Sermon-based small groups foster effective discipleship, speaker says

Pastors and church leaders attending a small groups seminar at the SBTC offices in Grapevine on Jan. 13 were encouraged to reinforce expository preaching with sermon-based small groups.

Presenter Alan Stoddard, executive pastor at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington who is doing doctoral research on sermon-based small group (SBSG) ministry, said the approach revisits the “big idea” of a pastor’s sermon, it revisits Scripture and clarifies the text, and it reinforces application of the text.

Moreover, Stoddard said, the SBSG approach is biblical.

“Even Jesus used this as one of his teaching techniques to reinforce what he taught because [his disciples] didn’t get it,” Stoddard explained, referring to Jesus’ explanation of the parable of the sower with his followers as recorded in Luke 8.

Stoddard said many churches have no way to gauge the discipleship effectiveness of their church’s ministry, and small groups make that easier to do.

“We are to teach people to do {discipleship],” Stoddard remarked. “Who’s monitoring the doing? Is your church’s delivery system set up to know where people are spiritually?

“Too many churches find out where their members are spiritually on the back end and not on the front end.”

Small group ministry provides the potential for deeper, more intimate friendships often in a home setting where people may feel more relaxed.

Many churches deliver sound, biblical content, but don’t facilitate relationship-building very well, Stoddard commented.

“Content devoid of relationship building is insufficient. It’s relationships that shut the back door of the church. The people who fall out are those without any vital connections.”

Stoddard said good, expository preaching makes possible deeper discussions in small group settings, but if you’re a pastor “and you wing it and you don’t really study, this isn’t going to work. Your preaching has to be good.”

Stoddard asked the pastors attending: “What are people doing today with your message? They’ve probably forgotten it.”

SBSG’s allow the Sunday sermon to resurface in a discussion-driven environment where most transformation takes place, Stoddard said.

“If you are a campus church, you are cutting some of your people off from discipleship by not creating living room opportunities,” Stoddard stated. “On the other hand, some people are not ready for being in a group under 12 people.”

Because of this, churches with traditional Sunday School should not take an either/or approach, he said.

For more information on the SBSG approach, contact Kenneth Priest toll-free at 877-953-7282 (SBTC) or e-mail him at kpriest@sbtexas.com.