{"id":31118,"date":"2022-09-10T15:17:35","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:17:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/your-small-groups-worst-enemy-during-covid-19-and-5-things-to-do-about-it\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:17:35","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:17:35","slug":"your-small-groups-worst-enemy-during-covid-19-and-5-things-to-do-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/your-small-groups-worst-enemy-during-covid-19-and-5-things-to-do-about-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Small Group\u2019s Worst Enemy During COVID-19\u2014and 5 Things to Do About It"},"content":{"rendered":"
Laurent Perren photo – Unsplash <\/p>\n

By Ken Braddy<\/em><\/p>\n

A pair of pilots flew 297 passengers from New Zealand to Antarctica on a sightseeing journey. They were supposed to see beautiful mountain ranges and all kinds of wonderful topography. They did\u2014right up to the moment the plane flew into the side of a mountain.<\/p>\n

It was later determined that the pilot\u2019s flight calculations were off by two degrees. Just two degrees. And that slight amount of drift caused them to fly straight to their deaths. It doesn\u2019t take much drift to create a terrible situation.<\/p>\n

Drift. It is your group\u2019s worst enemy in COVID-19. In fact, it is your church\u2019s<\/em> worst enemy. And drift is almost imperceptible when it\u2019s taking place. That\u2019s what makes it so dangerous.<\/p>\n

There are people in your Bible study and in your church who are drifting away from your group, your church, and perhaps drifting away from the faith.<\/p>\n

To fight the drift taking place in COVID-19, you have several options. Here are five of them.<\/p>\n

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1. Contact the people on your group\u2019s ministry list regularly. <\/strong><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s awkward to reach out to people on your group\u2019s ministry list who\u2019ve been absent for an extended period of time. The only way to fight the awkwardness is to make sure the awkwardness doesn\u2019t happen in the first place.<\/p>\n

If absent group members are contacted quickly, they\u2019ll be less likely to drift away. <\/strong><\/p>\n

2. Organize your group into Care Groups.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Group leaders shouldn\u2019t feel the pressure of doing it all. Delegate the shepherding function to other leaders in your group who can become responsible for serving small groups within your group.<\/p>\n

Care group leaders\u2014people appointed to reach out to and provide care for other group members\u2014can do the bulk of the heavy lifting and help keep absent group members feeling connected to the larger group.<\/p>\n

3. Don\u2019t hang a label on absent members.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Your group members who are drifting are precious to the Lord. They should also be precious to you and your fellow group members. Don\u2019t let anyone look down on them; they may have legitimate reasons for being absent during COVID-19.<\/p>\n

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See also  What Sparks Evangelical Generosity? Discipleship<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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4. Welcome them back warmly.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Extend grace to your \u201cdrifters.\u201d Some will feel awkward and will wonder how they will be received if they show up again in the group. Encourage them to come back, welcome them warmly, and let them know they are welcome.<\/p>\n

5. Provide a study guide for every group member.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

You may want to look into LifeWay\u2019s Daily Discipleship Guide. It has five daily studies that follow the group\u2019s Bible study session.<\/p>\n

Delivering or mailing one to absent group members will give them a tool to help them stay engaged in God\u2019s Word daily. It is one way to fight the drift away from Bible study with the group.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s as critical as ever that we stay engaged with our group members. Not only are we in a pandemic, but we\u2019re also in full-swing holiday season when many are experiencing fear and anxiety. Don\u2019t let your group members fall through the cracks.<\/p>\n

KEN BRADDY (@kenbraddy)<\/strong> is LifeWay\u2019s Director of Sunday School and is a 30-year veteran of church education ministry. He is a blogger, author, and practitioner \u2013 serving a church in the Nashville area as its director of Sunday School and discipleship ministries. Ken also manages LifeWay\u2019s adult ongoing Bible study series. This article originally appeared on kenbraddy.com. <\/em><\/p>\n

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Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com<\/div>\n
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Breathing Life into Sunday School: 12 Essentials to Revive Your Most Important Ministry<\/h2>\n

Ken Braddy<\/p>\n

FIND OUT MORE <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Related posts:<\/h3>\n
What Do Pastors Believe About the End Times? What Do Pastors Believe About the Book of Revelation? 10 Goals for Your Small Groups This Year 3 Ways to Reach Non-Religious People in Your Community <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Laurent Perren photo – Unsplash By Ken Braddy A pair of pilots flew 297 passengers from New Zealand to Antarctica on a sightseeing journey. They were supposed to see beautiful mountain ranges and all kinds of wonderful topography. They did\u2014right up to the moment the plane flew into the side of a mountain. It was … Continue reading “Your Small Group\u2019s Worst Enemy During COVID-19\u2014and 5 Things to Do About It”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31118\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}