40 Principle based suggestions
These are 40 principle based suggestions that you can use when facilitating small groups. You can download a word document version here.
- Have a plan (Jeremiah 29:11).
- Partner with an apprentice-successor (2 Timothy 2:2).
- Form a core team of complementary like-minded partners (4-5 believers).
- Decide on a great venue.
- Invite those the Lord has placed on your hearts to form a group of 8-10 for the journey.
- ‘Get to know you’ ice breaker – Present the vision… invite commitment (allow time for decision).
- Discuss and agree on common-good ground rules.
- Dedicate the group to the Lord. He is the life, power and leader of the group through His Holy Spirit.
- Model servant-hearted leadership (Mark 10: 43-45).
- Form ‘pair-partnerships’ (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12).
- Discuss and decide on a multiplication date through evangelistic growth.
- Facilitate learning through guided discussions and application of God’s truth, not tradition.
- Delegate, delegate, delegate … Every member is a specially gifted minister (1 Peter 4:10). Observe our small group commandment … “Thou shall not do anything someone else can do.”
- Learn from the Lord. Don’t lead without being yoked to Him (Matthew 11:28-30) … Abide in Him!
- Minister with a wider-Kingdom vision, not a denominational vision.
- Aim for a balanced spiritual growth (upward, inward, outward and forward).
- Build group health and community that runs deep (Col. 2:7). Be a “love gymnasium”. We have to first practice love “in” the group before we can channel it “out” of the group.
- Celebrate regular social activities with unchurched friends (prayer-pare through “blessing list”).
- Practice “belonging”… sharing appropriately 24/7 in each other’s lives.
- Disciple one another and have carers and crèche prepared for new believers.
- Keep group-life honest, real and simple … always ready to forgive one another.
- Aim for character “fruit” (quality) not body “size” (quantity) … Galatians 5: 22, 23.
- Be accountable to one another and your coach (Romans 14:12; Hebrews 13:17).
- Conduct regular evaluations and health checks. Becoming better is a life-long commitment.
- Remain flexible. Delete and change anything that doesn’t work.
- See problems as challenges (James 1:2-4).
- See mistakes as your valued friends, not your enemies (Failing Forward – John C. Maxwell).
- Lead with a spirit of great expectation (Ephesians 3:20) … dream BIG and reach high!
- Aim for transformation (D.L. Moody).
- Let the Holy Spirit teach (John 14:26) … you are one of the group’s life-long learners!
- See everyone as a developing leader (growing in discipleship).
- Remember: Learning is best caught, not taught.
- Help your members realise their full potential … invest your best in them.
- Inspire and coach your members to become “self-feeders” of God’s word.
- Who you “are” matters more than what you “know” (1 Timothy 3:1-7).
- Expect stormy times … embrace these times with confidence, excitement and great expectations (Romans 5:3-4).
- Maintain right direction and right pace.
- Be willing to sacrifice whatever is in your stewardship to go further and deeper (Rom. 12:1).
- Pray without ceasing. Rejoice at all times, and give thanks for all things (1 Thess. 5:16-18).
- Finally: “Never, never, never, never give up” (Winston Churchill).
