Small Group Life A Small Group Bible Study Experience Small Group Life is a low-cost, easy-to-use small group Bible study experience requiring minimal preparation and commitment yet delivering the quality Bible study your small-group members need and deserve.

The Small Group Life Promise

Participants will …. be guided into a formational discipleship experience

be challenged to engage in ministry and service projects

be invited into an environment where community can be found

Small Group Life

will also provide

spiritually-enriching ideas

for kids.

The Small Group Life Method

A study guide book for each small-group member There is no separate leader guide (Leader Notes are embedded in the study for quick, easy facilitation while a Leader’s Guide in the back provides helpful hints for the group facilitator)

Each small-group experience has been streamlined to be completed in 50 minutes

Small Group Life is a non-linear and discovery-based Bible study experience

Small-group experiences referred to as “Scenes”

The Small Group Life Model

We have planned 12 SGL Episodes (Member Study Guide) over the next three years.

Each 112-page Episode includes 6 topics broken into “Scenes”. For instance, Episode 1 is Formation: Building a Reliable Foundation. The six scenes are Purpose, The Enemy, Redemption, Atonement, Mystery, and Community.

Each Scene provides two small-group experiences (Initial experience and the Second Take)

The Small Group Life Experience

• Scene Introduction• Connect• Grow• Serve/Go• Scripture Notes and Commentary• On-the-Go• The Second Take• Leader Notes• Leader’s Guide

Scene Introduction

Introductory paragraph has been included to prime the group for your small-group conversation.

Scene Introduction

We do not recommend making this a part of your group time. Paragraph-style prose such as this does not contribute to a good group dynamic. Rather, we suggest that you direct group members to this aspect of Small Group Life at some point prior to the meeting—either at the conclusion of this meeting looking forward to the next or in a mid-week email or post on the group’s Facebook wall. This sets expectations and general group parameters.

Scene Introduction• The graphic opposite the introductory paragraph(s) is no accident. To appeal to visual learners and a culture that’s becoming more and more visual we’ve included a compelling graphic. And, if we get it right, this graphic will tell a story that’s relevant to the topic at hand.

• We recommend challenging group members to interact with these images in devotional settings outside of group time. Journaling exercises that take questions to God and introspection that asks questions about any sort of emotional response can be very redeeming and spiritually rewarding in the life of a believer. (Page 5 has been set aside for just such an exercise.)

• It’s unreasonable to assume your group can go “zero to 60” without some intermediate step. Connect eases the group into one of the six topics. Connect has three elements. One of these elements is the ice-breaker:

• Ice-breaker activity, question, or movie clip invites everyone into the conversation.

• Ice-breaker gets group members accustomed to hearing their voices in the group setting

• Ice-breaker establishes context for discussion in a very general way.

• Ice-breaker is light, often humorous, thus establishing a good level of comfort

• Ice-breaker builds community through personal yet safe disclosures

• The ice-breaker always precedes the relevant quote. Be careful to watch the time during Connect.

• In addition to the ice-breaker, Connect also includes a relevant quote. This quote could come from a famous author, a church father, movie, or any other source. We want these to be engaging and thought-provoking. To introduce Mystery, for instance, we chose the following from Alice in Wonderland:

"I almost wish I hadn't gone down that rabbit

hole—and yet—it's rather curious, you know, this sort of life! … When I used to read

fairy tales, I fancied that kind of thing never

happened, and now here I am in the middle of one.”

• Our desire is to encourage group members to take a moment to consider the beauty and mystery that’s found in the life of a disciple of Christ. The follow-up question asks how Christianity is like a fairy tale—wonder, a Hero and a Villain, intrigue, twists and turns, a paradise lost and regained, and a daring rescue just begin the list.

We recommend using the quote in a couple of ways.

• If the facilitator wishes, he or she can ask the group as part of Connect if anyone had any sort of response either to the quote or to the accompanying question. If you utilize the quote in this way you’ll want to abbreviate the ice-breaker time. It is a good idea to mix up your Connect time to appeal to different learning styles and personalities.

• Or it can be used as a mid-week (or off-week) “teaser” for the next Small Group Life meeting

• Grow is the heart of the Small Group Life experience. This is the Bible study portion of your small-group time.

• SGL has been streamlined to help your group remain engaged, manage time, and stay on task.

• Grow is designed to be discovery-based Bible study as opposed to propositionally-based

• Grow will usually focus on a central theme using relevant Scripture and 5-7 provocative questions.

• Questions can be identified as belonging to 1 of 4 categories:

1. Observation questions2. Interpretation questions3. Application questions4. Self-revelation questions

• Grow employs an incremental discipleship model. Small Group Life has been created to guide groups on a redemptive journey that leads to incremental discipleship and spiritual growth; building redemptive community along the way.

• This redemptive journey meanders through the 4 areas that contribute to a balanced life:

1. Traits of Christ2. Basic doctrine3. Spiritual

disciplines4. Leadership and

ministry

1. Spiritual Disciplines

2. Christ Character Traits

3. Basic Theology

4. Leader-Ministry Development

5. Balanced Life

• “White space” for comfort and relaxed “feel”

• Leader Notes to help facilitator guide discussion and understand group dynamic

• Relevant Scripture included• Guided prayer suggestions prior to transition from Grow to Serve/Go

• Interviews with small-group pastors and leaders revealed the need for resources to be more missional and include ideas and challenges for becoming more active in our faith

• Serve/Go develops ministry and leadership through missional challenges both small and organized, individual and group.

Scripture Notes

• Commentary notes are associated with the Scriptures featured during Grow

• Scripture notes:– Provide additional depth– Add biblical background and context

– Contribute unique insights

On-the-Go

• SGL’s On-the-Go page has been created to be torn out of the book for personal and family devotional moments “on the go.”

On-the-Go for Group Members

• Includes a short summary of the Scene topic

• Includes a key text from the small-group experience

• Includes 2-3 provocative questions to consider between meetings, discuss with friends, or for journaling

On-the-Go for Kids

• Includes a very short description of what your kids learned and discussed

• Includes follow-up questions that (1) reinforce biblical learning and spiritual growth (2) provide an entrée into spiritual conversation and discussion with your children

• Includes family activity• The follow-up questions and family activity both work as family devotionals

• The Second Take is a second look at any given topic—each Scene includes a Second Take

• The Second Takes uses the same Connect/Grow/Serve-Go experiential template

• The Second Take has been included as an additional small-group experience for:

• … groups meeting every week• … groups wishing to spend more time in any given topic

Leader’s Notes and the Leader’s Guide

• SGL includes Leader’s Notes to help the group facilitator create the best small-group environment

• Notes included within the flow of the study that:

• … contribute to leader development within the group by identifying aspect of effective small-group dynamic

• … provide additional instruction• … offer suggestions• … add insight to specific questions

Leader’s Guide• The Leader’s Guide is found in the back of the book

and is packed with all kinds of information, suggestions, and instruction for the group leader/facilitator

• Leaders should consult the Leader’s Guide prior to each Small Group Life meeting for a quick review

• The Leader’s Guide provides:• … Scene-by-Scene preparation ideas, helpful

suggestions, and additional instruction• … Core small-group values• … general tips for setting a great small-group

environment• … tried and true principles for leading a successful

meeting• … support for sharing your stories and sharing your

lives• … group directory