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Methods of the Small Group Activities
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Paul Jang
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2008-03-29 01:06:24, hit : 3,578 |
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Methods of the Small Group Activities
What is the roles of Triune God in the small group? This question is very important because God is the subject and small group is the vehicle for humanity to carry out God's will in everyday life, and Jesus who lived and worked in the small group, interrealting with many other various sized groups is the pivotal person for the church (Icenogle 1994, 13).
In the divine dimension the three persons of Godhead are the small group members. What then are the works of the Holy Spirit? The works of the Holy Spirit are the top priority for small group ministry (McBride 1993, 22). With the works of the Holy Spirit it can be successful in the church (Cho 1981, 114).
Therefore the group leader must, first of all, release the Holy Spirit to work for the small group. The works of the Holy Spirit condensed by Neal F. McBride may be summarized as follows:
(1) He dwells in every small group member as the Comforter (John 14:16-17 KJV; Rom. 8:9-11),
(2) He teaches them as the Teacher (John 14:26),
(3) He will reminde them of everything He has said to them as the Advisor (John 14:26),
(4) He guides them as the Counselor (John 16:13),
(5) He convicts them of their wrong attitudes and actions as the Judge (John 16:8-11),
(6) He intercedes with God the Father for them as the Mediator of prayer (Rom. 8:26),
(7) He empowers them through God-given gifts as the Almighty (1 Cor. 12:11), and
(8) He unifies them in the bond of peace as the Peace-maker (Eph. 4:3). These works must be absolute elements for the small group activities (McBride 1993, 22-23).
In human dimension the small group should be scientifically operated to grow the church in quantity and quality. In so doing, the leader of the small group should have much knowledges and skills in the small group operation.
To operate the small/cell group activities several methods of the operation should be considered:
(1) meeting place--the best place is home in case of home cell group meeting because every believer's home can be a place of evangelism for the local society (Moore 1972, trans. by Chung 1988, 159), otherwise it can be fixed in accordance with the circumstances of the group, for examples, an office, factories (Cho 1981, 54), a small room of the church facilities, and so on. But the members must bear how the meeting place is important in mind because its atmosphere has an important effect on the group actvities, especially in the small group meeting.
(2) meeting time--a convenient time at the midweek, namely the best time for them to have a meeting, for example the evening at every Friday in case of Korean churches.
(3) meeting activities--it is better to have a meal or a snack before of after the group meeting. And it is better for the small/cell groups to have a six month life cycle.
On this point Ralph W. Neighbour Jr. explained the reason as follows:
Long years of experience with groups has verified that they stagnate after a certain period. People draw from one another for the first six months; after that, they tend to "coast" along together. For that reason, each Cell Group will be expected to multiply naturally after six months or be restructured (Neighbour, Jr. 1994, 149).
It is better for every meeting program to be simple if possible. The program should begin with a worship service to God. The program may include such as: silent prayer, praises, preaching or Bible study, intercessory prayer, offerings, testimonies, discussion on their difficulties in their Christian lives, and the analysis, evaluation and strategies for their evangelism and service to the society in order to join others in their small/cell group meeting, and then fellowship (koinonia) with some snack (Becker 1993a, 70).
The group meeting may close with prayer for them to do their best in their Christian lives.
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Introduction
Ch Growth 