12 Reasons Why You Should Join a Small Group

Here's an article I wrote for the August Newsletter at Riverview.  We'll be launching a small groups ministry this September at Riverview, so I figured it'd be appropriate to try to provide some motivation for people to join a group.  Here are 12 reasons I thought of that make joining a small group something worthwhile. 


1. You can become more like Jesus.  As you study the Bible and have biblical fellowship with other believers, spiritual growth happens; growth in holiness happens; becoming more like Jesus happens.  Being a part of a small group is a good way of taking an active part in your spiritual growth process and becoming more and more like Jesus and more and more free from sin.


2. You’ll be able to pray for people in ways you normally wouldn’t.  You can only pray for people as deeply as you know the person.  In a small group you’ll get to know people and how you can pray for them more specifically.  Plus, as people get to know you, they can be praying for you in specific ways as well.


3. You’ll be able to utilize your spiritual gifts.  Don’t know what your spiritual gift is?  Joining a small group could be a good way to find out!  If you do know what it is, a small group is the perfect way for you to be able to put it to good use.  It’s also a good way to be served by others as they use their gifts!

4. You can help other members of your group carry their physical and spiritual burdens.  We all go through difficult things in life, like the loss of a job, illness, death of a loved one, financial difficulty, fear, doubt, questions, etc. and it would be nice to have someone to help us go through those things.  In a small group you can help others when they need it, and they can help you.

5. You’ll be able to share your spiritual experiences with others.  How is your walk with Jesus going?  Good?  Not so good?  Whatever it is, the more we share with one another, the more we can celebrate in the good times and encourage one another by sharing our struggles with sin and doubt in the down times.

6. You can confess your sins to others.  Scripture tells us to confess our sins to one another.  Most of us don’t do that, though, probably because there isn’t anyone we know well enough that we’d feel comfortable confessing to.  In a small group you’ll be able to cultivate relationships over time and take them to a deeper level that makes confessing sins not only possible, but rewarding and encouraging as you receive assurance and encouragement from your fellow group members.

7. You’ll be able to serve other people in practical ways.  We all have physical and spiritual needs that can be met by others.  In a small group you’ll not only have the privilege of serving others, but you’ll be able to be served by others as well.

8. You can connect what you hear at church on Sunday to the rest of your life throughout the week.  Each week we’ll be looking more in depth at the scripture from the sermon preached during the previous Sunday’s service.  Pastor Wick is writing special study guides based on his weekly sermons for our small groups to go through together.

9. Riverview people are interesting and cool.  Riverview is full of all kinds of different people from all sorts of backgrounds and walks of life.  In a small group you’ll be able to establish and deepen relationships with people God has uniquely made and is forming into his likeness.

10. There might be food.  Your small group can decide if, as part of the meeting time, you want to eat together.  Maybe pot luck style, or maybe pizza.  Either way, you could get a good meal!

11. It’s convenient, and it will fit into your schedule.  Small groups will be able to decide what day and time work best for them to meet.  Mondays?  Thursdays?  Fridays?  That’s up to your group.  5:00?  6:00?  7:00?  Again, that’s up for the folks in your group to decide.  How many times a month should we meet?  2? 3? Every week?  Whatever works best for you and the people in the group.

12. There’s a small group meeting near you.  Our small groups will be located throughout the area in which our members live, so chances are that there’s a small group meeting somewhere near where you live.  

Spiritual Gifts Vs. "Natural" Talents and Abilities

Listening to Wretched Radio during my shower tonight brought about some thinking about the topic of spiritual gifts.  This past January I taught a Sunday School class about what it means to be the Body of Christ, and one of the topics we covered (briefly) was that of spiritual gifts.  God gives believers spiritual gifts for the purpose of building up the body.  That is, God gives Christians certain abilities that they are to use for the purpose of strengthening, encouraging, and building up other Christians.  The purpose for this upbuilding is so that Christians can grow in holiness, and can unite in ministry, both in service to each other and in service to the world by means of preaching the gospel.  During the class a question was brought up about how we can differentiate between spiritual gifts and natural abilities.  My answer to this question was that spiritual gifts are those things which God gives his people for the reasons listed above, stated generally as being for the building up of the body.  These can be differentiated from natural abilities, I argued, in that natural abilities become spiritual gifts when used for the purpose building up the body.

Todd Friel presented a similar approach, but with an important twist, and I think I like his approach better than the one I gave.  He asserted that natural abilities don't necessarily become spiritual gifts when used for ministry in the church.  Instead, the use of such abilities become a spiritual gift as they are used for ministry.  Allow me to clarify.

Take music, for example: a person can develop a musical ability at a young age, even before conversion.  This talent can be cultivated and grown over the years until that person is completely proficient in a particular instrument or type of music.  Then, the person becomes a Christian and begins to use the talent within the context of the church and for the benefit and edification of members of the church.  Is music this person's particular spiritual gift?  We have to say no, because the person was "gifted" with music prior to conversion.  Scripture teaches that spiritual gifts are given at the point of conversion, so in this case, the spiritual gift in question can't be music.

But, Todd Friel argues, the ability to use music in the church could perhaps (and I think probably is) the person's spiritual gift.  There's a significant difference here.  The person would be musically inclined even if he or she were never converted.  The person's ability to use music for the building up of the body, however, can definitely be an ability that he or she doesn't have until conversion - until God has gifted it to him or her.  In this sense, this person's spiritual gift wouldn't be music, but would be using music for ministry.  This understanding holds when we consider people who are definitely musical but don't use their musical abilities for the edification of the church.  It doesn't mean they're stinky musicians, or that they're disobedient in not using their musical skills for/in the church; it just means that their gift isn't to use their musical abilities for building up the body.  God has gifted them with something else.

I think a lot of people struggle over what their spiritual gift is, and particularly when it might be related to something they've done or been good at their entire lives, like music.  Maybe we just need to reframe the ways in which we look at those things that people are already doing in the church; maybe we just need to look at what people are doing in the context of how they're using it for the body.  It might not be a matter of them gaining a completely new skill, but rather a shift in how they view their use of those talents God has already given them.  I could see this as being rather freeing for people who can't seem to find their place in the church, or how they can plug in and serve others.

As I said earlier, I like this approach, and I think it's time to start thinking about spiritual gifts in this way.