Comments on: Small group training and the ever-present urge to consume http://kennsarah.net/2003/08/24/small-group-training-and-the-ever-present-urge-to-consume/ “...and every time she sneezes, I believe it's love... ” Mon, 26 Sep 2011 04:37:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Pez http://kennsarah.net/2003/08/24/small-group-training-and-the-ever-present-urge-to-consume/comment-page-1/#comment-637 Pez Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.kennsarah.net/?p=706#comment-637 Ken, Well said. Another interesting part of the equation is that (sometimes) when churches do exactly what you write about, they can't help but grow, which then forces them to decide what to do. A good case in point is Bethlehem Baptist in Minneapolis. What do you do when this happens? They decided they would plant churches, and quickly learned that church-planting congregations don't stop growing, and yet developing sufficient leadership to plant churches is a significant time investment, no matter the maturity. Anyhow, the Pastor preached this message: http://www.desiringgod.org/library/sermons/03/060803.html which seems intended to lead the congregation in struggling over their size and the biblical madate to "give an account for the souls entrusted to you". Ken,

Well said. Another interesting part of the equation is that (sometimes) when churches do exactly what you write about, they can’t help but grow, which then forces them to decide what to do. A good case in point is Bethlehem Baptist in Minneapolis. What do you do when this happens? They decided they would plant churches, and quickly learned that church-planting congregations don’t stop growing, and yet developing sufficient leadership to plant churches is a significant time investment, no matter the maturity. Anyhow, the Pastor preached this message: http://www.desiringgod.org/library/sermons/03/060803.html which seems intended to lead the congregation in struggling over their size and the biblical madate to “give an account for the souls entrusted to you”.

]]> By: Jai http://kennsarah.net/2003/08/24/small-group-training-and-the-ever-present-urge-to-consume/comment-page-1/#comment-638 Jai Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.kennsarah.net/?p=706#comment-638 Good point. Though I don't think elevators (in fact, this can be a good and loving technology to implement, if the church has the means, towards *accessability*) and gymnasiums are necessarily a bad thing for churches to have in and of themselves, if they are the "main attraction" then something is certainly horrifically wrong. I can understand that when a church over expands its cpacity and numbers get big, people get less attention to the big things- like discipleship. And small groups are an ideal answer to that. Jesus didn't get 500 disciples to follow him around and confide everything in- there were only 12! Then, as you read Acts and the epistles, you see those 11 (+ Paul = 12) discipling small churches, who then have members who disciple more small groups (well, you don't actually read about all of the 12 [in great detail], but their small group ministry is certainly implied). It's time tested, and Jesus Christ was The Great Small Group Leader! I think you can bank on that being a pretty good indicator that small groups are important- rather vital- to the health of churchs (regardless of the "conglomorate" church size). Good point. Though I don’t think elevators (in fact, this can be a good and loving technology to implement, if the church has the means, towards *accessability*) and gymnasiums are necessarily a bad thing for churches to have in and of themselves, if they are the “main attraction” then something is certainly horrifically wrong. I can understand that when a church over expands its cpacity and numbers get big, people get less attention to the big things- like discipleship. And small groups are an ideal answer to that. Jesus didn’t get 500 disciples to follow him around and confide everything in- there were only 12! Then, as you read Acts and the epistles, you see those 11 (+ Paul = 12) discipling small churches, who then have members who disciple more small groups (well, you don’t actually read about all of the 12 [in great detail], but their small group ministry is certainly implied). It’s time tested, and Jesus Christ was The Great Small Group Leader! I think you can bank on that being a pretty good indicator that small groups are important- rather vital- to the health of churchs (regardless of the “conglomorate” church size).

]]> By: Russ http://kennsarah.net/2003/08/24/small-group-training-and-the-ever-present-urge-to-consume/comment-page-1/#comment-639 Russ Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.kennsarah.net/?p=706#comment-639 Good reduction to absurdity. Grass roots or tree trunks? Trees fall hard and grass lives on, but trees are nice-old people like them. Congratulations on undertaking leadership training-a heavy responsibility. Your dedication to doing the right thing is where I see your uniqueness. Good reduction to absurdity.

Grass roots or tree trunks?

Trees fall hard and grass lives on, but trees are nice-old people like them.

Congratulations on undertaking leadership training-a heavy responsibility. Your dedication to doing the right thing is where I see your uniqueness.

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