{"id":31683,"date":"2022-09-10T15:40:02","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/5-resolutions-for-invigorating-your-small-group-after-the-new-year\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:40:02","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:40:02","slug":"5-resolutions-for-invigorating-your-small-group-after-the-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/5-resolutions-for-invigorating-your-small-group-after-the-new-year\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Resolutions for Invigorating Your Small Group After the New Year"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p><em>By Ken Braddy<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Resolutions. Many of us make them at the first of the year as we attempt to invigorate our personal or professional lives.<\/p>\n<p>According to a recent Lifeway Research survey, there are some consistent topics people tend to address with resolutions each year:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Health (57%)<\/li>\n<li>Relationship with God (52%)<\/li>\n<li>Use of time (43%)<\/li>\n<li>Relationship with a family member (42%)<\/li>\n<li>Finances (37%)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>These aren\u2019t bad areas for resolutions. Many of us will once again make a few of these as we turn the corner into 2020.<\/p>\n<p>But what about your Bible study group?<\/p>\n<div class='code-block code-block-1' style='margin: 8px 0;clear: both'> <\/div>\n<p>If you had to make some New Year resolutions, what would you choose to do as a group to breathe some new life into it? On what would you focus your attention?<\/p>\n<p>How would you choose to invigorate your Bible study group?<\/p>\n<p>Whatever you choose to do as a group, make sure you\u2019re making SMART decisions. This is an acrostic which can serve as a guide for making resolutions that are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>S<\/strong>pecific: The goal needs to count.<\/li>\n<li><strong>M<\/strong>easurable: You need to know if you\u2019re winning or not.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A<\/strong>ttainable: Are your goals reasonable?<\/li>\n<li><strong>R<\/strong>esults-focused: Measure outcomes, not activity.<\/li>\n<li><strong>T<\/strong>ime-sensitive: Set target dates to create a sense of urgency.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>With all this in mind, then, let\u2019s think through some goals that would invigorate a Bible study group. We\u2019ll measure the goals against this SMART framework.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Resolution 1: Reach four new people for Bible study by the end of the first quarter<\/strong>.<\/h3>\n<p>Is this specific? Yes. Measurable? Yes. Attainable? Hopefully reaching four new people for Bible study is a reasonable goal! Results-focused? Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Time sensitive? Yes\u2014the group will do this by the end of the first 90 days of the new year.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Resolution 2: Engage the group in four service projects<\/strong>.<\/h3>\n<p>Is this specific? Yes. Measurable? Yes. Attainable? Yes. Results-focused? Yes. Time sensitive? No. So we should add the phrase \u201cby November 2020,\u201d or some other goal that creates a sense of urgency.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Resolution 3: Launch a new group by summer.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Specific? Yes. Measurable? Yes. Attainable? Should be. Results-focused? Yes\u2014the group is starting another group.<\/p>\n<p>Time-sensitive? Yes\u2014the group has six months to recruit a new group leader, encourage people to attend the new group, and promote the launch to the group and all of its absentee members.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Resolution 4: Establish a friendship with someone who does not regularly attend church<\/strong>.<\/h3>\n<p>Is the goal specific? Yes. Measurable? Yes\u2014each member of your group is looking to reach out to one person or family. Attainable? Yes\u2014this goal feels very reasonable. Is it results-focused? Yes. Time sensitive? No.<\/p>\n<div style=\"clear:both;margin-top:0em;margin-bottom:1em\">\n<div class=\"centered-text-area\">\n<div class=\"centered-text\" style=\"float: left\">\n<div class=\"u20da584720d23e905cc871352985f4d1-content\">See also&nbsp; 8 Ways to Persevere in Ministry<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ctaButton\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>So we need to go back and add a date by which this should be accomplished so that we generate a sense of urgency.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Resolution 5: Learn a gospel presentation that is simple, memorable, and shareable<\/strong> <strong>by February 1.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Is the goal specific? Yes, and clear\u2014learn a gospel presentation. Is it measurable? Yes\u2014you can know when you meet the goal. Attainable? Absolutely! Results-focused? Definitely. Time sensitive? Sure is \u2013 by February 1.<\/p>\n<p>This goal meets the SMART goal criteria.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll know best what goals and resolutions to make on behalf of your group. Do it together and come to a consensus about what things you\u2019ll do to resolve to do in the new year.<\/p>\n<p>Any of these, or a combination of these, can invigorate people and the group itself.<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few other resolutions you may want to consider as you think through your options:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Establish a regular fellowship each month.<\/li>\n<li>Serve outside the church in an ongoing ministry in the community, such as at a crisis pregnancy center, clothes closet, food pantry, etc.<\/li>\n<li>Contact every person on your group\u2019s ministry list, inviting them to future Bible studies, and checking in on absentees you haven\u2019t seen in a while.<\/li>\n<li>Share the gospel with a specific number of people each quarter, month, or week.<\/li>\n<li>Involve a percentage of your group members in ministry to the preschoolers, children, and students in your church \u2013 serve on campus.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Let your imagination loose. Get input. Make SMART resolutions this year. You\u2019ll be glad you did.<\/p>\n<p><strong>KEN BRADDY (@kenbraddy)<\/strong>&nbsp;<em>is the&nbsp;director of Sunday School&nbsp;at Lifeway and disciples a group of adults at his church in Shelbyville, Tennessee. He is the&nbsp;author of several books, including&nbsp;<\/em>Breathing Life Into Sunday School. <em>He blogs regularly about Sunday school and groups at kenbraddy.com.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"su-box su-box-style-default\" id=\"\" style=\"border-color:#000000;border-radius:0px\">\n<div class=\"su-box-title\" style=\"background-color:#333333;color:#FFFFFF;border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px\">Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-box-content su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"border-bottom-left-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px\">\n<div class=\"one-third first\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"two-thirds\">\n<h2>Breathing Life into Sunday School: 12 Essentials to Revive Your Most Important Ministry<\/h2>\n<p>Ken Braddy<\/p>\n<p>  FIND OUT MORE <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class='yarpp yarpp-related yarpp-related-website yarpp-template-thumbnails'>\n<h3>Related posts:<\/h3>\n<div class=\"yarpp-thumbnails-horizontal\">  New Year\u2019s Resolutions Focus on Health, God and Money  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":"<p>By Ken Braddy Resolutions. Many of us make them at the first of the year as we attempt to invigorate our personal or professional lives. According to a recent Lifeway Research survey, there are some consistent topics people tend to address with resolutions each year: Health (57%) Relationship with God (52%) Use of time (43%) &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/5-resolutions-for-invigorating-your-small-group-after-the-new-year\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;5 Resolutions for Invigorating Your Small Group After the New Year&#8221;<\/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-31683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31683","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=31683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31683\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}