Growth

8 Ideas To Help Your Group Engage The Bible

Several years ago, the Willow Creek Church Association did a massive study to examine how churches were doing at developing mature disciples.

They found that the number one influence on a person's spiritual growth was engaging the Bible for personal application.

While God grows our faith through a variety of influences (private disciplines, providential relationships, personal ministry, practical teaching, pivotal circumstances), engaging the Bible is at the top of the list.

The first goal of Community Groups at Northridge is to Apply the Bible.

If helping your group engage the Bible personally will influence their faith more than anything else, how is that going?

Here are 8 ideas to help your group engage with God's word.

  • Starting Point - (Sunday mornings in-person, Thursday evenings online)

    • Do your group members have questions about the Bible you don't know how to answer?

    • Starting Point is designed for those who are newer to faith, exploring faith, or reengaging with faith, to ask any questions they have about God, faith, and the Bible.

    • Invite a group member to join you in a Starting Point Group (online or in-person). They'll have an opportunity to engage the Bible and ask any question they have!

  • Equip Class "How to Read the Bible" - (Sunday mornings Online & In-Person, February 7 - March 28)

    • Many of the people in your group have tried to read the Bible but found it confusing and discouraging as they struggle to understand it.

    • Invite your group members to join you for this class so you can learn together how to not just read the Bible, but understand and apply it.

  • RightNow Media

    • Pick a RightNow Media study on a Book of the Bible and watch and discuss it with your group each week.

    • Many of the studies include free discussion guides to help you walk through the Biblical text together, understand it and apply it.

  • Shared YouVersion Bible Reading Plan

    • The Bible has never been more accessible than now with the YouVersion Bible app.

    • Search through a list of Bible reading plans and invite your Group Members to join you.

    • You can see each other's progress, and even share takeaways as you engage the Biblical text together.

  • Bible Project Home Study

    • Sign up for the Bible Project weekly Home Study email.

    • Each email includes a short video (you can watch together with your group), Scripture readings, a short audio message, and discussion questions.

    • Your group members can watch, listen, and read before the group, and watch the video and discuss the questions in your weekly meeting.

  • Book of the Bible Study Guides

    • Here is a list of recommended study guides to read and discuss a book of the Bible together as a group.

    • Have your group members purchase a study guide, and then read the Bible passage during the week and answer the questions in the guide. You can use the guide to discuss what you learned in your next meeting.

    • You could also pair one of these study guides along with RightNow Media series on the same book of the Bible.

    • Here are some best practices from other Group Leaders who have done this.

  • Sermon Discussion

    • Help your group not only hear God's Words taught on Sunday, but read them together in group, and learn how to apply them.

    • Have you had mixed success with this? Review these sermon discussion tips.

    • Find Sermon Discussion Questions HERE.

  • Set Bible Engagement Growth Goals

    • Make Growth Goals a regular rhythm each group trimester.

    • Set goals on when, where, and what to read in the Bible.

    • Set scripture memorization goals.

    • Ask each other about your progress regularly.

Which one of these 8 ideas can you try this winter to help your group engage the Bible?

Upcoming Sermon Series

Here are the tentative dates for our upcoming sermon series:

  • Silver Linings - (January 10-31)

  • How to Be Rich (February 7-21)

  • Amazing Grace (February 28-March 7)

  • The Courtroom (March 14-April 4)

Trimester Dates

  • Winter: January 17 - March 27 (10 weeks)

  • Spring: April 11 - May 29 (7 weeks)

Additional Resources

How Do I Grow If I'm The Most Mature Person In My Group?

How Do I Grow If I'm The Most Mature Person In My Group?

Have you ever wrestled with the question, "How do I grow spiritually if I'm the most mature person in my group?"

What do you do if as a Group Leader, you are continually pouring yourself into the people in your group, but you don't have anyone in your group who is ahead of you spiritually?

What do you do if you find your Community Group tends to be community through you, but not community for you?

This is a tension that comes with leadership. Who leads the leader? Who mentors the mentor? Who pastors the pastor?

If you have not experienced this tension yet, you'll likely wrestle with it at some point as you continue to grow in your faith.

So what's the answer?

There is more I'd like to say than you probably have time or would like to read in 1 post.

