Small Group Sunday – “A Place to be Known” 

We kick off another season of small groups at Cape Cod Church with “Small Group Sunday” and our annual Small Group Connector. You may have never thought about joining a group, or you may have ruled it out because of any number of objections, but it just may be that small groups offer the very things you come to church to get – but can’t really get just by sitting in a seat at church for an hour on Sundays. Surveys show that those things are: to be a part of a community, to become “a better person,” and to find and fulfill a higher purpose in life. Turns out, those things are exactly what our small groups are best at.

1.  CONNECT and be Known (James 5:16)

• James, Jesus’ oldest brother, ended up as the “senior pastor” of the original Christian church in Jerusalem. After many of the Jewish Christians were driven out of Jerusalem and Judea and re-formed into “small groups,” James wrote them the letter that bears his name and told them to do something that seems somewhat unusual: “confess your sins to each other and pray for each other.”
• Most of us are hesitant to “confess our sins to each other” – i.e., to be totally transparent with each other – but that level of transparency is really required in order to bind people together into close community. Only by allowing myself to be “fully known” can I hope to connect in intimate community with others. That rarely happens on Sunday mornings, but happens routinely in weekly small groups.
• That kind of community, James says, is so close that its members all know exactly how to pray for each other; they know the trials and difficulties and tests each other is going through, and can not only pray for each other, but assist and support and encourage each other – leading to “healing.”

2. GROW and be Transformed (Galatians 6:2-3) some text
   • Writing to the small churches he planted in the province of Galatia, the Apostle Paul told these “small groups” to “share each other’s burdens, and in this way fulfill the Law of Christ.” Back in chapter 5, he’d already told them what he believed ‘the Law of Christ’ to be: to love your neighbor as yourself.
   • Growing spiritually and becoming a “better person” is all about becoming more and more like Jesus – and learning to love others as he did. That happens best in small groups, as we study the Bible (his story) to learn about him and his teachings, while also putting his teachings into practice real-time as we learn to love and serve those (sometimes odd, sometimes difficult) people in our small group. 
3. SERVE and be Fulfilled (Hebrews 10:24-25) some text
   • The writer of Hebrews gets right to the point about what our purpose is as followers of Jesus, and why it’s so important that we pursue that purpose with groups of others: “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.”
   • Being a member of a small group is ultimately about fulfilling our purpose as Jesus’ followers; it’s about encouraging each other to become more and more like Jesus so that we can become more useful to him, thereby attracting more and more people to know and trust and love him as we do.       

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE

These passages may provide additional insights related to the subject of this week’s message. All verses are NLT unless otherwise noted.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-13; Acts 2:42-47; Galatians 5:13-14; Colossians 1:9-10; 1 Peter 4:10-11; 2 Peter 1:5-8

Video of the Week: The Royal Priesthood by the Bible Project

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

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1. Thinking back to the first time you joined a church small group, why did you join one? Or if you’ve never been in a small group, what keeps you from joining one?

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2. In your small group experience (assuming you have one), which is the most important benefit to you of being in a group – connecting in community, growing spiritually, or serving others? Explain your answer. 

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3. Read James 5:16 again. James says that “confessing our sins to each other” is the key to building close, healthy community among followers of Jesus. How have you seen that work in the small group context?

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4. What keeps us from “confessing our sins to each other” as followers of Jesus – i.e., being fully transparent with each other?  How do we overcome those obstacles?

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5. Why is it so easy to think of “spiritual growth” as simply knowing more and more about what the Bible says and means? What’s wrong with that idea?

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6. Overall, in what ways does being a part of a church small group help me fulfill my ultimate purpose as a follower of Jesus?  

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