Spring is here. Easter is quickly approaching as our excitement for greener grass and the days of summer come again. After Easter, we get to Memorial Day, and then sooner than we know, we’ve arrived at the fourth of July.
How does this Spring-turning-into-Summer timeframe impact your small group? You may have already finished your winter studies and are waiting to begin your summer study or summer break. In this sometimes long waiting season, what can you study?
Try these shorter studies to help carry your group from Easter to Memorial Day.
Simple Life Action Plan, by Thom & Art Rainer, is designed to help individuals create a mission statement based on the principles of clarity, movement, alignment, and focus. Four areas of life are considered: time, relationships, money, and God. Simple Life follows the paradigm introduced in the best-selling book Simple Church. (5 sessions)
The Beginning is an intentional Bible study for new disciples of Christ that can be used in one-on-one discipleship or small groups. It introduces the basic practices and elements of the faith, including the centrality of Christ, the crucial practice of prayer and Scripture reading, community, and what it means to be on mission for God. Exercises put weekly topics into practice, and meeting times work as well in one-on-one discipleship relationships as they do with typical small groups. This resource is attached to the broader Disciples Path series, but can also serve as a stand-alone product. (5 sessions)
3. Life on Mission: A Simple Way to Share the Gospel
Approximately 259 million people in the United States and Canada do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Life on Mission is a North American Mission Board initiative that equips believers to live a missional lifestyle. A life lived on mission isn’t a supersized version of an extraordinary Spirit-filled life. It isn’t reserved only for top-level Christian risk takers who have mastered the art of obedience. Living a life on mission is the story of everyday, ordinary believers leveraging whatever levels of influence they have to bring unbelievers to faith in Christ. (5 sessions)
