In a recent post, Mark Howell discussed the pluses and minuses of sermon based small groups.
Although sermon based small groups is an idea that’s been around for many years, it was recently brought back into the limelight by Larry Osborne’s book, Sticky Church. “Mark Howell is the founder of SmallGroupResources.net, helping churches across North America launch, build and sustain healthy small group ministries.” Here’s a summary of what he said.
Advantages of Sermon-Based:
- The key advantage is probably that they do allow further discussion of the pastor’s message.
- Another very powerful advantage is that it narrows the focus down to one conversation (in the small group and in the church). Rather than group members hearing one concept on Sunday and another in their group meeting, they are allowed to focus on one thing at a time.
- Because groups are using a curriculum that takes the pastor’s message another step, it provides a great incentive to mention what members will be talking about in the week ahead (i.e., “in your groups this week you’ll be focusing on how to take this next step.”). Where some pastors find it difficult to actively integrate references to small groups into every message, sermon-based can make it easier to connect the dots.
- Every Sunday focus on the importance of being in a group where “you’ll have the opportunity to dig deeper into this topic” often encourages many to at least try out the idea of being part of a group.
Disadvantages:
Every strategy has both advantages and disadvantages. Here are a few disadvantages you should be aware of:
- A church-wide application of the strategy can limit additional hooks in the water. That is, when all the groups are using the same material it doesn’t give as many opportunities (topics) for an unconnected person to consider.
- There is an art to writing good sermon-based discussion guides. Without the right person on the team, the discussion will simply be a closer examination of the information…without true application.
- It can be more difficult for an outsider (a friend, neighbor or co-worker) to jump into a group that is discussing something that everyone else has already started thinking about.
Some interesting points to consider. Our Grace Group moves back and forth. At times we follow the sermons and use the “big idea” studies that are provided and at other times we focus on other areas of study.
What about your group …
- Are you primarily a sermon based group??
- What are you currently studying?
- Are any of your groups sermon based??