Analysis Paper 1

That can be done in numerous ways, but the more people who participate in the process, the more the congregation can own it, and the more unity there will be in its fulfillment . The Lord tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:9 that (paraphrasing) God has basically said that His work and His way can best be accomplished when we become co laborers together with Him. My personal philosophy of ministry builds a church through unity of heart, mind, and spirit between the Pastors, his/her staff, the lay leaders, and laity of the church who all work together to disciple believers, grow in relationship with Christ, worship, and reach the lost to build God’s kingdom. Westing states, “The church is central to God’s redemptive plan. This is the institution that has extended the meaning of Christ’s life into the world today”(Pg.

In regards to key developmental aspects of human growth in my life and as I integrate Erickson’s eight stages of development into my 48 years of life, I found that many of my transitional tasks were delayed, or not developed according to Erickson’s time frame. This might be due to the dysfunctional lifestyle, neglected childhood and promiscuous teenage years I had and it has taken me many years to develop my sense of identity, my sense of intimacy, and to change my behavior (Feldman, 2011). In the argument of Piaget he says that children at the age of three to five years think abstractly and this affects their motor

According to Ministry Is…, chapter 29, "A healthy Christian small group is a gathering of three to fifteen people who meet regularly together for the purpose of spiritual _____ _____

Evangelism is described as a three-way cord; building relationships, sharing the gospel, and introducing people to community. The authors encourage the Gospel and the Word to stay central, as well as community involvement and helping the needy in the name of Christ. There is a great emphasis on home groups (the authors are themselves home-group leaders), and how this practice makes church planting easier. The togetherness of this practice aids in ones spiritual growth because one cannot become holy on his

Discipleship students, or those who already have a faith commitment, tend to immediately join one of two categories. The first, or Stagnant, students are those who “made a decision to follow Christ at some time in life but never really grew in faith.” These students, from the outside, look very similar to the world as “the distinction between churched and unchurched students is rapidly shrinking.” These students require time to draw them into a

a. Does the church have a small group ministry? What can learn about their small group ministry from their website? Yes. Hope Baptist small group ministries consist of 8-20 people who together rightly relate to God, one another, and the world. Hope Baptist church have people from all walks of life and all stages of life.

For this paper, I observed a staff meeting on March 8th at The Journey Metro East, the church I attend. Six people attended the meeting, including the pastor, worship leader, and children’s ministry coordinator. Throughout the two hour run time of this meeting, the staff demonstrated numerous concepts we have covered in class. Six small group communication concepts they displayed most prominently were the procedural model of problem solving (P-MOPS), group roles, group socialization, Tuckman’s model of group development, types of groups and, lastly, systems theory.

The traditional church does not wavier from their primary time of gathering on Sunday morning. This one to two hour service or event is geared toward paying for physical properties and the pastor’s salary. The traditional church tends to be program and event driven with the pastor and the deacons running the show. The membership is a revolving door, meaning their more members on the roster then attendees. As a child growing up in the traditional church was boring and there was no room for growth in the sense of learning new

One of the issues facing larger churches is the inability for the pastors and ministers to intimately connect and engage with each individual member on a regular basis. While

As an introduction to this paper, Gareth Weldon Icenogle’s text title, An Integrational Approach Biblical Foundation for Small Group Ministry will describe the observation that should take place in a small group ministry. Icenogle text in Chapter 13, The Observing Small Group Dynamics explains, “A spiritual and relational observation gets in touch with both the light side and dark side of a group’s reality. Observation is the art of watching understanding the interpersonal dynamics and patterns of human relationship. A community discipline has a particular importance in small group life. Each group has its own unique way of relating and behaving. Each time the same group gathers the different settings, moods, circumstance, and purpose will tend to lead the group to explore new patterns of relating.” Icenogle, then, explains, “the typical small group observational process follows a classic inductive study methodology: observation, interpretation, and application. Three stages in the observational process include: (1) noting what is happening in the group’s life together, (2) interpreting what this behavior means, and (3) making needed changes to improve the group’s life together. These three observational steps are recording, reflection, and re-action and it helps to see what God is doing in the group.”

Discipleship is a process by which one individual helps another become a disciple, or convinced adherent (Merriam-Webster, 2016), of a teacher or movement. Although there are many discipleship models available, a comparison of two discipleship models – LifeShapes (Breen and Cockram, 2009) and Disciplines (Foster, 2002) – reflects two different attempts to teach the same concepts. The following represents a contrast of the key components of the two discipleship models, a discussion of the models considering a Christian worldview, potential applications of the discipleship models, and the presentation of a new discipleship model.

This section aims to give a platform in understanding the human communication that occurs in the workplace. As we discuss, people with high apprehension would likely to have a tendency to avoid communication with others. Therefore, when a person communicates with another person, sometimes it may involve some uncomfortable feelings between them. This situation might be related or could be examined by using communication theories, in particularly, Cognitive Dissonance Theory and Expectancy Violations Theory.

The book is broken down into six different parts. The first part titled How Small Groups Help People Grow. When people understand they need small groups and in addition to needing to be around people it can help them grow. The authors speak about how people are conditioned to be around others. It’s a psychological fact that people need companionship from others. Knowing this information and using it can help a church and leaders show members why they need to around others. Also, include in this section of the book talks about what are we as small group leaders trying to do. Leaders need to have a clear focus for their group’s mission. I think each small group should include a description of what the group 's mission is. For example, if it’s a new member group a description should include

My personal philosophy of small groups is scriptural based. Acts 2:46 says, “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.” As the original church began, it is obvious from Acts chapter two and particularly from verse 46 that the church met in unity in large groups. They actually used a two-fold approach of meeting in large-group meetings and then in the homes for more intimate small-group gatherings. Acts 2:46 clearly shows the church gathering in homes, eating together, and continuing the work of the ministry.

This five-step process begins by creating a definition for what it is we are addressing as disciples. It’s important to ask the question “what is…” because it helps us distinguish from other topics that are closely related. For example, if we are talking about what discipline is, we would want to distinguish if we are speaking about the punishment of a child, the act of training in a habitual manner, or a branch of knowledge. Our world is a very complicated, intricate, and interwoven place. Though people often want things to be straightforward, they’re not always that simple. It’s important to define exactly what we’re talking about in order to understand the topic as clearly as possible.