LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Small Group Training Manual–Part One
Submitted to Dr. Rod Dempsey
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSMN 630– B01
Small Group Ministries
by
June 22, 2019
Content
Introduction....................................................................................................................................1
Motivations for Developing Groups.............................................................................................1
Biblical Foundations for Groups..................................................................................................3
What is a Small Group..................................................................................................................6
Bibliography 8
ii
Introduction
There are many reasons to write a small groups training manual. Some manuals instruct
in ways to accomplish a task, while others provide guidelines for people to learn a company’s
procedures for conducting business or to manufacture a product. The small groups training
manual was written long ago, when God walked the earth in the human form of Jesus Christ.
Sure, His followers have broken it down into simple language that most all believers can
understand, but the goal is the same; to train disciple-making disciples who can fulfill the Great
Commission. The foundation for this training manual is found in the Bible. Its scriptural
foundations were established and practiced by Jesus. His disciples continued to practice this form
of ministry even after He departed to sit at the right hand of the Father.
One may wonder what would motivate a church to establish small group ministries, what
are the biblical foundations for this type of ministry, or perhaps even what exactly is a small
group. These and other questions will be answered in the following pages.
Motivations for Developing Groups
So, it seems that traditional church is not working as well as it once did. The culture has
shifted, and socio-political boundaries have been stretched to the point of breaking. The cry of
the people has morphed into deafening screams for something that can make a person feel loved,
needed, and appreciated. People are searching for themselves in all the wrong places. They need
a purposeful life and they are not finding it in the many social media platforms provided through
an ever-strengthening world wide web. “Unfortunately, as the interest in social media as a venue
for interaction with others has significantly increased, participation in traditional (i.e., ‘‘real
time’’) community service and civic engagement programs seems to be waning.”1 While the
1 John August Hoffman, "Millennials, Technology and Perceived Relevance of Community Service Organizations:
Is Social Media Replacing Community Service Activities?" The Urban Review 49, no. 1 (03, 2017): 140-52,
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internet strengthens its control and hold over people’s lives, they are drowning in themselves.
People are looking for someone or something to provide comfort, love and a sense of self-worth.
Yet, what they need transcends what the world can offer. All that they seek is already there, just a
prayer away. “Christians certainly aren’t the only ones to lament the fragmentation of society.
Christian or not, we all have an intrinsic need for community. We all suffer from the isolation
that sin breeds. Our neighbors are desperate to belong and be connected to a people.”2 Yet, the
church is not reaching them. The principal motivation for developing a small group ministry is
supported by the Great Commission. Jesus sends the believer out of the church and into the
world “like sheep into the midst of wolves” (Matt.10:16a, NRSV),3 with the Holy Spirit’s
guidance and the strength and power of His name. The Disciples of Christ are not meant to
attend church service once or twice a week and worship God for an hour and then go home. They
have been given a commission, a command to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them
to obey everything that I have commanded you” (Matt 28:19-20). Small group ministries train,
teach, strengthen, encourage, and mature disciples so that they may fulfill God’s call to multiply.
Small group ministries are based on the ministry of Jesus and are part of a growing community.
The fundamental need to belong to a community is not just a Christian need, it is a human
need. No sociologist or psychologist questions this need. As Brad House rightly concludes, “It is
not merely a Christian understanding; it is a human understanding.”4 If the church appears off-
limits to the unbeliever, or as a place for only priest and holy people, they will never enter and
http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/1867932796?
accountid=12085, 141.
2 Brad House, Community: Taking Your Small Group off Life Support, (Wheaton: Crossway, 2011), Ch. 1, para 5
(page numbers are not available).
3 Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the New Revised Standard Version (Oxford, NY:
Oxford University Press, 2010).
4 Brad House, Community, Ch 1, para. 7.
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hear the message of the cross. The church must go back to what God intended it to be. Some
churches must let God be the King of the entire world, not just the church. Some churches need
to return to the community of believers found in the book of Acts, where people lived closely and
were intricately tied to each other’s lives. This is called a community in the book of Acts. It is a
group of people working together, sharing together, loving each other and following Christ in
obedience and devotion together. That is what small groups can provide. “The primary purposes,
passions and practices of the healthy small group are focused on developing community. The
Bible supplies the clearest guidelines for how to develop community in your group.”5 Biblical
principles must be the foundation for a small group ministry.
Biblical Foundations for Groups
Some people may baulk at the creation of a small group ministry in their traditional
church. Christians have historically practiced the early church leader’s establishment of the order
of service, programs, and outreach services for many generations. This church model worked for
many years and it was not wrong. Yet, it was not exactly the paradigm Jesus lived during His
time on earth. The traditional church believes that small group ministry is a new idea. It may not
easily make the transformation into the organic church model, which “is” a church of small
groups.6 If the church is to make the first step toward transformation to the community of
believers as God designed, spirit-led leaders must demonstrate to the church that small group
ministry is not only biblical, it is divinely inspired by Jesus Christ. It is not a new idea; it is the
ancient, perfect idea.
