lot recently about Biblical interpretation in the local church—namely, who are the people responsible for digging into the Bible to understand what it says (exegesis) and then apply the Bible's truths to our modern culture (hermeneutics).
Most churches in America have at least one full-time pastor who, on paper, is very well qualified to undertake the task of Biblical interpretation. Pastors have been to seminary, after all, and they spend hours every week studying the Word, right? Not to mention that huge library of books and commentaries in their office.
But churches also have several lay leaders who immerse themselves in Biblical interpretation—people like small-group leaders, Sunday school teachers, and so on. These folks are usually not trained on paper, yet they often have a lot of influence when it comes to the doctrines and practices accepted by the congregation.
I'm still trying to think through what all of this means, and how those realties impact Biblical interpretation in the local church. So, to help me out, please take the poll below and let me know which people are the primary drivers for Biblical interpretation in your church. In other words, which group of people have the most impact when it comes to the congregation understanding and applying the truths of the Bible?
posted by Sam O'Neal | Comments (3)
July 21, 2010
Video of the Week: Killer Community
With an emphasis on the "killer"
I remember seeing this at a conference last year, thought it was hilarious, and then couldn't find the video anywhere once I got back to the office. I stumbled upon it again this morning, and I figured I would share it with all of you.
You can find more from Johnny and Chachi at http://www.johnnyandchachi.com
posted by Sam O'Neal | Comments (2)
July 14, 2010
Question: Small Groups and Smaller Churches
Can you have both?
I've been doing a good bit of research for the next training download that I'm putting together: "Launching Small Groups in a Smaller Church." But I keep running across a set of ideas that are slightly confusing to me, and I would love to hear some outside opinions.
Basically, several articles and book excerpts I have read regarding small groups in a smaller church seem to imply that you can't have small groups in a smaller church. The argument is usually stated this way: if you are able to successfully run a small-groups ministry inside of a smaller church, the church will grow and grow until it can no longer be considered small.
That's not such a bad idea to express, I guess. I'd like to think that a successful small-groups ministry would in fact help any church grow.
But those statements seem to have a more sinister undertone. Namely, that if you are currently part of a smaller church, then you cannot have a healthy small-group ministry. Even more, these lines of thinking seem to imply that smaller churches are a problem in and of themselves—that a small church is automatically an unhealthy church.
What do you think? Are those statements true? Am I right to be confused? And what can we say about the intersection between small groups and smaller churches?
posted by Sam O'Neal | Comments (5)
July 9, 2010
Video of the Week: The Purple Pill
Feel the power of Transform small groups!
Here's a pretty creative promotional video for small groups, produced by Cary Christian Church. It's worth checking out!
posted by Sam O'Neal | Comments (0)
July 6, 2010
Poll Time: Introvert or Extrovert
Which one are you?
In honor of our most-recent training download, Leading as an Introvert, I thought it would be cool to see how small-group leaders view themselves in terms of sociability and personality.
So here's a pretty simple poll question: Do you consider yourself to be an Introvert or an Extrovert?
posted by Sam O'Neal | Comments (21)
June 29, 2010
The Age of Faux Friendships
Is the concept of friendship dying in our modern culture?
I was thinking of Dan Lentz's recent blog post about Relationship vs. Friendship when I came across an interesting quote from The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Here it is:
[Concerning] the moral content of classical friendship, its commitment to virtue and mutual improvement, that has been lost. We have ceased to believe that a friend's highest purpose is to summon us to the good by offering moral advice and correction. We practice, instead, the nonjudgmental friendship of unconditional acceptance and support—"therapeutic" friendship, [to quote] Robert N. Bellah's scornful term.We seem to be terribly fragile now. A friend fulfills her duty, we suppose, by taking our side—validating our feelings, supporting our decisions, helping us to feel good about ourselves. We tell white lies, make excuses when a friend does something wrong, do what we can to keep the boat steady. We're busy people; we want our friendships fun and friction-free….
