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the ONWARD JOURNEY April 26th, 2009
Save the date: Sunday PM, April 26th, 6:00PM to 7:30PM, CCC Atrium
Who is naturally emerging? Before diving into the summer months all Journey Group leaders will be gathering for the ONWARD JOURNEY. We look forward to seeing you and potential Journey Group leaders you invite to the ONWARD JOURNEY. We will celebrate what God is doing in the discipleship pathways of CCC and hear from Lead Pastor Mark Ashton on Journey Group leadership.
Please RSVP (you and whomever else necessary) to journeygroup@cccomaha.org for this exciting event!
NOTE: If you’re JG meets on Sunday PM, please arrange your JG calendar and curriculum with this gathering on your calendar and notify your JG in advance.
JG leaders and this opportunity
Cosmic Fingerprints
A couple of suggestions here on how you can help us promote Cosmic Fingerprints. The very best thing you can do is decide to go yourself! Till you’re over that hump, it’s hard to invite anyone else!
Now that that’s settled… what’s a good strategy for multiplying my impact as a leader? The next best thing you can do is ask your Journey Group about it next time you meet. Tap your group and find out who is excited about it and why. Ask the group to be praying for the event. Encourage everyone to think about who they can invite.
Look up tips for reaching out on the Spiritual Discovery Blog at: http://cccomaha.org/spiritualDiscovery/blog/index.php
Make a good ask this week, then follow-up on it next week! The easiest ask is to the Friday night Fingerprints Coffee house in the gym. If the person you invite is really, really interested, don’t hesitate to invite them for the whole weekend!
Last…a few FAQs we’re getting that you may want to clarify with your group:
1-Friday night’s coffee house is free! No need to register, just come on out, listen to David Potter for a while, grab some coffee and tune in.
2-Saturday’s workshop is not free! Check out the registration tool at the bottom of the event page on the web: http://cccomaha.org/events/cosmic.php
3-The workshop adult track (college age and up) is $30 and the youth track (jr high and high school) is $20. A couple of breaks on the cost are being offered. The max a family will pay is $50 (everyone over one adult and one kid is free). Also, if you or your kids invite a seeker, we want to make their registration a gift to them. E-mail Tim Perry and request a guest pass or pick one up at the Atrium this Sunday.
4-Feel free to call, e-mail or swing by the booth in the Atrium and talk to Tim Perry if you have questions. timp@cccomaha.org .
The spiritual discovery blog has a few different threads on who will be presenting at Cosmic Fingerprints, how to leverage the opportunity, etc. I encourage you to check it out. As a Journey Group leader you might catch a few questions that you'll want to be ready to answer.
no JG training / gathering this Saturday 3/21/09
Journey Group leaders, please get out your calendar / iphone / blackberry...
There will be no Journey Group leadership meeting on March 21st, 2009 (this Saturday) - please spread the word to your natural relational network of other JG leaders. Please also note that the April date has also been change from April 25th (cross that one off) to the evening of April 26th (put that date on your radar).
We are making these decisions for a variety of reasons. More description and details will be explained in upcoming posts.
tips from the other guys out there
Since I wear the Journey Group hat around here I'm always looking for what we need to do next, how to lead better, what changes do we need to make (even though some people hate that word..."change"), what are our groups really doing, are RISKS disciples really being formed in our midst, etc.
Here are a few things that Craig Groeschel, Lead Pastor of LifeChurch.tv said recently on a blog post. Thought I'd share them with you, the other fearless leaders on the frontlines of Journey Group realities...
Elements of a Successful Group from LifeChurch.tv : swerve by Craig Groeschel
Over the years, Amy and I have participated in several different small groups. Some were much more successful than others.
Here are the elements we’ve found essential for a great group:
1. A great group needs a leader. When everyone is always voting on what we do next, we never do much. A good leader makes for a good group.
2. A great group is built around God’s word. Too often, small groups become all about fellowship. While fellowship is always essential, doing life around God’s word is what truly makes the difference.
