Three reasons to be excited about leading your small group

The gears are grinding. The wheels are turning. The phone calls are made. The emails fly around. As the new term starts the small-group programme is swinging into action in your local church.

Many of us who lead small groups, however, might be heaving an involuntary sigh as we step on the treadmill that will grind on until we are drinking eggnog round the tree at Christmas. We will be concerned about how to raise the enthusiasm of less committed members. We will be wondering how we will cope with those "problem" people who sap so much of our time and energy - for so little seeming result.

So here's a few thoughts as you start the new season to give you a renewed vision for your work:

1. Your small groups are utterly, utterly vital for the life of your church.

Genuine Christian fellowship can rarely happen effectively at a church meeting. In 20 minutes over a cup of coffee, we might be able to offer a word of encouragement, or pick up a piece of news. But with children racing around your ankles, and lunch waiting to burn in the oven - it is rarely the place for establishing proper friendships or the kind of nurturing friendships that constitute the horizontal relationships that make a church "real". That has to happen outside of formal church gatherings. As a friend put it - there are so many things about church that you cannot experience, if you only show up on Sunday.

And a small group is the place for that. For study and application, yes. But also for pastoral care; for sharing news; for specific personal encouragement; for asking and answering questions; for the giving and receiving of advice; for praying together over things that are of deep concern to us. If you want to experience church all these aspects of what church is and should be - then the small group is the place for you.

2. Your small group is the place where people grow.

It might be called all kinds of things - a fellowship group, a house group, a Bible study group, or a prayer group. These titles all describe what a group does or where it meets. Many churches now call them Growth Groups because this describes what the intended outcome of the group is. People who have grown in their understanding of the gospel, or their devotion to Christ, or their skills in discipleship, or the intelligence and zeal of their evangelism.

The hearing of expository preaching from the Bible, and the experience of corporate worship is vitally important for nurturing growth, but the space to reflect on what we have heard, and to bring that word to bear in specific practical ways on our lives is also a vital part of the process.

It may seem to you as a leader that you are just turning a Bible-study handle, or praying, yet again, for someone's sick Auntie. But if the Word of God is being shared and applied, we can trust that God's Spirit is doing his work of growing Jesus' disciples as you spend time together. What a privilege!

3. Your small group is part of the worldwide work that God is doing.

It may sometimes feel parochial and pathetic. It may feel small and lacking in impact. We may be annoyed or depressed when people fail to show up, seem indifferent to the group, or when they leave for good. But Jesus is building his worldwide church. As you sit and talk and read and pray, you are joining with countless millions worldwide who are bowing the knee to King Jesus. You are part of the only worldwide movement that will only ever grow until the world ends. We place our trust in the promises of God whether things are going well or badly. "I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16 v 18)