{"id":31107,"date":"2022-09-10T15:17:09","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/3-strategies-to-keep-people-coming-back-to-your-small-group\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:17:09","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:17:09","slug":"3-strategies-to-keep-people-coming-back-to-your-small-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/3-strategies-to-keep-people-coming-back-to-your-small-group\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Strategies to Keep People Coming Back to Your Small Group"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Ken Braddy<\/em><\/p>\n

A weekend baseball tournament for teenagers. A change in work schedule. An invitation to play golf with the boss.<\/p>\n

There are some things that will keep your group members from attending your Bible study group. Those things are out of your control. My advice? Don\u2019t worry about it because you can\u2019t control the forces at work in people\u2019s lives, especially during a pandemic and the different levels of disruption it can bring.<\/p>\n

It would be better to focus on things you can control that keep them coming back to your Bible study group. These three things take away some excuses people have for arriving late or for not attending at all\u2014whether your group is meeting in person or virtually.<\/p>\n

1. Start on time. <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Not starting on time is one of the reasons why people avoid a Bible study, or why they casually come to the group study late.<\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t it curious that people can drop kids off at school on time, attend meetings on time, get to work on time, make it to a movie on time, get their kids to sports practices on time, and yet when it comes to Bible study they can\u2019t (or more accurately, won\u2019t<\/em>) arrive on time?<\/p>\n

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If you, the group leader, don\u2019t start on time, then you\u2019ve trained them to arrive late. Why punish those in your group who are sitting there, having arrived on time? <\/em>It\u2019s one of the most insulting things you could do to those people who respect the posted start time of your group and are waiting for the others to finally get there.<\/p>\n

If you start on time, you\u2019ll find that people will adjust their schedules. William Shakespeare said, \u201cBetter three hours too soon, than one minute too late.\u201d Being late doesn\u2019t help anyone, so my preference is to either start on time, or just a bit early.<\/p>\n

People will appreciate the stance you take, and in time they will come around to the \u201cnew normal\u201d of starting right on time.<\/p>\n

2. Don\u2019t waste time.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

During the Bible study, keep things on track. The key here is balance. Don\u2019t let any one element dominate the others, thereby wasting time that you need for the other elements in your Bible study time.<\/p>\n

If you have an over-talker in your group (see my article on how to deal with that) you must handle that situation so they do not dominate and waste the time of everyone in your group.<\/p>\n

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See also  Is It \u2018Ministry Failure\u2019 To See a Counselor?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Don\u2019t talk about sports, the weather, and politics; people aren\u2019t there for that. Instead, do what we used to call \u201ctotal period teaching.\u201d That means that everything that happens during the group\u2019s time together is driving toward the completion of the teaching objective for that session. And that always means you don\u2019t have time to waste.<\/p>\n

3. End on time<\/strong>.<\/h3>\n

Almost as important as the first item in this list, ending on time is vital to the long-term health of your group. People want to know you\u2019ll honor their time commitment, but not encroach upon other things they have planned that day.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll always overlook a slightly extended Bible study experience, but they will not tolerate you regularly waxing eloquent and chewing up 10-15 minutes of time when the group\u2019s study should have already ended. If you manage the first two items above, this one won\u2019t be a problem.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t manage this one, you\u2019ll find people will do one of four things:<\/p>\n