Additional Speaking Topics

It’s best to start with the end in mind. What are you really trying to accomplish through your small group ministry? Do your small group leaders clearly understand their assignment? How do you know if you are being successful? How do small groups fit into your church’s overall strategy and vision?

Most churches consider themselves successful if they have half of their weekly attendance in small groups. But the truth is that every person needs a small group family. No matter what the size of your church, you can dramatically increase the percentage of your members in small groups.

Have you ever noticed that Christians tend to know more than they practice? Do you want your small group leaders to learn to help transform people instead of just informing them? See how small groups can serve as perfect incubators for spiritual growth.

How do authentic community and passionate evangelism fit together in small group life? Can they? Research says that most Christians place evangelism low on their lists of God’s biblical purposes. So how do you get people to reach out beyond their comfort zones of Christian friends?

Do you think of worship as the latest CD in your car? Is it just the first part of your weekend church service? What does worship look like in a small group? Worship is more than music. Discover how to create an environment conducive to groups experiencing the awe of God.

Vision without implementation is hallucination! Unless you take what you learn and put it into practice, you are just thinking and not applying faith. In this session we will wrap up our learnings and look at three planner to take you to the next level. A good scripture is “… dreaming instead of doing is foolishness. …” Ecclesiastes 5:7 (LB). We will also have a question and answer time to tie all the loose ends together.

The Bible says that you were made for relationships. The Bible says that it is not good for man to be alone. And the Bible says that God has developed just the place where you can develop the relational skills you need. It’s called the small groups. The problem is, groups can be shallow. Often we learn and connect in small group, but without intentionality, stay superficial.

Deep intimacy occurs not in the dark, but in the light. In the dark we hide things; we don’t want people to see our faults, our failures, our flaws. But in the light we’re right out in the open and we say this is who I am. That’s called authenticity. If you really want to experience the joy of community in small group, you’ve got to nail down this one, this authenticity.

So how do we build this authenticity in group life? How do we cultivate the meaningful types of relationships that will satisfy our deepest needs? In this workshop, you will understand the fears that block authenticity in group life, discover the essential building blocks for developing a true community and learn about tools that foster continued authenticity.

LT2 health teaches how to balance God’s purposes in your group. When a group of people get together with different ideas, personalities and gifts, leading them is not always easy. Health focuses on ways to keep your small group healthy and will equip you to lead by integrating God’s five purposes. The health module offers a spiritual health assessment to help strengthen your walk with the Lord.

The fundamental issue determining the extent to which God can bless your leadership is your heart. If you are like me, it would not take very long to identify areas of my heart and life that are divided, self-centered and, generally, not honoring to God. Jesus identifies your top priority as God’s glory! And the way you glorify God is by bearing fruit. The byproduct is that you will show yourself to be Christ’s disciple. The key to bearing fruit (and thus giving God glory) is in knowing who you are (branch) and remaining in Christ (the vine).

Church and small groups are full of people who struggle with a variety of sins in their lives. Therefore, we should not be surprised that we will see conflicts occurring in some of our small groups. Rather than allowing conflict to destroy a group, we need to be prepared to teach our small group leaders how to resolve conflicts that occur, and they will occur. In this workshop we will re-review what small groups are all about, present some tools to diminish the conflicts that will occur, talk about why group conflicts happen, and present biblical methods to resolve conflict. These methods include looking at reconciliation goals, confessing my part of the conflict, forgiveness, and how to use the Matthew 18:15-17 process. We will also review 4 examples of actual small group conflicts that we have seen and discuss as a group alternative ways to coach a leader through this type of conflict.

How do you take your group to the next level? Come and be encouraged with simple yet powerful tools to enhance the integration of the five purposes in your small group. You as a leader can cultivate the next step for your group.

If you are feeling exhausted or unequipped as a small group host and need a fresh shot in the arm for doing ministry, this workshop is for you. We will “empower” and energize you to step up and lead using Christ-centered principles. Also, as a leader in your church, you must know where your leadership “sweet spot” is and what gifts the Holy Spirit has given you for the glory of his kingdom.