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GUEST POST: How can we go deeper with our group more quickly? – Part 2

January 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

This is part 2 of Nathan Wells’s post from last week. If you haven’t read part 1 yet, head over there and then come right back!

When it goes deep

The guys naturally just began to group off and talk with one another. This was a great time for me and my co-leader to connect with them in some smaller settings. So we each sat in separate groupings that had formed throughout the night with some of the guys and hopped around, switching between groups every so often and seeking out individual conversations along the way. This is a great time to really have some serious and meaningful conversations with your students so don’t let it go to waste.

There is something magical that happens in the early hours of the morning (anywhere around midnight to 4am) where that wall and guard or mask that a student wears all the time crumbles before you. Bring up topics or maybe even some hard direct questions you’ve been worried or maybe to intimidated to bring up. If its really specific maybe try and have some one-to-one conversations throughout the night. You will see that they will actually answer the question and a conversation about it will ensue.

What about sleep?

You may or may not get any sleep that night but don’t complain about it. Remember the reason why you are having this Overnighter. It’s not for you, it is for your students. If you remember that throughout the night, it will be the most rewarding lack of sleep you ever gave up. By the end of it you and your students will have created so many memories and stories to share with one another and others. As a result, you will all be a lot closer and trusted then before you did this.

So be brave and go one night without sleep for God. It’s really not asking a lot and your students will remember how much you cared for a long time to come.

Nathan Wells, a dear friend of ours, is on the Tech Arts team at Saddleback Church and is also a high school small group leader. This is his second year in high school ministry, and he is doing great things with his group. Expect to read more from him in the future!

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GUEST POST: How can we go deeper with our group more quickly? – Part 1

January 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment

One way is to have a sleepover with the entire group.

First off, I have called this an Overnighter rather than a sleepover because very little, if any, sleep happens so just come to accept that reality.

Overnighters can be a great tool for ministry. It’s a way to spend more extended amounts of time with one another and deeper bonds can develop. During my past Overnighter we had them all bring food and snacks that they wanted to share with the group (this makes it way easier on you), my co-leader and I just supplied the pizza (it’s great to buy a ton of pizza because it lasts all night and they will eat it all night long).

Once we all were there we had Bible study together. This was like our regular weekly meeting format but we went a little more in depth this time and really broke things apart together. We started with this so that the night flowed from serious to fun. I was worried that some of it went over their heads and that they gave up based on the looks of some of their faces but I pressed on and kept it interesting. The cool thing was they got it. It started great conversations that lasted the night and even into the following weeks. I even have had some of my guys tell me afterwards how much they liked how we started the night with Bible study before we had the greatest time of our lives having fun.

But overnighters are suppose to be loaded with fun right?

Absolutely! That’s why we jumped directly into the events for the evening immediately after we finished Bible study. It’s best to do all the planned and more structured games and events for the night first because as the night progresses they will get more tired and so will you, so less people may participate in everything as the night goes on and that’s ok.

We had our Overnighter around Christmas this year so we did some “holiday games” to start off the night. We started with our white elephant gift exchange and this was hilarious. The rule was you couldn’t spend any money and to re-wrap something old you already had. I think someone ended up with used deodorant and another with a freezer ziploc bag of water. It was fun to see the creativity. Then we played the Twelve tastes of Christmas. Followed by capture the flag and then sardines (which is reverse hide and seek) this took us well into about 1am or 2am and by then it was video game time, movie watching and just hanging out.

Nathan Wells, a dear friend of ours, is on the Tech Arts team at Saddleback Church and is also a high school small group leader. This is his second year in high school ministry, and he is doing great things with his group. Expect to read more from him in the future!

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The “Overnighter”

December 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I’m writing this blog post at 2:00 in the morning, after two hours of hide and go seek, two hours of dodgeball and two hours of capture the flag. My high school small group guys asked if our group could do an overnighter in our student building this week since they are out for Christmas break. How could I say no?

These nights are excellent bonding nights for a small group. I have a new guy in my group who has only been with us for two weeks now. He may be new but an hour into this event tonight and you would not be able to pick him out of the crowd. These nights are huge for bringing a group together.

We’re about to head into some Jesus time and do a bible study at 2:30 in the morning. That’s another thing I love about this group, they want to have fun, and they all play hard, but they also want to know more about and grow more in God.

I can’t encourage you enough to plan this type of event for your group!

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Small Group Overnighter

November 22, 2011 by 1 Comment

Last weekend our High School Ministry at Saddleback Church hosted a “Small Group Overnighter”. The event was held at a hotel near Disneyland. After a short program with all the groups in attendance, and a prayer to send us off into the night, the groups were free to just hang out, go eat and spend some quality time together. It was a great opportunity and a chance to bond your student small group closer to each other. 

One of the things my guys had asked was if we could do a really deep Bible study session that night. Okay, I thought. If you want a really deep Bible study session, you’ll get one. I have a huge advantage in that Steven has been adopted by my group and was going with us that night and since he is a Biblical and Theological Studies major at Biola University, I took full advantage of that and asked him to help me put together a lesson for the night. We chose the topic, “What it means to be a disciple”.

Steven’s lesson was off the charts and the participation that night was amazing, the guys in my group are at a very deep spiritual level, and the participation level that night was incredible. And as pleased as I was that night, and made sure to take time to thank God that night for this small group, the big payoff for me came the next day when I got the following text from one of the guys:

            “Hey, so I’m pretty sure I came out of that retreat last night a different person.”

It was a reminder to me of a few things:

  • This is God’s group, and he is working and growing this group in ways I still can’t comprehend.
  • If you open yourself up, God will use you as a leader.
  • There are students in your group that you can reach, but you might need to find other ways to get to them. Once you do, it’s a life changing event.
  • Teaching about God’s love, grace, forgiveness and salvation is the most important thing we can pass on to the next generation.
  • Find the leaders in your student small group and work on developing them.
  • Pray. Pray. Pray. Pray for your group by name, for each thing you know is going on in their life. This student who sent me that text has asked me before to pray for God to help him “come out of his shell”. It happened at this overnighter and God has helped change him. I can’t wait to see where this student goes from here.

 

 

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Why I’m Stoked for the New Small Group Year

October 6, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Every year small group launch rolls around, I get really excited. It’s an exciting time to start things off fresh and grow some relationships that were started the year before. This year I have 8th graders, and all of my guys were part of my group last year. I know who they are, where they come from and what their struggles are, so I’m excited to see how God will use my co-leader and me to minister to them this year.

I love that all of our guys know who we are, where we come from and what our stories are. I love that we’re starting off the year with an all-nighter in the student building for bonding. I love that we’re getting back to some foundational lessons that should spark some really great conversation. I love that all the guys know each other and take care of each other.

I love that I love small groups. 2011-12, let’s get going.

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