Building Christian

Community
Small Group Ministry
in Todays
Seventh-Day Adventist Church

1. Small groups: part
of Gods kingdom
plan
2. Life-changing small
groups: some
definitions
3. Small group values:
the key to growth
4. Small group
meetings and small
group life
5. The goal of small
groups: holiness
and harvest

6. Small group
leadership
7. Developing a small
group network
Building Christian
Community
SESSION ONE
SMALL GROUPS: PART OF GODS
KINGDOM PLAN

Created for Community
Let US make man in our
image(Genesis 1:24)
I pray that they may all be
one, Father!just as You
and I are one. (John 17:21,22)
The Universal Human Need
The silent churning at the
core of our beings is the
need to know and be known,
to understand and to be
under-stood, to possess and
to be possessed, to belong
un-conditionally and forever
without fear of loss,
betrayal, or rejectionIt is
the search for the freedom
to be who we really are.
Gilbert Bilezikian
Moses
God
Moses Method...
The Multitude
The Jethro Principle...

Moses
GOD
Leaders of 1000
Leaders of 100
Leaders of 50
Leaders of 10
The Multitude


12 group members
Inner group of Peter, James and
John
Jesus Model
Heart to Heart
Your success will not depend
so much upon your knowledge and
accomplishments, as upon your
ability to find your way to the
heart. By being social and coming
close to the people, you may turn
the current of their thoughts more
readily than by the most able
discourse. Gospel Workers, p193
The New Testament Church:
A House-Based Church
Day after day, in the temple
courts and from house to
house, they never stopped
teaching and proclaiming
the Good News that Jesus
is the Christ. (Acts 5:42)
Greet also the church that meets at
their house. (Romans 16:5 etc.)

New Testament Church
Acts 1:15 120
Acts 2:41 3000+
Acts 4:4 10,000+
Acts 5:14 +++
Explosive
Growth
Martin Luther
But those who seriously want
to be Christians and to confess
the Gospel in deed and word
would have to register their
names and gather themselves
somewhere in a house alone
Here one could also conduct baptism and
communion in a brief and fine manner, and
direct everything to the word, prayer and
mutual love
John Wesleys Class System
According to the judge-
ment of our Lord and
the writings of His
apostles, it is only
when we are knit
together, that we have
nourishment from Him,
and increase with the
increase of God.

John Wesleys Class System
Whitefield to John Pool: My
Brother Wesley acted
wiselythe souls that were
awakened under his ministry
he joined in class, and thus
preserved the fruits of his
labor. This I neglected, and
my people are a rope of
sand...Wesley has been wiser
than me because he penned
his sheep.

1. Empowering leadership
2. Gift-oriented lay
ministry
3. Passionate spirituality
4. Functional structures
5. Inspiring worship service
6. Holistic small groups
7. Need-oriented
evangelism
8. Loving relationships

Eight Characteristics of
Growing Churches
Most Important
Growth Principle...
If we were to identify any one
principle (in growing churches)
as the most important -
even though our research
shows that the interplay of
all basic elements is important - then,
without a doubt, it would be the
multiplication of small groups.
Natural Church Development, p 33
Its a Fact...
Small group
evangelism and
dynamic church
growth are two
sides of the
same coin. They
are one.
Joel Comiskey
Preparing for the Second
Advent
The formation of
small companies as a
basis of Christian
effort is a plan that
has been presented
to me by One who
cannot err.
(Evangelism 115)

Small Groups:
Part of Gods Kingdom Plan
Made in His image
The Jethro principle
Jesus modeled the
ideal small group
New Testament
church
Times of renewal
Preparing for the
Second Advent

What Small Groups Will Do
for You and Your Church:
They will help you and your fellow believers
grow as disciples of Jesus
They will build deep relationships between
believers and a strong sense of community in
the church
They will help believers develop their spiritual
gifts, releasing the ministry potential of the
church, and freeing pastors for the specific
work they have been called to do
They will help more people come to faith in
Christ

Building Christian
Community
Small Group Ministry
in Todays
Seventh-Day Adventist Church

Preparing for a Second
Pentecost...
The great outpouring of the Spirit of
God, which lightens the whole earth
with His glory, will not come until we
have an enlightened people who
know by experience what it
means to be laborers together
with Godbut this will not
be while the largest portion
of the church are not
laborers together with God.
Evangelism 699
The Ever-Popular Pub!
The bar flourishes
not because people
are alcoholics, but
because God has
put into the human
heart the desire to
know and be known,
to love and be
loved.
Charles Swindoll

Christs Method
Christs method alone will give
true success in reaching the
people. The Saviour mingled
with men as one who desired
their good. He showed His
sympathy for them, ministered
to their needs, and won their
confidence. Then He bade
them, Follow Me.
(Ministry of Healing 143)