Jesus practiced small group ministry during His time upon the earth. In His ministry,
Jesus walked in the daily lives of unbelievers, offering them an exemplar of agape love. He
5 Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey, Leading Healthy, Growing, Multiplying Small Groups, (Lynchburg: Liberty Press,
2015), 38
6 Ibid., 182.
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modeled the Kingdom of God on earth. They lived together, shared financial wealth and
resources, prayed, and studied the scripture together. Jesus taught them in the homes of others or
aside the road under a tree. Thomas D. Lea and David Alan Black sum it up quite nicely. They
write;
Jesus sometimes used object lessons to communicate concrete truth to his listeners. He
washed the feet of the disciples to impress them with their need for humility (John 13:3–
11). He called a little child to him to discuss childlike faith (Matt. 18:1–5), and he
described unselfish giving as he watched a destitute widow drop two small coins into the
temple offering box (Mark 12:41–44). Jesus probably spoke the parable of the sower
within viewing distance of a farmer tossing out seed (Luke 8:4–15).7
Paul also demonstrated small group ministry in a lifetime devoted to the establishment of
the church. The astute student of small group ministry will note a biblical commitment to
community. Paul’s letters to the first century churches encouraged them to work together as one
for one purpose, which is God’s will, (1 Corinthians 12:14-26) to love and support one another (1
Thess. 5:14), and to bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2). Romans 12:4-5 tells the believers,
“For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so
we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.”
The book of Acts provides the clearest example of Christian community. It is in these
pages that one may clearly see Jesus’s mission become the mission of His community of
followers. The book of Acts traces the events of this community led by the Holy Spirit working
toward this purpose. For example, in Acts, chapter two, the reader finds a biblical example of
community or small group ministry. Verses 46-47 are particularly revealing. It is written, “Day
by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their
food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And
7 Thomas D. Lea and David Alan Black, The New Testament: Its Background and Message, (Nashville: B&H
Publishing, Group, 2002), 111.
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day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” There is no lack of
information regarding biblical foundations for small group ministry. God intended for His people
to worship together and to live each day as a part of one body working together to complete His
mission of restoration for the world. This is the very essence of small group ministry. Joel
Comiskey believes,
The disciples in Acts followed Christ’s strategy by reaching the family household
structure (oikos)with the gospel message and then the entire city. One of the major
reasons the early church was so effective was because they infiltrated the basic fabric of
society—families living in homes. One problem with the church today is that people go
to an event in a building, participate in various programs, but their lives don’t change.8
Perhaps the reason Christianity is declining in America is because the church is not
touching or changing lives. It seems too many modern churches focus on programs that cater to
the modern societal expectation of gratification. People do not need to be satisfied where they
are–caught in the web of sin. They need a way out of the prison societal expectations have placed
them in. They need to be shown a way to a better life, a happier life, and an eternal life of joy in
the presence of God. They desire to feel needed, appreciated, worthy and loved. Every business
on earth understands how marketing and supply and demand works to build a business. If they
will not come to the church, the church must go to them right where they are. The church must
use a means of communication to convey the message of the cross that burns the web of sin away
using the grace and love of God. Small group ministry is the way to reach these people where
they are. It is inclusivity they seek and love they need. If the community of a small group
ministry is invited in and practices the love of Christ, the Holy Spirit will do the rest and
transform their heart.
What is a Small Group?
8 Joel Comiskey, Biblical Foundations for the Cell-Based Church: New Testament Insights for the 21st Century
Church, (Peabody: CCS Publishing, 2012), 83.
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One may wonder what exactly a small group is. A small group is people who connect to
one another and form relationships that help them develop spiritually and biblically to become
disciple-making disciples. They come together in love, caring for one another’s needs as they
honor and worship God, and to study and apply His word in the hope of making a difference in
someone’s life. In other words, they are a community of Christ serving the mission of God. They
encourage one another and grow in faith and obedience as they follow Christ in His mission to
restore the world back into a right relationship with God. Their goals include growing their
community in quality and quantity. As Jeffrey Arnold writes, “The ideal group engages each
member in discipleship while encouraging each individual to make a positive contribution for the
growth of others.”9 According to various authors, small groups are intentional, spirit-led, and
focused on discipleship and missional. Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey offer an acrostic that
encompasses some aspects of a healthy small group. They write, “G.R.O.U.P. stands for the
following, ‘G’ stands for Guided by a Leader, ‘R.’ stands for Regular Meeting Times, ‘O.’ stands
for Open God’s Word, ‘U.’ stands for United in Service, and ‘P.’ stands for Prayer for One
Another.”10 This student beieves small groups are communities of Christ working in the mission
of God as modeled by Jesus in His earhtly ministry. The goal is to develop healthy, growing,
loving discipleship communities that permeate the unblievers heart and life with God’s love and
salvfic acts. Small group’s are not created for the beliver to meet and fellowship with each for
enjoyment’s sake. The small group should be a diciple-making lifestyle that is inclusive and
invting to all that would come to know God and His love.
9 Jeffrey Arnold, The Big Book on Small Groups, (Downers Grove: IVP Press, 2004), 29.
10 Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey, Leading Small Groups, 31-34.
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Bibliography
Arnold, Jeffrey. The Big Book on Small Groups. Downers Grove: IVP Press, 2004.
Comiskey, Joel. Biblical Foundations for the Cell-Based Church: New Testament Insights for the
21st Century Church. Peabody: CCS Publishing, 2012.
Earley, Dave and Rod Dempsey. Leading Healthy, Growing, Multiplying Small Groups.
Lynchburg: Liberty Press, 2015.
Hoffman, August John. "Millennials, Technology and Perceived Relevance of Community
Service Organizations: Is Social Media Replacing Community Service Activities?" The
Urban Review 49, no. 1. (03, 2017): 140-52. http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?
url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/1867932796?
accountid=12085.
House, Brad. Community: Taking Your Small Group off Life Support. Wheaton: Crossway, 2011.
Lea, Thomas D. and David Alan Black. The New Testament: Its Background and Message. Nashville:
B&H Publishing, Group, 2002.
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