I am wanting to make some thoughts first:
1. After reading the lecture note, TRANSITIONING TO SMALL GROUPS, I am convinced that
this portion of Scriptural Foundations: “this is without a doubt the first step. The best
place to go to receive God’s vision is to go to God. One of the primary ways a person
goes to God is to go to His Word,” is critical.
2. After reading “Spiritual Formation Is”, these words had me in silence: “it had me on
pause: Man’s being made in the image of God includes the existence of embedded
relational identity. It is impossible to find the fulfillment of our communal craving in
ourselves, as God does. We must find it in one another. In other words, we not only have
a God-shaped void; we also have an others-shaped void etched into our hearts. We
cannot be healthy or fully human without others. We will not be fulfilled until our
relational void is filled. This relational hunger is an identifying mark of our humanity.
Going to put it together.”1
3. Bill Donahue and Russ Robinson write, “God chose to embed in us a distinct kind of
relational DNA. God created us all with a ‘community gene,’ an inborn, intentional,
inescapable part of what it means to be human.” They continue: “This ‘relational DNA’
or ‘community gene’ helps explain why churches need small groups. People don’t come
to church simply to satisfy spiritual needs. They come to us internally wired with a desire
for connection. . .. Their hunger for togetherness is an inescapable mark of humanity,” 2
“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have
dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock
and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God
created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he
created them.” (Genesis 1:26–27, ESV)
Genesis 1:26-27 establishes these thoughts acknowledged from the reading material. After
making man, then woman, sin entered by the disobedience. The punishment was being
released from the Garden by the Creator. The death of Abel because of Cain does not sound like
a situation of someone wanting to know God. Jealousy along with other negative issues begin to
come up. Let’s move forward.
To say that “Community Life Is Beneficial”: “It’s better to have a partner than go it alone. Share
the work, share the wealth. And if one falls down, the other helps, But if there’s no one to help,
1 Earley, Dave & Dempsey, Rod (2018). Spiritual Formation Is... . B&H Publishing Group. 160.
2 Ibid., 160.
tough! . . . By yourself you’re unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round
up a third? A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.” (Eccl 4:9-12 MSG)
Good passage to use for back up. Because now they say that “Solomon, the world’s wisest man,
observed the benefits of interdependence to be numerous. Accomplishment, help, warmth, and
support are more accessible to those in community than those outside of it.” [Earley, Dave &
Dempsey, Rod (2018). Spiritual Formation Is... (p. 161). B&H Publishing Group. Retrieved from
https://app.wordsearchbible.com.]
But they fail to tell what he had to go through to get the conclusion to that statement. They did
not explain in detail of the negatives to get to the positives of how they came to that statement
of what he had to go through.
Some atmospheres kill community and others grow it. [Earley, Dave & Dempsey, Rod (2018).
Spiritual Formation Is... (p. 161). B&H Publishing Group. Retrieved from
https://app.wordsearchbible.com.]
In order for me to round this up accordingly, I’m going to stay and stick with Ch. 21 of Spiritual
Formation Is pertaining to Accountability.
It says in Ch. 21, “For the most part, these groups have been devoted to studying the Bible,
praying for one another, and praying and planning for opportunities to share the gospel with
people who do not know Christ. Overall such meetings are helpful, but they can devolve into
spiritual navel gazing. If they do not have purpose, balance, and outreach, they will invariably be
reduced to “us four and no more.” Set aside some time for the men and the women to meet
separately. When they meet separately, they discuss important matters related to their own
personal spiritual journeys. [Earley, Dave & Dempsey, Rod (2018). Spiritual Formation Is... (p.
182). B&H Publishing Group. Retrieved from https://app.wordsearchbible.com.]
A growth group is a group of three or four persons of the same sex who gather weekly to
encourage one another to make progress in their walks with Christ. This group is usually a
subgroup of a larger, mixed-gender group. The purpose of a growth group is for members to
grow in relationship to Christ, to one another, and to his mission. This plan is meant to be
simple, relational, and reproducible. [Earley, Dave & Dempsey, Rod (2018). Spiritual Formation
Is... (p. 186). B&H Publishing Group. Retrieved from https://app.wordsearchbible.com.]
