LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Analysis Paper II
Submitted to Dr. Garner, in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the completion of the course
DSMN 630 – B02
Small Group Ministries Paper
by
Tina E. Carter
September 15, 2017
Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................1
Explain the Difference between a Clique and a Small Group...................................................2
What Does G. R. O. U. P. Stand for and Why is Each Important?...........................................3
Who has been an Important Influence in Your Own Spiritual Life, to Lead You to Christ or
to Help You Grow in Your Faith...................................................................................................4
Based on What You Read in this Chapter, what are Some of the Practical Results of Jesus’
Disciple-making?............................................................................................................................5
How were Small Groups used to Build the Early Church?.......................................................5
Explain the Statements of How Disciples are Made Intentionally; are to be like Christ; and
are Made in Relationship...........................................................................................................5-6
An Explanation of the Inward, Outward, and Upward as well as How to Apply the
Concepts to Your Context?............................................................................................................6
Conclusion......................................................................................................................................7
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................8
i1
Introduction
The author has studied and thought long and hard over this assignment as it called for a
lot of personal as well as deep consideration to reply to the questions at the end of Chapter one.
She will be giving an explanation of the difference between a clique and a Small Group. She will
explain G. R. O. U.P. stands for and why each letter is important. Then she will be answering the
questions covered in Chapter one of Arnold’s “The Big Book on Small Groups”. Finally, she
will cover an explanation of the inward, outward, and upward as well as how to apply the
concepts to your context.
1
2
Explain the Difference between a Clique and a Small Group
The difference between a clique and a Small Group may be answered by defining both. A
clique according to Arnold is a group not of God that is self-centered not willing to let outsiders
in. They have a controlling leadership are focused on the past, believe they are the elite, and
believe in gossiping. A clique is stagnant, unintentional, and divided.1 According to Arnold on
the other hand the Small Group or Healthy Group is of God, intentional on contributing with
Christ in His kingdom being built so it is open to the public to repent, and outward in focus. The
Small Group is also Spirit-led, future-oriented, inclusive, fluid/multiplying, do, and integrated.2
We find in “Romans 12:16 that we are to “live in harmony with one another. Do not be
haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.”3 This is God’s way of
telling us not to get caught up in cliques as they are not his will. They can only lead to trouble
and disharmony. That is why they should not be allowed in His house of worship. There is no
place for disharmony, confusion, and division near God’s work when the spirit is trying to lead
the way. We need to be humble and let the holy spirit do its job. Humility is the key to becoming
closer to doing God’s will and staying away from the cliques.
____________________________________
1 Jeffrey Arnold, “The Big Book on Small Groups.” (Downers Grove: IVP Press, 2004), 09.
2 Ibid, 23.
3 Unless otherwise stated, all biblical references will be from the King James Version Bible (Thomas Nelson
Publishers, 1990), 1426.
3
What Does G. R. O. U. P. Stand for and Why is Each Important?
G. R. O. U. P. according to Dempsey and Earley stands for the following:
1. “Guided by a leader.
2. Regular meeting times.
3. Open God’s Word.
4. United in Service.
5. Prayer for one another.”4
Now that we know what the above acronyms stand for we need to understand why they are so
important. The author used this week’s lecture notes (Garner, 2014) to discuss this. 5
Being guided by a leader or being overseen by a mentor is important because that person
is going to be the one training you and guiding you along your way with your lessons and
discussions. They will help the group meet their goals and train future leaders as well as
turn in reports to the church. The regular meeting times are important for consistency and
to help everyone to get to know each other. This also allows everyone to know when
someone is not connecting or is struggling so they can receive help. Opening God’s word
gives the group a set time to examine, read, and discuss God’s word either directly or
through an approved curriculum. Being united in service gives the groups the opportunity
to focus on serving God both in and out of the group. This can be done by organizing the
group to do activities which involve matching gifts with serving opportunities and
including as many individuals as possible. Lastly is praying for one another when time
should be set aside to take prayer requests and praying for the burdens and concerns of
the group members as well as for new members to come to the church, the group, or both.
____________________________________
4 Rod Dempsey and Dave Earley, “Leading Healthy Growing Multiplying Small Groups.” (Lynchburg:
Liberty Press, 2015) 31-33.
5 Rick Garner, “Lecture Notes: What is a Group?” Electronic Ed. (Liberty University Resources, 2014)
accessed September 15, 2017.
4
Who has been an Important Influence in Your Own Spiritual Life, to Lead You to Christ or
to Help You Grow in Your Faith?
My father’s mother was the important influence in the author’s spiritual life which lead
her to Christ and helped to grow in her faith. She raised her in the church at a very young age
until she died. At which point her Aunt and mother took over ensuring she went to church and
Sunday school until she reached the age where she could decide for herself. Her grandmother
had told her mother that the author was going to be a minister and have the gift the of visions.
The author had no knowledge of this until 1983 when she was in Texas in active duty and started
experiencing visions and didn’t understand what was going on. She just thought they were
dreams. One night she dreamed her grandfather had passed and her cousin had passed and they
were walking together in the clouds. The next day she received an emergency phone call from
her mother telling her that they died. This scared the author because she had no idea what she
had experienced and she was upset about the deaths. A few months later she had another vision
of a friend riding on his dirt bike and it flipped while looking out the window. The phone rang
and she said it was the friend he had an accident and needed to be picked up at the hospital.