We've got lives to live, work to be done, and enough emails to get through. So instead of writing 1 long essay for you to read today, I'd like to take a few weeks to wrestle with this tension with you.

Today I just want to raise the tension and define what we are pursuing.

In the next posts we'll talk about practical answers.

Before we answer how we can grow spiritually, we need to define what growing looks like.

Spiritual growth can simply be defined as "becoming more like Christ".

Paul makes this clear in Ephesians 4:13 when he prays that Christians will "become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."
As a Group Leader and a follower of Christ, this means that the end goal of our spiritual growth must move beyond simply learning more information about God to living like Him.
Some of the signs that we are growing spiritually include:

  • Love for God and love for people (Matthew 22:27-39)

  • Displaying the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Looking like Christ is the essence of spiritual growth and the end goal of becoming mature.

So that's the goal, but how do we get there? How do you grow when there are a lack of spiritually mature people in your group? How do you grow when you are the most mature member of your group?

We'll talk about that next time.

What do you think? I'd love to hear how you've wrestled with this tension. What questions or thoughts do you have? Just email me HERE.

Additional Resources

2 Ways To Help Your Group Know God Better

Staying Spiritually Vibrant (3 minute video)

How Do You Know If You Are Succeeding As A Leader?

4 Sure Ways To Burn Out As A Group Leader

Northridge Leaders Facebook Group

Questions?

Contact your Group Coach or search this website. We'd love to be a resource to you!

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How do you get people to show up to group?

Have you ever received the name of a prospective group member who never showed up to your group? Maybe a staff member sent you a name and contact info or someone expressed interest in your group online. You reached out to them, but they never showed up. 

Maybe your group roster has more people who don't show up than people that actually attend. When you arrive to your Community Group, you end up being more discouraged about those who didn't show up than encouraged about those who came. 

So, how do you get prospective group members or the people on your roster to attend? 

While we can't control people or make decisions for them, here are 2 steps that will help move people from your group roster to your living room.

1. Practice the Rule of 3

What is the Rule of 3? It is simply reaching out to prospective group members 3 times, with 3 different contact methods (phone, text, email), over 3 different weeks. 

  • Week 1 - Call within 24-48 hours

    • Strike while the iron is hot before they psych themselves out or convince themselves that joining a group is a bad idea. 

    • It can be nerve racking to call someone on the phone you don't know, but it is a much more engaging and thorough form of communication than an email or a text. Hearing your voice will help them feel more like they know you before they show up for the first time.

    • If they don't answer the phone, leave a voicemail and then send a follow up email with the group details. Less and less people check their voicemail these days, so an email increases the likelihood they hear from you right away.

  • Week 2 - Send an email

    • If you still have not heard from them about attending your group, send them an email with the details about your group and ask if they are still interested. Asking them if they are coming encourages them to take an action step, to respond and hopefully commit.

  • Week 3 - Send a text

    • I am blown away at how many people will never respond to a call or an email, but they will respond to a text almost immediately. For people who never check their voicemail or email, there is a notification sitting on their messaging app awaiting their response.

If they do respond and let you know they plan to attend, encourage them to meet you on Sunday before your next group so they have at least one familiar face their first week of group.

We practice this same Rule of 3 on our Connections Team at Northridge. When people express interest in taking next steps we have found this process very helpful to move them from interest to participation.

2. Share the Load

Make a goal that everyone on your group roster gets a touch every week via a text, call, or in person.

One of the best ways to make sure you are able to effectively connect with the people on your group roster is divide up your roster for shared follow up. 

When you assign each Group Leader several names, it enables you to focus on a few rather than everyone. You may even ask other mature group members to help with follow up. 
 

Neither of these steps guarantees people will show up to your group, but it helps you know you've done your due diligence in reaching out. It also lets group prospects know there is a group for them when they are ready to take that step.

Looking for more ideas? 
 
Listen to the Reaching One breakout on how to find and keep new people.

 

Resources On Sex

As you discussed this past weeks sermon about sex in your group, you may have come across some issues or questions you are not sure how to handle. Below are a few resources you may find helpful. Please contact your coach if we can be of further help.

 
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Jason DeGraaff
Community Groups Pastor
Life is better connected!

 
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Northridge Church Office | 2052 Saint Paul St. Rochester, NY 14621 | (585) 338-7810