Upward—Time in God’s Word and time in God’s presence through prayer. Reading and
reflecting on Scripture and recording prayer requests and insights. Inward—Connected to the
other parts of the body in a small group, confession of sins, and using your spiritual gift(s) to
build one another up in the Lord. Outward—Connecting the body to the mission of Christ. The
group regularly prays for others and uses their spiritual gifts to create opportunities to share
Christ. [Earley, Dave & Dempsey, Rod (2018). Spiritual Formation Is... (p. 186). B&H Publishing
Group. Retrieved from https://app.wordsearchbible.com.]
“Therefore accept one another, just as Christ also accepted you, to the glory of God.”(Rom
15:7), and “Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide
never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.” (Rom 14:13 ESV). [Earley,
Dave & Dempsey, Rod (2018). Spiritual Formation Is... (p. 162). B&H Publishing Group. Retrieved
from https://app.wordsearchbible.com.]
Early asserted, “The objective of disciple making is to cooperate with God in creating more
disciple makers. The purpose is multiplication. All of the energy, sacrifice, prayer, and
accountability involved in developing a disciple is done for the purpose of multiplying disciples
who multiply disciples.”3 Small groups in churches are very efficient means of replicating the
model and growing the church. Small groups are important for the spiritual development of
both people and groups while establishing a healthy church.
Early stated, “One of the main things Jesus did was invite a handful of men to gather together
with him in an intense, ministry-focused, close-knit community.”4 Groups grow deeper and work
more effectively than individuals. The writings in the Bible authenticate growth, responsibility,
and safety in small groups.
“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall,
one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another
to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm
alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand
him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9–12, ESV)
Small groups bring in responsibility and power to one another. Early and Dempsey stated
disciple-making occurs best inside the confines of a relational environment like a small group.
The Apostle Paul emphasized upon how significant every member of the group is to one
another. Early stated, “Paul emphasized that no single part could survive on its own. Every part
relied on the others. The body functions best as a symphony of dependency.” (Earley, Dave &
Dempsey, Rod, 159) John Ortberg notes, “We are created to draw life and nourishment from
one another the way the roots of an oak tree draw life from the soil.” (Earley, Dave & Dempsey,
Rod, 159). With No community and small groups, spiritual development can be deteriorated or
obstructed. Jesus established small groups when He selected the twelve disciples. He trained
them, taught them, and then ordered them to do the same by providing them the Great
Command. The churches established by the apostles functioned on the same pattern. “They
devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and
to prayer” (Acts 2:42). Small groups improve one another, develop relationships, fortify each
other, and support building heathy churches and rise members in local church and the body of
Christ. Earley stated, “If you want your disciples to make disciples, you must keep the vision of
multiplication before them.” (Earley, Dave & Dempsey, Rod, 177)
The Importance of Small Groups and Growth Groups
Early and Dempsey mentioned that the very foundations of church and its development are
established in small groups halting from disciple model. They think that even today, “disciple-
making occurs best inside the confines of a relational environment like a small group” (2013).
They mentioned that families and small study sessions are the culture, they can be
3 Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey, Spiritual Formation Is...: How to Grow in Jesus with Passion and Confidence,
(Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2013), 165.
4 Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey, Spiritual Formation Is...: How to Grow in Jesus with Passion and Confidence,
(Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2013), 158.
“interpersonal” in that those leaders be concerned about others in group, individuals in the
group are recognized to have support for development. Devoid of such kind of connection,
growth is hindered. Not only the group members know each other in model, but as with Jesus'
unique small group of chastisements, they are loved. There are 4 distinct places that Early and
Dempsey pointed out from the Book of John in which the disciples were adored within the
boundaries of a very compassionate group. Following Jesus was not ever an unidentified quest.
There is no excuse to think it could be today. Small groups are significant in the bible to the
development of the people and group as a whole and making a healthy church. It appears that
the group is element of the whole and that specific parts can perform together more powerfully
and effectively to accomplish the church’s goals. In the symbol of body, persons in the group
have strong roles (apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, etc.) creating a well-balanced
“class” which will have numerous types of spiritual souvenirs to bring. They are recognized,
loved and encouraged; they are even capable to sustain the whole as component of a single
body of the church. As the groups develop, they reproduce by increasing leaders, so recognizing
specific gifts and permitting varied small groups to prosper and new leaders to arise is a formula
for development in the church. Like a family, this small group endorses and lets new leaders to
thrive without defeating them as they discover their specific gifts and how to utilize them in the
best way. They develop to be healthy disciples in the shelter of a group and they are well
prepared to lead their own groups as body of Church grows in various protecting ways of small
groups, with connections among representatives the most essential part of emerging new
disciples.
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