Recently, some relatives of one of the families at Rock Valley Bible Church visited one of our Sunday morning worship services. After the service, they commented to those who had invited them, “I thought that you said that you attend a small church!” Apparently, they didn’t think that Rock Valley Bible Church qualified as a “small church.” However, I hardly consider us to be a “large church.” We have grown in numbers, but it certainly hasn’t been dramatic growth. Rather, it has been slow and steady. Perhaps we might be best characterized as a “growing church,” rather than a small church or a large church.  Along the way, we have experienced some growing pains that have come with growth. There have been several occasions in which we have run out of chairs on Sunday morning, inconveniencing those who have come in late or who have visited the church. The solution to this problem is easy. We need to set up more chairs. We have so many girls involved in our Keepers at Home program, that we have can no longer fit in a home. Again, the solution has been relatively easy: find a bigger meeting place. Elim Baptist Church has generously allowed us to use their building for our meetings. But, not every difficulty that we face as our church grows in numbers can be met with a simple solution. One such difficulty is the need to fulfill the “one another” passages in the Bible, of which there are more than fifty given in the New Testament. Here are a few examples :

Romans 12:10, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor.”
Galatians 6:2, “Bear one anothers' burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ.”
Ephesians 4:32, “And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Therefore encourage one another, and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”

As a church, I believe that you all have done a very good job at fulfilling the “one anothers” of Scripture. I believe that much of this has come about precisely because we have been a small church, where everyone knows everyone, like a big family. But as our numbers grow, we must not lose sight of the dynamics of being small. One way to do this is by implementing a ministry focused upon small group gatherings, where relationships might deepen, that the “one another” commands might be fulfilled. This fall will mark the beginning of these small groups at Rock Valley Bible Church.
 

I strongly urge each and every family to join this vital part of the body life of our church.  Here are a few things that I would like to communicate about these groups:

Small Groups Help Assimilate New People
Imagine yourself visiting Rock Valley Bible Church for the first time, where everyone that you meet is new to you. It can be a bit overwhelming, as it takes much time and effort to get to know so many.
However, if you were invited and encouraged to attend a gathering where there are only a few other families, the task of getting to know these people isn’t so daunting. Regardless of the size of any church, such groups can always help to bring people into the fellowship of the church. I would like to see new visitors personally invited to visit and join these small groups.

Small Groups Give Opportunities for Ministry
We aren’t a church abounding in programs and activities to keep people busy. This has been intentional. Instead, we have focused upon real life ministry: knowing and loving and serving others. Smaller groups will help to facilitate this. But the ministry opportunities of small groups can even go beyond this. Entire small groups can be easily mobilized to help in some task (delivering meals to sick people, cleaning house for a family in need, organizing some social event at church, pooling resources for backyard Bible clubs during the summer, ...).

Small Groups Are Places of Discipleship
When Jesus walked the earth, He gathered to Himself twelve disciples, with whom He would focus much of His energy in training. Why did He do this? Why didn’t Jesus focus all of His attention upon the crowds? It’s because He knew the greater value of imparting His life deeply to a few, rather than only having a shallow influence on the multitudes. In His small group of disciples, Jesus could interact with them by answering their questions, pointing out their weaknesses, encouraging their obedience, and demonstrating His love for them.
My desire is to see these groups facilitate much spiritual growth in individuals, as the people sharpen, love, teach, challenge, and encourage each other.

Small Groups Are Flexible
These groups can meet in various locations with little difficulty (i.e. church buildings, college dorms, homes, ...). They can meet at various times (i.e. Saturday mornings, Thursday evenings, Sunday afternoons, ...). They can meet with varying frequency (i.e. every week, every other week, once per month, ...). They can even take on a life of their own (i.e. having dinner each time as a group, playing some quick game each time, ...). In some ways, small groups must be flexible, because managing the children who might come during this time is often difficult. Childcare is often a hindrance to these groups. Creative solutions need to be sought. Perhaps the simplest is to keep the groups relatively small, so that children can come too, but not in overwhelming numbers.

Small Groups Are Not Perfect
For all of the benefits of small groups, there are some potential warnings that must be sounded. It can easily happen that those involved in a small group come to love their group so much that they don’t ever want anything to change. They are comfortable with their little group of friends. They want to keep it that way. When this takes place, people can often stagnate, and form cliques in the church. No longer are they reaching out to those who are new, but they are content just loving those with whom they are comfortable. Perhaps the best way to avoid this is by being open to others joining and being willing to divide the group when it gets too big.

Another danger of small groups is that they can create factions within the church. Different groups studying different things can actually splinter the church, rather than promote unity. Perhaps the best way to avoid this is to keep all of the small groups going through a common curriculum.

Are you interested in being involved in such a group? Please ponder the above thoughts, and consider joining such a group. I certainly haven’t got everything figured out as to how these groups will work themselves out in the months and years to come. Surely there will be some rough spots along the road. But, I believe that such groups are vital in the life of our church as God continues to bring growth.