Steve Gladen - Small Groups With Purpose: How to Create Healthy Communities

2011 by Steve Gladen

Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com

E-book edition created 2011

Ebook corrections 01.02.2013

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ISBN 9781441232137

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To the small group point people around the world. You are my heroes! You slug it out day in and day out to build health in your church. Yours is the hidden ministry most people never see, but never forget this: God sees it!

Contents

by Rick Warren

Small groups are the heart of Saddleback Church. They are the source of our churchs health and growth. Small groups are the center of our discipleship, the structure of our ministry, the launch pad of our evangelism, the enrichment of our worship, and the network of our fellowship.

In 1980, when I was a twenty-five-year-old following Gods leading to Southern California to begin a new church, there was so much I didnt know. I didnt know how Kay and I would feed ourselves and our four-month-old baby. I didnt know where wed live, let alone where we would hold our first worship service. One thing I did know, however, was that this church would be built on relationships.

The first person I invited to attend was the very first person I metthe Realtor who found us a condo to rent. Two weeks later we held our first Bible study in the living room of that condo. There were seven of us. Like most churches, we began as a small group. Today, thirty years later, Saddleback members meet weekly in more than 3,500 small groups. From the start, groups have been our strategy for assimilation and discipleship.

Christlike churches have one thing in common: they find a way to meet the needs of the people God has placed in their ministry areas. People are hungry for love, purpose, and life transformation, and I know of no better structure than a small group where this happens naturally and personally. Thats why churches must grow larger and smaller at the same timelarger through evangelism and smaller through fellowship structures.

Over the years, our styles and methods have changed to meet the changing needs of our community. But what has not changed is our gospel message of Gods grace and the universal human need for relationships. Even in the perfect Garden of Eden, God said, It is not good for man to be alone. Groups meet that longing for belonging.

I always tell new attenders at Saddleback, You will not really feel connected to Saddleback until you join and participate in a small group. Of course, people know this in a larger church, but I believe it is also true in smaller churches. It is impossible to feel truly connected to a crowd, even if that crowd is only fifty people. Crowds are great for worship, but they simply cannot provide personal attention, encouragement, prayer support, a listening ear, and accountability. I need those things. So do the people of your church. So do you.

In The Purpose Driven Church, I wrote, The key to a healthy church, just like a healthy body, is balance. Balance is also the key to a healthy small group ministry. And in this long-awaited book, Saddlebacks brilliant pastor of small groups shares the biblical strategy, the secrets, the failures, and the lessons behind the remarkable growth of our small groups. Saddleback may possibly be the only church in America that consistently has thousands more people attend weekly Bible study in groups than attend our weekend services. So much of that is due to the genius of Steve Gladen, a pastor with a passionate heart for Jesus and his body.

Today our world is facing five global giants: spiritual emptiness, egocentric leadership, extreme poverty, pandemic diseases, and lack of education. The public and private sectors have failed to eradicate these crippling problems. The only organization large enough and powerful enough to take on these problems is the global network of Christian churches that exists in every corner of the worldspecifically, the small groups of people within those churches. These small groups can work to Promote reconciliation, Equip servant leaders, Assist the poor, Care for the sick, and Educate the next generation. We call it the P.E.A.C.E. plan, and we invite you to join us!

Imagine an army of people composed of small groups from your church spreading across the world to do just that. In the past five years, Saddleback Church has sent out over 14,000 of our members to everynation of the world195 nationsthrough the P.E.A.C.E. plan. How were we able to mobilize such an army? Two words: small groups!

If you are not harnessing and directing the latent energy of your members for the Great Commission and great commandment, your church will never be the church that God intends, and your people will never reach their God-intended maturity in Christ. So I invite you not just to read this book, but to study it with your leaders and adopt the biblical structures of temple courts and house to house, as the book of Acts repeatedly mentions. It will change your people. It will change your church. It will change your community. It can change the world!

Rick Warren, Saddleback Church

Many thanks to:

The senior pastors who have played a huge role in my life before Saddleback Church: Gene Speich, Paul Currie, George Smith, Charles Blair, Jason Garcia, and Larry DeWitt. Thanks for your role in shaping me for kingdom service.

Rick and Kay Warren, who have poured into me since 1983 without even knowing it. Your constant dedication to ministry, pastoral families, and the health of the church are overwhelming. You are the same on the platform as you are in person. Your sacrifice makes this book possible and the small group ministry of Saddleback Church what it is. I wish everyone could get a glimpse of the pastor I know day in and day out. You are my pastor. Thanks for leading!