How to Change the World - Join a Small Group

What happened on Sept. 11 shows us that Satan is following a small group strategy for changing the world.

The horrifying events that happened that day dramatically demonstrate the power of belonging to a small group. A little band of obscure men dedicated their lives to a misguided ideal, worked together in small groups, and succeeded in changing the world - but they changed the world for the worse. They brought death and destruction, pain and agony.

But world-changing message of the Gospel is that Jesus Christ came to change the world for the better; he came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. He came to bring us back to God.

It is significant that, of all the methods and strategies Jesus could have chosen for spreading his message of life to the world, he chose a small group strategy.

Mark 3:13ff

Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve — designating them apostles — that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.

Jesus gathered together a small band of disciples – 12 to be exact. He called them for a particular purpose: to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and have spiritual authority. We cannot be effective for Jesus unless we have been spending time with Jesus.

In his times together with them, Jesus taught them; he shepherded them; he prayed for them; he loved them. It was small groups ministry. Then he sent them out to do the same thing with others. Within a generation the whole world had been turned “upside down” by the transforming message of the Gospel.

In our culture, we have become accustomed to “bigness”; to doing things in a big way:

• We go to big malls to shop; the bigger the mall, the better we like it

• We go to big events – hockey games, conferences, and concerts – that are held in big venues, and the bigger the crowd, the better it is.

• Increasingly, Christians are going to big churches – mega-churches, which offer a full line of services and programs, and can put on fabulous services with the very highest production values.

But in the midst of all this “bigness”, we cannot lose sight of the fact that the most powerful experiences in our lives happen in small groups. Howard Hendricks has said “You can impress people from a distance, but you can only impact them from up close.” You can have a great time in a big church service, but you cannot grow as a Christian if that’s the sum total of your spiritual experience.

Jesus ministered to the masses, he preached to the crowds, but he poured his life into his small group. And the further he went in his public ministry, the more time he gave to that little group of disciples. Because he knew that that was where the real growth was going to come. That was where his real impact was going to be felt.

In a small group, you’ll find some of the most important things all human beings are searching for: meaningful friendships, a place to feel safe and open with others who care about you; a way to serve and make a difference in other people’s lives. These are some of the key ingredients that make life worth living!

Think of some of the most exciting and meaningful experiences which have impacted your life – I’ll bet that in some way they involved your being part of a small group.

• a championship sports team

• the cast of a successful dramatic production, or a musical group

• a wilderness survival experience

• a task force working on a big project for your company – overcoming insurmountable obstacles to get the job done

• in the armed services – in a bomber crew or on a ship’s crew

• a ministry team – a missions trip, or a worship team, or a camp staff.

Q. What was it about those experiences that made them so exhilarating – that drew you out of yourself and made you more than you ever thought you could be? It was the sense of belonging that you had; the sense that everyone was important; everyone had a vital job to do, and that the destiny of the whole group depended on each person pulling his or her weight.

There’s a special dynamic that happens when small groups get together. It’s called “synergy” and the best way to describe it in terms of a small group is that the whole ends up being greater than the sum of its parts.

You look at a championship hockey team – like the Toronto Maple Leafs of the mid-1960’s. I grew up in Montreal and rooted for the Montreal Canadiens. And the Toronto Maple Leafs of the mid-60’s were the bane of our existence. They didn’t have the best individual players at each position; they didn’t have the scoring leaders or the all-stars. But something happened when they got out on the ice together – something that made them rise to a higher level than they could ever reach on their own. They had synergy.

And in a Christian small group, that synergy comes from the Lord Jesus Christ – he brings us into connection with God as we pray and study His Word. He gives us a supernatural sense of belonging to one another. We are all part of his family and he is the head. You cannot be part of such a small group without being powerfully impacted.

One of the greatest things that we need as human beings is a sense of “connection” – a sense that we matter to each other. We need to know that there are people out there who care about us. The WTC disaster was a clear example of this, as people roamed the streets in tears, looking for their friends and family members who were missing.

And conversely, just as we have a basic human need to be loved and be cared for, we also need to be able to demonstrate love and care for others. We need to be able to give and to serve others in order to find true meaning and happiness in life.

And where do we find these things? In a small group.

Not long ago, we had a very difficult family situation to deal with. My wife’s sister, who lives in Buffalo, was in an abusive marriage. She realized, after struggling with that for many years, that she and her two little girls were going to have to leave. But in needing to leave, they needed help.

So we went down to Buffalo and in the middle of the night, while the husband was at work, we moved her and her belongings to another place – a place where she and the girls could be safe.

As her family we helped her. But there were other people who voluntarily showed up to help her as well that night – the members of her small group at church.

You know it takes a lot of commitment to roll up your sleeves and help someone to move. That’s hard work! It takes even more commitment to be willing to do it in the middle of the night! To lose a night’s sleep. But her small group showed up to help her because they were the people who cared about her.

And that showed me again just how important small groups are in the local church. Small groups are where faith and love becomes real.

Remember in Jesus’ small group, they had gathered together to eat the last supper. What did Jesus do? He took off his outer garment, wrapped a towel around his waist, poured water into a basin and went around and washed each of his disciples’ feet.

And when he had finished doing that he put his outer robes back on, sat down, and said “If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”

Small groups are where we can wash one another’s feet. Where we can help wipe off the dust and the dirt that accumulates from everyday living, and minister to one another in a loving way.

I believe that the true, lasting, life-changing impact of a church is not to be found in what kind of facilities they have; in whether or not they have a fancy building and a spacious parking lot. Nor is it to be found in their worship services; whether or not they have highly polished services featuring the greatest in music and drama and multi-media. Nor is to be found in the preaching; because I have found that people tend to forget what the preacher said 10 minutes after he said it.

The true lasting impact of a church is to be found in its small groups. And when you look back in your own Christian growth, I think that you will find that that is true. The greatest spiritual impact in your life has come from just a few significant relationships.

We live in a world that is in desperate need of hope, security, and love. Jesus Christ came to give us those things, and they are best experienced in small groups.

We have been working to launch a comprehensive small groups ministry here at Erindale. Our support team has been working for almost a year now in doing this. It has been our goal to see 80% of our congregation involved in small groups by September 2001. Over the past several months, we have had leadership training opportunities, sessions where we discussed what kind of small groups we need.

And now it’s time to launch our small groups ministry. Today, we wanted to give you an opportunity to see what’s available. It may be that you are already part of a small group and want to continue in that small group. That’s great! You can use the next few minutes to familiarize yourself with some of the other small groups that are starting up this fall so that you can pray for them.

But it may be that you are not presently part of a small group and you would like to join one. The next few minutes of our service will give you an opportunity to see what’s available. We have groups on all sorts of topics, but all of them have Jesus Christ at the center.

I’m going to ask our small groups leaders and assistant leaders to stand up now and go to their posters around the auditorium.

Now we’re going to take ____ minutes and allow you to get up out of your seat, and circulate around and see what’s available. Talk to the group leaders and get a feel for what the group will be like. And if you’d like to sign up for a group today, you can do that, too.

I’ll call us back together at 12 p.m. for a final announcement and then we’ll close our service in prayer. But now please get up and circulate.

Final Announcement

I’d like to ask the small group leaders if they would remain by their posters for a few minutes following the close of the service. Our Sunday School teachers would also like to have a chance to see what’s available, and there may be others who would like to speak with you concerning your small group.

Closing Prayer