At Trinity Community Church I like to think of our community groups and the three legged stool. A three legged stool is useless if it doesn’t have all three legs. Take away one of the legs and you no longer have a stool that will support you. The same is true for the community group, home group, fellowship group or whatever your church happens to call your small group ministry. While we could always add more legs to our stool, I find it best to operate small groups with clarity and simplicity. Let’s dive in!
The Word
The first leg of our stool is God’s Word. We want the community group meeting to be focused around the Word of God. Specifically at Trinity, we seek to make the text that was preached on the previous Sunday to be the focal point of the discussion of the group that meets during the week. Please don’t misunderstand, there are many great ways to lead a small group. I am not saying that this is the best way. I do however want to suggest it as a good way that you might want to consider.
Here is why…
The aim of the group leader is to help the group apply the text that was preached on Sunday. At Trinity, we are not looking for more information rather we are looking for application. Nor are we asking the leader to teach. Instead, we ask our leaders to facilitate a discussion that helps people drill down into everyday life. After all, that is how Scripture is to function for us. God’s Word has been provided for us for more than an increase of knowledge. Knowledge ought to stir action. Let’s face it, most Christians know… more than we do! Simply put, we need to help people apply the sermon. While the group leader might be a very good teacher, our aim is not teaching. Our goal for the group is applying what we were already taught on Sunday.
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. James 1:22-25
Our preaching team at Trinity seeks to preach expository sermons that explores the main point of the text and makes it the main point of the sermon. The Community Group Leader then takes the main point of the text, which was the main point of the sermon, and crafts questions that focuses around that main idea. This then helps us consider, “what is the Lord calling me to do from this text?” We want to help our group to think; “what do I do with that sermon I heard last Sunday?”
The main point of the text is the main point of the sermon which is the main point of the Community Group!
A Caution: When we talk about being doers of the Word we must make sure that the Gospel remains at the center of the conversation. Conversations that only focus on our application (what God is calling us to do) void of the gospel, can create a group of proud legalists or deflated failures. The proud legalist is aware of all he or she is getting done while the deflated failure is only aware of all that her or she is not getting done. Both are in need of the Gospel! Therefore, the Gospel must be central to the group meeting!
Lastly, it’s important in the small group setting to recognize the difference between our opinions and Scripture. Our opinions are just that… opinions. Whereas, God’s Word is HIS Word! It may seem obvious but it needs to be stated that we are to make note of the difference between the two! One the one hand, my opinions are not authoritative nor do they need to be heeded. They are, after all… just my opinions. On the other hand, God’s Word is our authority and it calls us to submission. Appropriate weight should be brought as we consider His objective truth. God’s Word, not our opinions, is what’s important.
Care
The second leg on our stool is care. Care is what makes a meeting more than just another meeting. Personally, I am tired of meetings. Please don’t misunderstand – meetings are needed. But, I think we all agree we want to create something more than a meeting in our small groups. Meetings tend to suck the life out of Christian living. However, where we find a group of people that gather and care for one another organically, we find life in that meeting.
Just prior to the James passage I quoted above, James says…
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger… James 1:19
We all want to speak, we like to be heard. Too often the discussion drifts into “let me tell you what I know and what I think you need to hear…” While it is true that we all probably have something to share, I wonder if we might consider more how we might care. One of the ways we care is by careful listening. Have you noticed that people tend to listen to you more acutely when they are convinced you truly care? Small groups are a great place to get to know people beyond a quick “hello” on a Sunday morning. The group should be growing in relationships and as they do, care should soon follow. That care will take place in the big and small moments of life and sometimes it’s a simple as paying attention to people as they walk in the door and begin to share the struggles of their day.
Relationships
The third leg of our stool is relationships. Again, I want to lead my community group into an understanding that our group is more than a meeting. Relationships are difficult, they must be cultivated and we must be intentional about building meaningful relationships. Rarely do we drift into meaningful relationships. So, grab a coffee with a new friend, invite some people over for a cookout, a birthday party, or a holiday meal. Schedule it, because it probably won’t… just happen.
God’s Word – Care – Relationships
I believe our groups are in need of all three legs. If we were to take one of the three legs away from the group, I don’t think we would really have a meaningful group. Yes, we might have meetings, we might even have commitment. But, community groups require all three for that stool to support the group. Some might say, “God’s Word is what’s really important” or “just give me some good Godly relationships, that is what I am looking for.” Have you noticed that healthy conversations around God’s Word happen best between believers who have built meaningful relationships and provide mutual care for each other? Join with me and pull up a three legged stool and let’s get after small groups.
Do you belong to a small group at your church? Why not dive into one ASAP and start building your three legged stool?
