Small Groups

OK.  I admit that it might be expected and a bit predictable for me to blog about thankfulness the day before Thanksgiving. But sometimes predictability is good, and some topics never go out of fashion. So maybe you’ll find this message to be a bit cliche, but as my friend and ministry associate Josh Ryder says, “I’m OK with that.” Well that’s enough of me defending my lack of creativity this week.

The Apostle Paul usually included a section of Thanksgiving near the beginning of each of his letters. Some scholars suggest that what Paul gives thanks for in these sections gives us insight into the primary content of the remainder of the letter. Paul reveals his heart for his readers in these sections.  But imagine receiving a letter from the Apostle Paul – one of the greatest church leaders in Kingdom history – and reading something like this:

“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” (Read the rest of his prayer in Philippians 1.3-11)

And then imagine what it must have been like for Paul to be thinking of you when he penned that prayer.  Imagine the encouragement and affirmation the believers at Philippi received when they read Paul’s prayer of thanksgiving for them. Think of the challenge Paul set for them to live up to his kind words about them. In essence, Paul was telling them “I’m praying this for you, now do your part in seeing to it that those prayers are answered.”

But what about us?  What do Paul’s prayers for believers in Mediterranean towns 2000 years ago have for us as we pursue Christ in a Midwest city today?  Well, there’s lots they offer us, but let me offer you just these couple ideas today. Live in such a way that others are prompted to say similar prayers of thanksgiving whenever they think of you.  Also, think about the encouragement your small group members would get if you wrote a prayer of thanks for each of them.  Think of the impact it could have on them if you included specific things you are praying for God to do in their lives to draw them more closely to Himself.

And, as small group leaders at West Side, know that I always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when I pray for you! (Colossians 1.3)

Living life together with a group of people is sometimes difficult. We get into each other’s business. We rub each other the wrong way sometimes. We accidently (or purposefully) say something that offends someone, or they offend us. It even happens with the best of friends. If we spend enough time together we’re eventually going to have a moment when we don’t see eye-to-eye. And then there are those people who are gifted at creating these moments the night we meet them.

It’s a given that sin will show itself in our groups. Sometimes we pretend it’s not there. Sometimes we try to dismiss it and keep everyone happy. But sin will show up, because our groups are composed of sinful people with messy lives. It’s up to us as leaders to keep our guard up and be alert to notice when sin rears its ugly head. And it will show up often, especially if we’re attempting to get real with one another and allow God to work in our groups to transform us.

So in looking ahead at this week’s sermon – Dream Killers – I thought it might be a good time to pose this question: What do we do with sin in our small groups? This week’s sermon is about sin, and how it prevents us from living in the sweet spot God has planned for us. So how do we handle this when it presents itself in our groups?

What do you do when you have a person whose struggle with sin is bigger than you can handle? What do you do when you have someone who has finally come to terms with a major sin in their life and they are broken? And what about the person who refuses to deal with their sin, pretending like nothing is wrong, but the whole group knows about it? Certainly we can’t deal with all of these situations the same way. If there’s one thing we can be sure of, there’s no “one-size-fits-all” approach to dealing with difficult moments and messy situations in groups. But here is the definite – we must deal with it. Ignoring it is not the answer.

It’s a given that healthy small groups deal with sin. These “dealings with sin” will take on different appearances at times. But the constant through all of it is that dealing with sin gives God room to work. If we don’t ever address the issue of sin in our groups, then we’re just playing church. No real transformation can happen until people get real with the junk in their lives that’s keeping them from experiencing the fullness of life that God intends for them. So let’s not be afraid to get our hands dirty in the messiness of life as we lead our groups into a deeper journey with God.