With the social-networking sites of the new century—Friendster and MySpace were launched in 2003, Facebook in 2004—the friendship circle has expanded to engulf the whole of the social world, and in so doing, destroyed both its own nature and that of the individual friendship itself. Facebook's very premise—and promise—is that it makes our friendship circles visible. There they are, my friends, all in the same place. Except, of course, they're not in the same place, or, rather, they're not my friends. They're a superficial likeness or semblance of my friends—little dehydrated packets of images and information, no more my friends than a set of baseball cards is the New York Mets.
Boom! Tough stuff, huh? The author of that piece is a man named William Deresiewicz, and I'm wondering if you agree with him or not.
Deresiewicz concluded by saying: "Friendship is devolving, in other words, from a relationship to a feeling—from something people share to something each of us hugs privately to ourselves in the loneliness of our electronic caves."
Does he hit the nail on the head, or is he exaggerating? And what are the implications for small groups based on what he is saying? I would love your thoughts.
posted by Sam O'Neal | Comments (1)
June 27, 2010
Relationship vs. Fellowship
Is there a difference?
A couple of key components of our connection to God and others are fellowship and relationship. I recently explored the difference with our group. Here’s how I described it:
Relationship is the substance of our connections: things like family or blood relatives, as well as covenant relationship like marriage or adoption. Even beyond that, relationship can also be defined by association (church family, workplace, neighborhoods, students, etc.), or just the frequency in which we connect with people (if I see someone often, then I might say I have a relationship with them).
Fellowship, on the other hand, is more like the “life” and energy of our connections with people. It’s the quality of our relationships. It’s something that is added to relationship that adds life, impact, and even sweetness. It means literally sharing in common which is modeled in many of the one another commands of the New Testament, like: love one another, spur one another on, forgive one another, carry one another’s burdens, and many more.
But the question is: can you have relationship without fellowship, and is that a good thing or not?
I used an object illustration with our group to help understand the difference. I put pieces of two kinds of chocolate is a small cups. The chocolate I put in cup #1 was pure dark chocolate—nothing added. I had people try it. Some people like it, while some think it’s very bitter tasting. But like it or not, it’s the real deal. Pure chocolate. It’s good but it doesn’t necessarily have everything in it that people want in chocolate. It doesn’t have that sweet taste we’ve grown to love in chocolate.
In cup #2 I put rich milk chocolate. If you like chocolate at all, you are going to say it’s the real thing. Give me some more!
I told everyone, “Keep in mind, that cup #2 has the same substance as cup #1, but there is more added to it. And that more makes all the difference in how it tastes.”
That’s at least a simple picture of the distinction between relationship and fellowship. Relationship is like cup #1. It’s the real substance, but for some people it’s good and for others it seems bitter. Fellowship is like cup #2. It also has the real substance, but it has other things added that makes it much richer.
Continue reading Relationship vs. Fellowship...
posted by Dan Lentz | Comments (0)
June 25, 2010
Video of the Week: "The Small Group"
Hilarious, and maybe a little too close to home...
A parody of NBC's "The Office" that focuses on small groups. Do I need to say any more?
posted by Sam O'Neal | Comments (0)
June 22, 2010
Resource Alert: MarkHowellLive.com
Check out Mark Howell's "10 Essential Small-Group Leader Skills."
Just wanted to point all of you to a neat article available right now on Mark Howell's website, MarkHowellLive.com. Actually, it's a compilation of articles. The Ten Essential Small-Group Leader Skills, to be precise.
I recommend you take a look, because it will certainly be worth your time.
If you're not familiar with Mark Howell's website, it's a good one. Mark does a great job of writing about issues facing both small-group leaders and champions, and he posts something new (and free) every day. He also posts content specifically for small-group leaders from time to time, and he's collected the best of the best in the article compilation mentioned above.
So check it out.
posted by Sam O'Neal | Comments (0)