When they picked up the phone it was the friend and he was at the hospital needing to be picked
up. Not only was she scared they were scared and never wanted her around after that. She just
couldn’t explain because her grandmother never told her and neither did her mother. Once she
got out of the military she decided to learn more about God and become a minister at which point
she learned that her grandmother who was also a minister had said that God told her that was one
of the author’s callings before she had died.
5
Based on What You Read in this Chapter, what are Some of the Practical Results of Jesus’
Disciple-making?
The practical results of Jesus’ disciple-making are that they had what is known today as
hands on training. According to Arnold “The disciples lived, ate, followed, watched, learned, and
were challenged in the form of parables by Christ.”6 Once Jesus felt the disciples were well
trained, he had died on the cross and resurrected. He released them and set them on their way to
go out and do His Great Commandment Matthew 28:18-20.7
How were Small Groups used to Build the Early Church?
Small groups were used to build the early church in house churches. This setting was not
only used to break bread but also for prayer meetings. They were also small house fellowships
which were the building blocks of each city or region. This was needed for the survival of the
church. It was easier for communication and recognition which was important back then since
the disciples were not so popular with the Roman soldiers.
Explain the Statements of How Disciples are Made Intentionally; are to be like Christ; and
are Made in Relationship
Disciples are made intentionally means that it doesn’t happen without Christians working
together to do Christ’s Great Commandment and Commission on purpose to help, lead, teach,
guide, and mentor others to do his works with his Holy word and Love. We must do as He told
His first disciples to ensure His works become a reality and flourish. We must help to build His
kingdom. We are to be like Christ means we must live our lives as Christ did by picking up our
cross and bearing our burdens as he did.
____________________________________
6 Jeffrey Arnold, “The Big Book on Small Groups.” (Downers Grove: IVP Press, 2004), 19.
7 Unless otherwise stated, all biblical references will be from the King James Version Bible (Thomas Nelson
Publishers, 1990), 1243.
6
Explain the Statements of How Disciples are Made Intentionally; are to be like Christ; and
are Made in Relationship cont.
We must live our life through the Holy spirit which is the deepest part of our heart, mind, and
soul. Lastly, we are made in relationship to Christ means that everything that has been learned
throughout our disciple-making process has become part of our discipleship in relation to Christ.
This also has become part of the relationships that we will participate in within our future
disciple making.8
An Explanation of the Inward, Outward, and Upward as well as How to Apply the
Concepts to Your Context?
Inward also known as Care is when the group and community provides care to show love
and positivity in such a way that it affects the group life in a positive experience and helps them
to discover their spiritual gifts. This is very positive for the leaders, the leadership, and the
church. However, a negative side is that they forget about the outward focus of Service and
Evangelism. This is wrong because of the tendency of humans to commit sin. The outward also
known as Service or Evangelism is one that is needed to keep groups revitalized, refreshed,
challenged, and focused. These services help to keep the spirit charged they are person-to-person
processes of spreading the gospel about forgiveness of sin and new life in life Christ. Which is
perfect for Small Group Ministry. Finally, we have upward also known as Nurture and Worship
which is when the group helps the congregation to care for its fellowship members showing them
biblical love and transformation. As long as every group may apply these views to their
applications when setting up their groups they might find it should be a lot more helpful and
successful in helping their groups with their positive focus and keeping their spirit charged.
____________________________________
8 Jeffrey Arnold, “The Big Book on Small Groups.” (Downers Grove: IVP Press, 2004), 26.
9 Ibid, 33.
10 Ibid, 36.
11 Ibid, 38.
7
Conclusion
In closing the author has realized that there is no place for cliques in churches of any kind
and that in doing so will cause extreme harm to the wellbeing of the congregation as well as
God’s work. She has also realized the importance of the acronym G. R. O. U. P.; more about
herself and her gifts that she thought she had put behind her which she now realizes she had no
reason to be ashamed of because that is against God’s will. She also has learned that her faith has
come a mighty long way since then. She has learned a lot about the Early House churches as well
as how they made the way for Small Group ministries today. It is like Dempsey stated, “The
purpose of a Small Group is to regularly gather together and be the body of Christ.” She
relearned the practical results of Jesus’ disciple-making. The author also realized how disciples
are made intentionally; like Christ; and in relationship to Christ. Lastly, she was affected by the
stories of how the inward, outward, and upward worked. She can’t wait to apply these concepts
of Arnold’s to her own ministry.
____________________________________
12 Rod Dempsey, Electronic Ed. (Liberty University Resources, 2013) accessed September 15, 2017.
8
Bibliography
Arnold, Jeffrey. “The Big Book on Small Groups.” (Downers Grove: IVP Press, 2004), 09.
Ibid., 23.
Ibid., 19.
Ibid., 21.
Ibid., 26.
Ibid., 33.
Ibid., 36.
Ibid., 38.
Dempsey, Rod. Electronic Ed. (Liberty University Resources, 2013) accessed September 15,
2017.
Dempsey, Rod and Earley, Dave. “Leading Healthy Growing Multiplying Small Groups.”
(Lynchburg: Liberty Press, 2015) 31-33.
Garner, Rick. “Lecture Notes: What is a Group.” Electronic Ed. (Liberty University Resources,
2014) accessed September 15, 2017.
