Every Wednesday and Thursday nights, small groups gather in local homes to fulfill the mission statement of our church, “To glorify God by helping people move toward Christ.”
What are the benefits and blessings of these small groups?
1. Growing and producing leaders in the church.
Each small group have men who lead and are being trained to lead through monthly meetings. The goal is to reproduce each group, and that begins with leadership training. This year, these men have studied and discussed a book on text-driven preaching. They will have an opportunity to put into practice what they have learned by preaching on Sunday nights in 2024. Wow!
2. Children learning to pray.
One of the best facets of small group is passionate, expectant prayer. Some of our groups have children attending, and we have seen the impact upon them by their listening to the adults pray. The children are praying in the small group gatherings, and it has spilled over into our Sunday night corporate prayer meetings. One group has a Bible study for the kids during the adults’ study, but the children are always included in prayer meeting. They hear the adults share concerns, praises, and answers to prayer. They are developing a burden for the lost as they hear others crying out for the salvation of their loved ones, friends and neighbors. Wow!
3. Honest, transparent living before others in the group.
As the group grows in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:18), as well as the fulfillment of the biblical one another’s, there is a level of transparency and honesty that really doesn’t happen on Sunday mornings in the pew. The exhortation and encouragement that comes is spiritually healthy and builds strong, biblical community that develops over time. How wonderful to hear someone share their hurts, burdens, desires, sins, and then receive a compassionate response grounded in the Word for the glory of God! Wow!
Since COVID and largely in part because of the beneficial changes that came from that most interesting time, small groups have abundantly aided the health of our church! These gatherings are a highlight of each week. To God is all glory! Wow!
*Wednesday WOW is written to remind us, especially pastors, that our transcendent, omnipotent, loving, sovereign God is working today in our lives in thousands of ways. The WOW is God, not the size of the work! How have you seen Him at work in your life today?
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