As leaders we pay attention to the three foci of Coffee Break; Bible discovery, the evangelistic purpose, and small group interactions. As we wrap up this season, how might we pay attention to each focus with a desire to finish well?
What might happen if we change our posture so that Jesus is the host of our Bible discovery conversations?
Shifting from host to guest is a posture God can use towards engaging in spiritual conversations.
A Coffee Break Group in Illinois is amazed at how God is helping them grow through the ups and downs. They are now the largest group since 1974!
Coffee Break is blessed with many long-time Coffee Break saints who have a goldmine of stories and wisdom to learn from. Marcia Mells is one of them. What might God be saying to you as you read a piece of Marcia’s story?
Sometimes leaders may need to explore new ways to adapt. In fact, Coffee Break Founder Neva Evenhouse found herself in a similar position. How did Neva respond to disappointing results?
Writing the final report for the Sustaining Congregational Excellence Grant which supported the Discipleship Triads for our church gave me the opportunity to reflect on the effectiveness of this project and celebrate how God has worked in and through them in our setting.
These stories are only a few of how God has worked through Discipleship Triads and Quads at CenterPointe, a young church plant in Plainfield, IL.
Discipleship triads or quads are made up of three or four people of the same gender who meet together weekly (preferably) to hold each other accountable for spiritual growth and transformation. No matter how triads or quads are designed, you’ll find these to be true...
Some call habits such as prayer, fasting, scripture memory, simplicity and solitude and silence “weight lifting for the soul.” They can be used to build up the strength of my soul in order to become more like Jesus. Maybe this is what Paul was referring to when he told Timothy to “train yourself to be godly.” (I Tim. 4:7)
If we don’t make new disciples, but only design our groups to grow up those who are already disciples, we’re missing the missional challenge of our age.
"People resist mission because they are under-discipled, but they are also under-discipled because of the absence of any missional challenge. " The problem is, we’ve become used to seeing discipleship as a passive thing as we sit and enjoy one another as we “huddle and cuddle” together.
We’re quickly approaching the advent season when we celebrate Jesus “moving into the neighborhood.” These weeks would be a great time for small groups to find ways to be sent like Jesus into the neighborhoods GoGGod
The battle is won or lost at the level of imagination. There’s power in imagination. The Holy Spirit’s power is displayed and released at the level of imagination. What do you imagine when you think of small groups that develop...
Out of our shepherd’s heart we will begin to intersect our lives with the lives of those we’re leading even when it’s messy and dirty. Only then will we begin to smell like the sheep we lead.
I wonder if there is a spiritual discipline called “hanging-out.” Probably not, but I think I’m going to consider it to be one. Our small group practiced this “discipline” together
These are small things, but put together help create a warm place where interactions easily happen. In our fast paced world, we tend to bypass the little hospitable things that go a long ways toward creating community.
Small groups are about forming disciples of Jesus. Maybe it’s less about what we are studying and more about following our living example.
He’s calling us to the same unity that he experiences with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Now that’s mind-boggling! Can we mere humans here on earth possibly be drawn into that kind of unity?
You know the feeling. You’re asked to step into a new role either in ministry or everyday life and you feel totally inadequate for the task. That’s how a potential small group leader felt last night when I suggested he lead a group for the first time.
I understand their fear. We haven’t had enough time together to know one another all that well. Most are new to this whole small group thing and relatively new in faith. Today I’m asking myself how I can gently lead them to feel comfortable praying out loud as a group. Here’s what I’ve thought of so far:
As a small group leader, I want to be more like my Garmin GPS than a map. I don’t want to merely be an information source. My role is to guide my group to the desired destination of life application.
It’s been said that once we stop learning, we stop leading. On-going leadership training is essential for the health of our groups and the people in them.
What did I learn on vacation? If I had quit climbing that mountain, I would have missed an awe-inspiring view of God’s wonderful creation. I don’t want to quit on my spiritual formation, either. There are times when it seems really tough and too difficult to keep-on-keeping-on
As I observe community life around me, I see that over time groups can tend to be more “exclusive” rather than “inclusive.” There seems to be a tendency to gradually build up walls around our group when deciding who fits and who doesn’t. Rather than reflecting Jesus’ inclusive love toward those around us, we find reasons to be exclusive.