3. A great group is a safe group. If people can’t discuss openly without fear of judgment, rejection, or gossip, the group is doomed to fail.
4. A great group looks outward. Serving together is life-changing.
5. A great group births new groups. If a group stays together for too long, they usually grow stale. Healthy groups produce new groups.
6. A great group takes breaks. We often take the summer off from consistent meetings. We’re all busy. The break makes us long to be together more.
7. A great group hurts together. I just got off the phone after talking to a young woman with four children who just lost her 39-year-old husband. Even though she is devastated, she told me confidently that her Life Group would be there for her. God is glorified through such a group.
Have you been part of a successful small group? What do you think made that group successful?
Sharing the wealth as I reflect...dusty
questions are everything
When we intentionally disciple people we need both the art and the science of good questions. The art is discerning where the Holy Spirit might be taking your disciple-making conversation, and the science is having a business card-back-pocket guide to questions that are always worth asking. A good conversation can turn into a great conversation based on one question or a series of questions pertaining to real time discipleship.
When we ask good questions we are simply:
- meeting people where they are truly at
- creating space for self discovery
- not talking down to a person
- able to diagnose where people are at spiritually
- finding out if they are “in” or “out” on following Jesus as Lord (not just Savior)
- allowing people to recognize their potential
- creating space for people to verbalize (out loud) what they are thinking
- opening doors for the Holy Spirit
- probing or raising issues that can lead to transformation
- allowing people to speak to themselves
As a disciple-maker, one of the biggest challenges during Q and A is the A – really listening. Before you ask a question two things need to be at the forefront of your mind: 1) listen to the answer without jumping in with advice, and 2) answer it yourself (for sure in your mind and out loud if necessary).
Below are 20 questions that can lead to intentional discipleship. As always, the goal is never to use a textbook approach to disciple-making or read the questions off of a peice of paper over a cup of coffee. Rather, discern where God wants to challenge those that He has you in relationship with for His purposes and be ready with something to guide a decent conversation.
- What is your biggest challenge right now as a follower of Jesus?
- Where is God really shaping your character right now?
- What spiritual disciplines are you currently focusing on?
- How are you really doing right now? Are you stressed, challenged, overwhelmed, confused, etc? Why?
- (If married) In all honesty, how is your marriage going right now?
- (If married) Are you communicating with your spouse as much as you are with other people, work, church, etc? When was your last date?
- What are some things (maybe good things) in your life that you need to stop doing?
- Do you have more critics or cheerleaders in your life right now? Is that healthy? Why?
- When was the last time you felt the Holy Spirit show up in your life in a unique way? Was it too long ago? What did you learn from that experience? How did it shape you?
- Are you resting regularly / taking the Sabbath idea seriously?
- Who are some non-Christ followers in your life right now? What are you doing to help move them towards the Gospel?
- Do you feel like you’re being a good son/daughter right now? What could you do to honor your mother and father this week?
- What are you learning about yourself right now?
- What are you currently reading these days? What is so interesting about it?
- (If in your small group) To date, what has been your best group time experience? Why? How long ago was that?
- What are some of your deepest prayers right now? Where are you asking God to show up? How can be interceding with you on these things?
- How is your financial life these days? (dangerous for 2009!)
- What are you currently doing to serve people outside of your established friendships? (city/world)
- What temptations are you facing? How are you responding under these pressures?
- How is God revealing himself to your through Scripture? What particular passages are you identifying with recently? Why?
leadership gathering this friday night 2/20
How is your Journey Group goin? What challenges are you facing? What triumphs are you excited about? Who in your group is experiencing real life transformation?
This friday night, February 20th, Journey Group leaders are gathering at the CCC Old Mill site for discipleship focused conversations, leader to leader interaction, and a chance to fill your tank on mindset and skillset ideas when it comes to small group dynamics.
When: Friday night, 7 to 9PM (light desserts provided)
Where: CCC Old Mill FLC 141-145 (the Herd room)
What: Thoughts around chapter 6 of Choose the Life (come even if you haven't read) along with tools for your Journey Group toolbox based on the art and science of good questions.
every week DNA with a week off
As many of you know, in conjunction with the second busiest time of the year for Journey Group interest at CCC, Jaci I launched a new Journey Group at the start of the new 2009 calendar year.
