For this assignment, you will explain your philosophy of small groups in a church or ministry
organization and the importance of the relational group in authentic disciple making. You will also explain
how missional groups can help the body of Christ move out into the community. Finally, summarize your
status in regards to living in community with other believers and being missional with that community.
PLEASE, DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. THIS A FINAL EXAM PAPER. 5 PAGE BODY + A TITLE PAGE +
REFERENCE
Small groups are a superiorly effective way of getting to the spiritual growth progression.
This is remarkable value in four to ten persons joining coming together every week as a small
group with the collective purposes of growing personally and spiritually. Small groups promote
openness and honesty in all spheres of life, and in so doing, they aid people in connection on
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numerous levels. Small groups are also very efficient in assisting people to standardize
difficulties and failures they face in life. Usually, it is hurt and pain that keep people
disconnected and isolated from others. 1 Sadly, hurt and pain are a part of daily life. People need
others around them to offer them life-producing opinion, people who support them, encourage
them, empathize with them, and share religious wisdom.
As numerous churches have found out, the small group arrangement enables people to
not only connect with one another safely, but to also deepen their connection with God. The
Bible inspires people to carry each other’s burden, confess their sins to each other, obtain
knowledge from each other, and share God’s grace and love to each other. In small groups,
people can start to live out these biblical guidelines in a structured and safe environment. The
most effectual small groups coach train people ways in which they enter emotional and spiritual
growth process, how to strengthen and improve all important relations, how to efficiently deal
with real-life situations and challenges using biblical answers. Also, these groups teach their
members on how to seek God as the sources of all growth and healing. 2 The outgrowth of joining
the spiritual growth progression can be far superior to anything humans may have projected.
Small groups are advantageous to all irrespective of their life experience or profession.
A small group is the perfect place for people to share the Gospel of Christ with non-
believers as it is a secure and endearing environment. In the groups, the non-believers who join
the small groups can come to know Christ and receive him as a savior. Then, the grown
1 Chandler Joseph. In Him Ministries Small Groups Network Manual. (Lulu.com 2010).
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progression starts for them as they experience Christ as their lord and start their coaching to
become multipliers. For that reason, relations are born out of diaconal as disciples study and
grow collectively under the headship of a visionary pastor 3 .
Some of the most excellent and healthiest small groups are groups that consider them to
be a microcosm of the bigger church. This is to say that similar to the means by which church
minds about worship, inspiring each other, and minding about one another’s needs, so does a
flourishing small group. One of the essential values of the bigger church that usually gets
abandoned in small groups is evangelism.
Disciples call for support of other Christians in order to grow in their devotion. Jesus has
illustrated to pioneers how society is the milieu for making authentic disciples. He created a
society of followers who were always with him, living and gaining knowledge as they went.
These disciples grew in faith personally, but they did so extensively in the setting of society as
they prayed, gained knowledge, and ministered jointly. For disciple making progression to be
genuine, members of a relational group have to have a comprehensible understating of its
importance and purpose. The rationale for a church-based group is to inspire the spiritual
maturity or development and to love men and God through discipleship and edification, to have a
connection with people relationally, to offer support, fellowship and encouragement for purposes
of glorifying God and make disciples of all regions. Not only do relational groups link people
and offer support but also develop new leaders and generate new groups.
3 Chandler Joseph. In Him Ministries Small Groups Network Manual. (Lulu.com 2010).
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Without this essential function of the relational groups, churches will stop moving
forward. Relational groups grow in quality and quantities through the teaching and guidance of
the pastor. These groups communicate effectively and regularly and develop trainers while
praying continuously as God extended the vision of the church via the groups. Even so, the
function of the group does not end in the cell or group.
Even though non-Christians are usually enticed by the lifestyle of group members, the
group outreach has to also be deliberately planned. The Bible teaches that the world has gone
astray and on the periphery of a Christ-less perpetuity. Christ commanded his disciples to go to
the streets and invite to the feast anyone they would find. Paul felt obligated to preach the word
of God. Another inner obligation to convince people was the fact that every individual would
stand before the ruling seat of Christ. 4 It was this similar urgency that made Paul write and a
number of people have referred this form of concern as an urgent evangelization. Small groups
help God’s message to move out into the society through urgent, pro-active, and lifestyle forms
of evangelism. These constructs are usually brought about by effective pastor-led, disciples who
were coached, trained, and mentored to undertake the great commission.
Community groups are among the primary means by which people experience
community as the body of Jesus Christ. People believe in the central significance of Sunday
celebration where Bible teachings are discussed and they engage in communal worship and the
Lord’s Supper and sacraments of Baptism. However, one does not usually find community or
4 Gross Edward Michael. Authentic Discipleship. First Edition Design Pub., (Apr 1, 2013).
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join deeper and more consequential personal relations with other Christians just by going to
church on a Sunday. This aspect of body life can be faced in the milieu of smaller groups during
the week. These are what is referred to as community groups and they gather frequently. They
meet in homes, churches where Christ is phrased, spiritual growth is enhanced, and life is shared,
mission is sought after, and community is built in the power of Christ with others who
acknowledge and love Christ. These groups are usually in local churches, for in that state they
would each call for a plurality of elders offering governmental supervision and the power to
implement discipline among the members. They are rather smaller personifications or missional
appearances of local churches 5 .
The community groups are the main places where members are known, led, fed, and
protected by experienced leaders, who themselves are constantly trained by elders of the church.
This means that if somebody is devoted to growing in the milieu of a community group although
they have found themselves in a very big church, they are no more than two steps removed from
the elders of the church. Community groups thrive best when allowed to materialize and develop
in accordance to the special gifting and interests of persons involved. But irrespective of the
5 McNeal Reggie. Missional Communities: The Rise of the Post-Congregational Church. John
Wiley & Sons, (Aug 15, 2011).
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unique emphasis that one can pursue, churches powerfully encourage community groups to
accommodate each of the four main values: discipleship, worship, mission, and community 6 .
Missional living is a Christian phrase that essentially defines a missionary way of life.
Being missional involves embracing the thinking, posture, practices, and behaviors of
missionaries for the purposes of reaching others with the gospel message. I have always been
trying to teach some of the non-believers I have come across about bible teachings and the
importance of believing in God. I have also engaged in bible studies with some of my friends; I
also work towards inviting other people to my group 7 .
In essence, the thought of being missional enlightens that the church has a vision because
Jesus had it as well. There is one vision which claims that the missional church is a society of
God’s people that describes itself, and pre-arranges its life around, its actual purpose of being a
messenger of God. I have tried to convey God’s message to people in my community especially
those that do not believe in God. I am also working towards having a better understanding of
what is expected of a missionary so that I can be able to undertake missional works in my future
ventures.
6 Donahue Bill. Leading Life-Changing Small Groups. Zondervan, (May 26, 2009).
7 Gladen Steve. Small Groups with Purpose: How to Create Healthy Communities. (Baker
Books, Jun 1, 2011)
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Bibliography
Chandler Joseph. In Him Ministries Small Groups Network Manual. (Lulu.com 2010).
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Donahue Bill. Leading Life-Changing Small Groups. Zondervan, (May 26, 2009).
Gladen Steve. Small Groups with Purpose: How to Create Healthy Communities. (Baker Books,
Jun 1, 2011)
Gross Edward Michael. Authentic Discipleship. First Edition Design Pub., (Apr 1, 2013).
McNeal Reggie. Missional Communities: The Rise of the Post-Congregational Church. John
Wiley & Sons, (Aug 15, 2011).
