Best Small Group Leader Rally, Ever!0
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What a great day Saturday was! We kicked off the 2011 year at the Summit with about 220 current and future small group leaders at our semi-annual small group leader rally. The day was packed with worship, teaching, and equipping. Our key message for our leaders came from Acts 1:6-11. God has granted power to his people through his Holy Spirit to carry out his plan here and now. We need to stop waiting for Jesus to do something for us when he desires to do something through us.
Probably the biggest hit of the morning were our workshops, where we equipped leaders in very specific areas. We’ve included the handouts from those, and a little summary for each, below. If you missed the rally and are interested in potentially leading a group, please fill out the leader application at the bottom of this spot and return it to the small groups team here at the Summit. Thanks to all who came and made it such a great morning!
Here’s what our church planting team communicated to our small group leaders: Small groups are absolutely essential to our mission to plant 1,000 churches. One way small groups make church planting possible is by providing vital partnerships with planters on the field. Your efforts of prayer, encouragement, and going on short-term trips help to fuel the ministries of our church planters.
The other way that small groups catalyze church planting is by raising up our next church planters from within their groups. Small groups are a place where our leaders are identified and challenged to go. Church planting does not happen without our small groups! Here are the handouts from their talk, which includes a list of overseas church planters for small groups to partner with AND a list of short-term missions trip being led by Summit folks this year. Click catalyzing church planting to take a look, especially if your small group doesn’t have an overseas church planting partner.
The jewel of the morning was probably the talk by Rupert Leary, our Campus Outreach ministry head, who gave a talk on Evangelism Training. Here’s a recap: Effective evangelism is a result of people who receive truth and make application. They gaze on the work of Jesus Christ and let that be their sole motivation. Evangelism has little to do with our presentation or personality. God gives us His word to use as a sword to “stick” those we come in contact with as we allow the Spirit to move.
This means taking advantage of opportunities to share Scripture or God’s truth with those around us. It is in God’s sovereignty that he places us in certain relationships to be his messenger. Every non-believer is asking themselves, “What difference does Jesus make in your life?” Rupert challenged us to dive into relationships with our neighbors and co-workers to show and share the love of Christ. We want to love others so sincerely that they can’t help but ask about Jesus without even having to mention His name.
As small group leaders, we must keep our eyes focused outward on evangelism opportunities if we expect our groups to do the same. Otherwise, our groups will naturally focus inward. It is our responsibility as small group leaders to lead by example as we share the Gospel. A chinese prover says: I hear, I forget; I see, I remember; I do and I understand. We need to do evangelism in front of our small group. Here are several handouts from this talk:
ET for Small Group (outline), GETTINGCONNECTED, Training Language
Eric Stortz, small groups associate, talked us through leading sermon-based discussions and using the Summit small group leader guides. Feel free to email him, estortz@summitrdu.com, for sources and advice on how to ask good questions. Here is the handout from that talk, which includes the sermon schedule for the next few weeks:
And finally, if you are looking to start your own group, we offered some training for you, which we’d be happy to replicate for you once you turn in this application:
New Small Group Leader Application
Small Groups, have a great 2011!!