The format that we're using is awesome for so many reasons...
DAY FREQUENCY
We meet every Tuesday night, except for the first Tuesday of the month. In other words, we meet 3 times a month. Considering the 4 months out of the year that have 5 weeks we'll do something different around serving the local community or just go do something different... In our experience, we've decided that this is a perfect format for two main reasons: 1) it is consistent week to week/easy to plan for, and thus creates some consistent community along with week to week discipleship conversations, 2) it puts a scheduled "breather" on the radar for everyone in the group.
DURATION
7PM to 8:30PM / 90 minutes of "official" time
Also, if everyone shows up for our Journey Group with their kids, we have a great night. Check out the post titled "17 kids without (much) chaos" for the format on how we tackle the "childcare/kid thing."
FEB 20th 7 to 9PM
As explained at our Accelerate breakout and at this link: Journey Group Leadership Development. We will be switching things up with our leadership development approach.
Please put this date and time on your calendar:
Friday night
February 20th
7 to 9PM
(room TBD...check back)
super bowl = super easy
17 kids without (much) chaos
Yesterday, two different church leaders asked me how to pull off a decent Journey Group...so here it is on the blog (of course). What do you with the kids? How can it all really work?
Last night, Tuesday, from 7 to 8:30 (official time) our Journey Group met in our not so large house, so I'll use my JG as one model. 13 adults and 17 kids make up the DNA of our group and so far it works! I'm convinced it works for one simple reason/word - "order".
If adults are going to have some decent conversations around life and godliness then we can't be dealing with kids all the time, and if there are kids there than we can't meet forever either, so we set some parameters. We officially meet for an hour and a half (7 to 8:30PM). Here's the adult Journey Group breakdown and the Journey Group children breakdown:
JOURNEY GROUP AND THE CLOCK:
"Decaf anyone?" (the 1st half hour)
As the leaders, Jaci and I (mostly Jaci) use the first 25 to 30 minutes to create welcoming atmosphere. We let the people create the community - it's only natural that way. Certain people talk all the time, certain people "love" this part of the group, etc. The unoffical time is where things (relationally) really happen. It also takes a few mintues to get the kids settled/established, etc.
"Let's gather in the living room." (the 2nd half hour)
As the leader, this is where I always realize the clock is tickin. I gather people in the living room and dive into some intentional conversations around spiritual topics, life stories in the group, recent issues, etc. In other words, this is the pivot point of the evening - the growth part - the challenge my socks off part.
"So what do we do with this?" (the 3rd half hour)
No matter what you talk about you have to "land the plane." As the leader, I have to take the conversation from spiritual talk to life application. We all know that there are lots of decent studies and curriculum, but what does it mean for the people in my group? As the leader, the application part, the rubber meets the road part, is my job. I'm pretty hard on myself in this area. If we can walk a good dance between intentional discipleship and community, then I've done my job. BUT intentional discipleship hinges on good application of whatever in the world we've been talking about. How does this stuff change my life? And yes...as always...don't ask application type of questions without being able to pin the tail on yourself as the leader. I gotta lead it in character and in discussion.
JOURNEY GROUP AND THE KID'S:
My amazing wife is a genius on this stuff. We had to have a plan if we were going to have potentially 17 kids (only two of them 13...the oldest two) at our house AND try to talk about something significant at the same time. Here's how it goes:
All kids in the basement with 2 babysitters - 13 year old girls. Parents (not us) pay $2 per kid to the babysitter. Small cost to the parent and decent payment to babysitter for her/their time.
Parents have to take care of bathroom issues/diaper issues, and large discipline issues. Other than that, babysitters are in charge and call the shots.
Schedule for kiddos:
7:00 - 7:40PM free time
7:40PM snack
7:40 - 8:20PM activity / intentional time led by babysitter
8:20 - 8:30PM clean up time