Dinner and a Bible Study
Some ideas just click.
I got that feeling recently as I was talking to Scott Smith,
Minister of Adult Discipleship at Lakewood Baptist in Gainesville,
FL.
Scott has been experimenting with an approach to home groups
called 3-D groups. I call it "Dinner and a Bible Study." Here is how
it works.
3-D comes from Acts 2.42 - 47:
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching
and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. [43]
Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs
were done by the apostles. [44] All the believers were together and
had everything in common. [45] Selling their possessions and goods,
they gave to anyone as he had need. [46] Every day they continued to
meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes
and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, [47] praising God and
enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their
number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47 [NIV]
The three Ds stand for:
- Dinner (breaking of bread) (See Luke 24:30, 31)
- Discipleship (apostles’ teaching and prayer)
- Dialogue (fellowship)
These are small groups of 6 – 10 people that meet together weekly
for a period of 12 – 18 months. After this period, they
intentionally start (birth) at least 2 new groups of 6 – 10 people
thereby multiplying their efforts and reaching more people.
One key component of these groups is that they do the Bible study
around the dinner table. They do not retire to the living room.
Scott says it changes the atmosphere if they move to more
comfortable chairs.
Also, by eating around the dinner table, it limits the size of
the group. This is a good thing. We want small groups where everyone
can participate. The groups are open until the dinner table is full.
They rotate homes and the host home provides the meal. They ephasize
keeping the meal simple -- something like burgers or pizza.
I love this idea!
Speaking of great ideas. . .
Do you have a number of people attending worship that do not
attend groups?
Here is an idea from New Vision Baptist Church, Murfreesboro, TN.
They have a good number of people attending worship who are not yet
in groups.
One way they address this is to feature one group a week (I don't
think they do it every week) in the worship service. They get the
group to stand in front of everyone, introduce the group to the
people, talk about the teacher just a bit, talk about what they are
studying, and anything else that is interesting of unusual about
that group. The whole thing takes a minute or two.
This puts a face on the group. People can see the group members
and make a judgment as to whether they would fit in that group.
Someone is going to see those group members and say, "I can relate
to those folks; I think they are my people." They had one group go
from 15 to 50 in one week. That is what I call doubling!
I love this idea!
One more. . .
Life Transformation Groups
Want to go deeper spiritually? Want your people to go deeper
spiritually?
I am reading Neil Cole's great new book, Search and
Rescue. Neil is a big proponent of Life Transformation
Groups. LTGs are groups of two or three that meet for
accountability, prayer, mutual encouragement and the confession of
sin. When the group grows to four, it divides into two groups.
Here are a few reasons why Neil Cole has found the small small
groups to work: (condensed from
http://cmaresources.org/node/183
1. Community is stronger with two or three. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)
Solomon writes, "Two are better than one...and a strand of three
cords is not easily broken." (Ecc. 4:9-12) There is a sense in which
a group of two or three is indeed stronger for community than any
other size. Why? Not only do they share effort, or as Solomon says,
"they have a good return for their labor," but also they can
encourage one another well. Solomon writes, "If either of them
falls, the one will lift up his companion." It is possible for one
to fall in a crowd and not be noticed. But in a group of two or
three, everyone is noticed and a single absence cannot be ignored.
It may seem obvious, but it is easier to meet one another's needs
when the group size is only two or three. It is also easier to
resist the enemy as two or three. As Solomon wrote: "...if two lie
down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if
one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of
three strands is not quickly torn apart." All of us need this kind
of community strength as we take on the devil and his cohorts.
2. Accountability is stronger with two or three. (1 Timothy
5:19)
According to Levitical law, no one could bring a case to trial
without two or three witnesses. Moses explains why this is important
in Deuteronomy 19:15 "on the evidence of two or three witnesses a
matter shall be confirmed." Paul carries on that idea of strict
accountability when dealing with sin in 1 Timothy 5. He is
addressing accusations brought against church leaders, and he says,
"Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis
of two or three witnesses." In other words, our information is held
more accountable with two or three people than with only one. This
size of a group is better for holding one another more accountable.
In a group of five, it is easier for a person to hide and not speak
up, but in a group of two or three, all are forced to participate.
3. Confidentiality is stronger with two or three (Matthew
18:15-17).
Jesus instructs us that if a brother sins we should reprove him
in private. If he listens to us, we have won him back, but if not,
we are to take two or three others with us. This is further
application of the idea of accountability in a group of two or
three. Jesus goes on to say, "If he refuses to listen to them, tell
it to the church." It appears that Jesus is showing us the balance
between accountability and maintaining confidentiality. The bridge
between these important concepts is made of two or three others. A
group of two or three is indeed the best context to blend and
balance confidentiality and accountability.
It is far easier to give account of our hidden thoughts and foolish
mistakes made in secret to two other people than it is to a larger
group. This is especially true if all in the group are sharing
equally, and all wrestle with their own honest issues.
4. Flexibility is stronger with two or three. (Matthew 18:20)
Jesus went on (in the passage previously examined on discipline
for an errant brother) to say these famous words, "For where two or
three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."
Many believe that these words are the most basic description of
church found in the Bible.
Many of us have found that coordinating the calendars for a small
group of 10-15 busy people is a real challenge. It is far easier to
coordinate two or three calendars. The larger the group, the fewer
the options for meeting times and places. Finding a place where 15
people can meet comfortably is certainly easier than for a larger
church of 100 or 1,000 people. The options for a group of two or
three are vast, almost limitless.
A group of two or three can meet at a coffeehouse in the
marketplace or a cooler in the workplace. I have heard of two or
three ladies meeting at a local park while their small children play
together on the jungle gym. I have also heard of two or three men
meeting together at the grown-up gym for accountability while they
lift weights together.
5. Communication is stronger with two or three. (1 Corinthians
14:26-33)
It is certainly easier to communicate with fewer people. The more
voices you add to the equation, the more confusion results and
breakdowns occur. Paul counsels the Corinthian church that they
should limit the number of people speaking to two or three at a
time, with clear interpretation.
Our attention span is not that great. We have technological
gadgets that do so much thinking for us today. I have to look down
at my wrist now to know what day of the week or month it is. With
short attention spans, it is hard for us to receive more than two or
three messages at one time. In a context that was challenged by a
lack of order, Paul recommended that we limit our intake to two or
three messages at a time.
6. Direction is stronger with two or three. (2 Corinthians 13:1)
Paul wrote at least three letters to the Corinthian church
because of its problems; we have two of these letters recorded in
the New Testament. He used the Old Testament principle of "two or
three witnesses" to verify the direction he was giving to the church
and to affirm the authority by which it came.
It is useful when trying to find God's direction to wait for two
or three witnesses to confirm that direction. This is not a Biblical
command, by any means. Frankly, God should only have to say things
once. But if you are uncertain and torn between more than one path,
the counsel of two or three may bear weight.
7. Leadership is stronger with two or three. (1 Corinthians
14:29)
Paul suggests that two or three prophetic voices should provide
leadership to a spiritual community at any one time. The others are
to pass judgment on the messages. There is wisdom in a plurality of
leaders. But too many leaders can also be a problem. If the children
of Israel had been led by a committee, they'd still be in Egypt. A
team of leaders, two or three working together, is a powerful
enterprise--safer than a solo leader yet more powerful than a
committee.
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