Small Group Ideas for Summer Time

June 2, 2013April 18, 2016Sean Vickers

Small Group Ideas for Summer Time

As Summer vacations start and kids are out of school, small group ministry can be challenging. Look for ways to stay connected to every member and reach out to those you have not seen in a while. Please don’t take the Summer “off” as you minister to your group. This can be a great time of ministry and connection with your class. Consider these ideas for Summer time ministry:

1. Pray for your group, calling each member by name before the Father.

2. Plan a summer fellowship for the group. Include kids and make it a fun time. Fellowship is a very important part of a small group ministry.

3. Spend some time every week talking about your member’s Summer plans. Let them know you will miss them while they are on vacation and you intend to see them when they come back.

4. Develop a weekly plan to contact absentees to check on them. Including other group members in the process is a great way to share your leadership responsibility with other members.

5. Plan a Summer mission project for the group and encourage each member to participate in the ministry opportunity.

Make a goal to contact every members on your list during the Summer. Summer is a great time to reconnect.

Arlington Cemetery – Changing of the Guard

May 26, 2013Sean Vickers

The Changing of the Guard Ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery honors those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom whose bodies are not identified. The video below is a clip from the Stepping Up Bible Study – A Call to Courageous Manhood. It interviews some of the soldiers who bravely guard the tomb and the sacrifice they make. I highly recommend the Stepping Up Bible Study from Family Life. See samples of the Bible study at the link below.

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Stepping Up Channel on YouTube

Stepping Up – A Call to Courageous Manhood Official Site

John Wesley’s Holy Club Questions

May 2, 2013April 18, 2016Sean Vickers

Recently I went through The 33 Series with a group of men. This was a challenging study that calls men to Authentic Manhood. During our small group discussion time, Dr. Rob Jackson mentioned the “Holy Club” that was begun by brothers John and Charles Wesley. Here are the questions:

In 1729, while John Wesley was a student at Oxford, he started a club with his brother Charles, which was mockingly dubbed “The Holy Club” by some of his fellow collegians. The club members rigorously self-examined themselves everyday by asking the following 22 questions:

1. Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I really am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?

2. Am I honest in all my acts and words, or do I exaggerate?

3. Do I confidentially pass on to others what has been said to me in confidence?

4. Can I be trusted?

5. Am I a slave to dress, friends, work or habits?

6. Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?

7. Did the Bible live in me today?

8. Do I give the Bible time to speak to me every day?

9. Am I enjoying prayer?

10. When did I last speak to someone else of my faith?

11. Do I pray about the money I spend?

12. Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?

13. Do I disobey God in anything?

14. Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?

15. Am I defeated in any part of my life?

16. Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy or distrustful?

17. How do I spend my spare time?

18. Am I proud?

19. Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisees who despised the publican?

20. Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold a resentment toward or disregard? If so, what am I doing about it?

21. Do I grumble or complain constantly?

22. Is Christ real to me?

These men were on to something powerful. They knew that the choices they make every day determine who they are and who they are becoming. This self-examination helped them “keep their heart-flames burning red hot for the King of Glory!”

Do you regularly evaluate your life and the condition of your heart?

Do you have someone in your life that you have given permission to ask you the hard questions of life?

Guided by God’s Word

April 28, 2013April 18, 2016Sean Vickers

Guided by God’s Word

2 Timothy 3:1-17

The Textbook of Sunday School (Small Group Bible Study) is the Bible, the Word of God. 2 Timothy 3:1-17 focuses on the importance of the Bible. What would our Small Groups be without the Bible as our focus? Would it be a support group, a civic club, a gathering of friends, or a prayer group? Even though a good Small Group will have some of these elements, the Bible is central to what a Small Group Bible Study is all about.

The Bible is not only our Textbook, It is the Test for the quality of our Christian walk. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Teaching – divine instruction or doctrinal teaching
Rebuking – Reproof of wrong behavior or wrong belief
Correcting – The restoration of something to its proper condition
Training in Righteousness – Positive training in godly behavior.

These powerful aspects of the Bible lead to completeness and competence in the life of a believer.

If you are not committed to a small group of believers that meet weekly around the Word of God, let me encourage you to find a group and dig in. Your Christian walk will be greatly affected when you connect with other believers and connect with God, through His Word.