Small Group Leader's Guide December 28, 2008

Series: Life Together

Getting Started - Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 gives several instances when two are better than one – Read the verse and then share a time when you experienced one of these “two are better than one” situations in your life?

Digging Deeper

1) Acts 1:14 says that the disciples “all joined together constantly in prayer”

• A) What, if any, value is there to praying with others, as opposed to praying alone? Is there a spiritual advantage to praying together? Is there a moral support advantage, an accountability value?

• B) One a scale of 1 to ten, ten being best. How is your current prayer life?

• C) Besides on Sunday, when do you pray with other believers? Why do you think it’s hard for some people to pray out loud?

2) Acts 2:44 shares an interesting aspect of the early church, they “were together and had everything in common.” Why do you think they did that? What value would there be in holding property in common? What spiritual purpose might there be for doing that?


Small Group Project - As a small group member, you know the benefit of gathering with believers during the week. We want to get as many members as possible in small groups. We’re asking the small groups to have an “invite a friend night” for their small group.

1. Pick a date to have an “invite a friend focus” The week of January 11th is the start of the new small session, so that is probably the best time.
2. Spend time as a group and help each group member come up with the name of one church member they can invite
3. Make a commitment to pray for the person you’re going to invite
4. As a group, when you meet next week, follow up on how the invitations are going?
5. Are there any changes in your group, or anything special you could make on that day to make the group more welcoming to someone who is new?
6. What are some of the dynamics that might keep someone from attending a small group? What encouragement could you give to overcome those hindrances?

Small Group Check Up – The beginning of the year is a good time to do a health check up. There are three activities we hope to see in each small group.

• Interactive Bible study – A time to study the Bible together
• One Another Sharing – a time for people to share what’s going on in their lives. In larger groups, members often split up into groups of 3 for this time.
• One Another Praying – a time for people to be prayed for. In many groups, the men and women split up for the sharing and prayer time.

Check Up Question - What’s one improvement you could personally contribute to improve the Bible study time, sharing time, or prayer time?


Small Group Idea for the first quarter of 2009 - Acts 2:46 says that the early Christians “broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts”. When you could you plan a potluck, or a dinner out together?

• An Idea: You can pick whatever time works best for you, but the week leading up to Easter (the week starting April 5th) there will be no small group questions, that might be a good time to plan a social event.