This Week

I am thrilled that we are starting our new series based on The Blessed Life by Robert Morris! I am truly believing that this will be a great time of personal growth for many in our Home TEAMS! God is doing awesome things!
Just a cool side story, For two weeks, I am having to step out of the Home TEAM that I have been teaching personally at Graham and Gwen Thompson's house. Graham taught last time and while I was gone the group grew from 12 to 15! Great Job! What I really learned from that as a leader is that sometimes, in order for things to grow, I have to be willing to let go and let someone else lead! Each of us as Home TEAM leaders should always be working ourselves out of a job as we find leadership talent in our groups and help them develop their talents.

Making Connections

We all know by now that people come to church not just because the preacher does an incredible job of applying God's word to our lives or because the choir sings so well the angels are jealous or because the sanctuary is wonderful and pristine in its decorations or that it is a perfect doctrinal match for them. People come join with a church often because of the connections they make there. One of the reasons the landscape is dotted with small churches is because half the people in the church are related and the other half are their friends. The connections are there! In a church that is growing, you soon run into the obstacle of people coming in, loving the service yet still not coming back after a few weeks. They didn't get connected to those around them. So what is the quick fix? Get friendlier greeters and ushers? No, your greeters and ushers are most likely friendly enough. (If they aren't then you have other issues to deal with.) There isn't a quick fix. The long hard fix is to find ways to connect people with new believers who come into your church. There isn't one perfect way to do that. Some churches have great Sunday School programs! My church doesn't even have Sunday School, but our Home TEAM's are exploding! Please don't take that to mean that we have it all figured out...we still have a long way to go! I have a friend whose wife absolutely despises small groups/home groups...but they love singing in the choir at their church and have established life long friendships with those in the choir. We as humans have to fight against our habit forming nature to reach out to the new people who come through the doors of our churches to help them connect to others. If you are a pastor, mentor your church leaders to reach out rather than standing in a circle talking to each other on Sunday Mornings. Invite people over to your house for lunch or to go out to eat with you after church. Only by getting involved in people's lives outside of Sunday mornings will we be able to effectively reach them with the gospel and then keep them in a relationship that will help them connect to God and to each other. Have an awesome day!

Home TEAM Mission Statement- Why we do what we do

For those who follow my blog, you know that I work with the small group ministry at 5 Point Fellowship. We call them Home TEAMs, but the name doesn't matter much. What is important is that people's lives are being changed. People are getting involved with other people in meaningful relationships and growing in their relationships with God as they work together. If a church is growing beyond the 60-100 size, you are probably starting to see that you no longer know everyone. There are two solutions. One is to not invite any more people to the church and thus keep it small so that you can continue to have great relationships with all the members. The other option is to be excited about the growth of the church and all the people's lives that are being changed by the Lord and at the same time create environments in which people can connect on a more personal level. There isn't one perfect model. At 5 Point Fellowship, we have multiple types of small groups. Some are ladies only, some are men only, some are couples, some meet every week, some twice a month, some once a quarter, some are related to a theme like "the band" which plays music every Sunday for our worship service, some are classes like the one we currently have going which is a Marriage Enrichment class based on the movie and curriculum from Fireproof. All of these groups have different purposes, but all meet the need of helping people connect in a smaller group setting where they can build friendships and relationships with others. There are many other options, in a traditional church, there are Sunday school classes, or the choir. These can be excellent if opportunity is given for those relationships to be built. There is no need to suddenly stop what you are doing now, but you might look and see if there are opportunities to help people build meaningful relationships in your church to help combat the busy American lifestyle that doesn't lend itself well to having close friends.

Operation Lunch

How many of you have started some sort of small group ministry, but then wonder how to get people involved. Invitations and group Link type meeting aren't working, so now what? Here is a simple idea that we have used that seems to work very well. Even a personal invitation to a home group can sometimes be threatening to a new person. The idea is to invite them out for lunch. Maybe even invite another person or couple from your group as well. They get to know you and someone else from the group prior to coming to the Home Group. That way, they aren't stepping into a new house not knowing anyone in the group. You are probably saying "That's it?". Sorry, no great program or DVD series, just making connections with people live and in person. Have an awesome day!

5 Point Fellowship Home TEAMs

I am really excited to be able to share about our Home TEAMs at 5 Point Fellowship! This is a great chance to show people how to fall crazy in love with Jesus Christ! Helping people connect to each other and to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is what we are all about! I am hoping to use this blog to connect with the Home TEAM Leaders and possibly small group leaders out there from other churches as well. Make a comment and join the fun!