Making Fun

Fun is essential to any relationship—or group of relationships. And while activities like praying together as a small group are certainly important, so is laughing together. 

The following ideas offer group members an opportunity to laugh and serve together while building lasting relationships that will impact others around them.

THEMED MOVIE NIGHT

This is as simple as choosing a movie and building a theme around it. Invite the group to come over on a Friday or Saturday evening and have people dress as one of the characters from the movie (or just ask them to reflect one of its themes). You can also encourage people to bring food items centered on the theme of the evening. 

Such events help people get to know one another in a comfortable environment rather than at a restaurant (where people are often excluded in a large group simply due to seating arrangements). This type of evening is suitable not only for members of the small group, but also to those from the outside. It gives members a chance to invite others to a fun and lively event.

GAME NIGHT

A game night brings out the teenager in all of us! I have had the privilege of watching grownups become teenagers while playing a round of cards.

Other games such as Cranium, Apples to Apples, and Clue offer fun evenings full of laughter. Again, this activity provides an opportunity for group members to invite another person who may be un-churched or simply in need of encouragement from other godly men and women.

WINNER TAKES ALL

Playing cards is a failsafe for almost any crowd, but here is a twist to the usual poker night. The jackpot does consist of money, but not for the winner. The money goes toward a serving opportunity in your community.

Choose a game of Hearts, Slap Jack, or Poker. Have people put money in the middle. If you have a large group, you can have people play in teams. You can play three to five rounds of the chosen card game and whoever wins the overall game chooses to whom or where the money will go. You can even have the last round be the deciding round for the serving opportunity. 

Again, this type of activity encourages laughter and fun while impacting the community at the same time.

OUT ON THE TOWN

Everyone loves a progressive dinner. But what about a meal that offers adventure and fun not only for your group, but also for complete strangers?

To try this, meet at a person's home and have everyone pile into one or two vehicles. Begin at your favorite restaurant or dining establishment for an appetizer, but don't simply order food for your table. Buy an appetizer for the table behind, beside, or in front of you as well. 

Once you have completed your appetizer, head to your favorite fast food place. Each of you get a meal, and then collectively or individually choose a person to buy for or purchase a gift card to leave at the counter for unsuspecting consumers. You can each pitch in a dollar or two for the gift card and tell the cashier to use the card to pay for people's meals until the card has no money left. 

After you have completed your tantalizing meal, drive to your favorite place for dessert. Again, you can collectively or individually choose to buy for the person behind you, or choose to purchase a gift card to leave at the register.

At their core, small groups are designed to build spiritual growth and lasting relationships for people within the group, but also outside of the group. By offering fun events where guests can enjoy an amusing evening to serving together in fun ways to impact a community, small groups have the potential to shine the love of Christ in new and creative ways. 

—Peri Sandifer is the Small-Group Coordinator at The Simple Church in Bossier City, LA.

Three Characteristics of a Vibrant Life Group: Part 2

In my last post, I discussed the importance of CONNECTING as an important characteristic in a vital Life Group. As crucial is it is, it’s not enough for Life Groups to just connect people with one another. There is another important quality that our groups must possess.

The second key characteristic of a healthy group is change.

My dad used to say, “Most people assume they will only have to change once.” The truth is, that change is a constant process—and it should be welcomed in the life of a disciple of Jesus. Some call it edification or sanctification or transformation, but at the end of the day, it's change. A vibrant group helps you change into the person God intends you to be.

Characteristic #2: CHANGING

Research shows that people "who attend a group at least four times a month show a significantly higher score in every area of discipleship compared with those who do not attend." In fact, "people in groups are more likely to share their faith, repent of sins regularly, give sacrificially, serve faithfully, and read their Bibles." (Transformational Groups, Stetzer and Geiger). That means that while our groups might not be accomplishing all we had hoped, they are still accomplishing a lot. We can celebrate the fact that God is using groups to create people who look more and more like Christ.

We can benefit from seeing how Jesus led his small group of disciples. So often we focus on all the amazing things they did together—things we feel we could never accomplish with our groups. Stetzer and Geiger explain:

Transformation is a communal experience, not an individual exercise. Jesus, God on earth, understood this fact. His model of disciple making must be ours. Jesus chose twelve, a small group. The synergy that occurred in that group of twelve aided greatly in the process of making these men mature disciples. The conversations they engaged in, the time they served Rabbi Jesus together, the processing of Jesus' teachings around a campfire, even the missteps these men shared were all in Jesus' plan for making them into the mature disciples He needed them to be. Doing life together is an unquestionable essential in the disciple-making process.

Hearing truth is one part of change, but connecting in biblical community reinforces and can encourage change. But be careful that your group is not encouraging the wrong things! Rather than seeing the group as a place to care for others, serve, and learn together, most group members see the group's primary function as serving their needs. Complacency is the enemy of change!

Complacency is the enemy of change!

A consumeristic mindset is dangerous in group life. If we’re not diligent, we as leaders may be the reason group members approach groups this way. The way we communicate about the purpose of groups directly impacts what group members expect when they join. CFCC Life Group members should expect change!

Simple things you can do to develop the changing pattern in your group:

• Study the Bible for application. Answer the question, "So what do we do with this?"

• Invite each member to share areas they are trying to improve and offer accountability.

• Create a judgment-free zone where members can share what's going on without feeling judged by the group (or feeling like a special project).

• Keep the focus on Jesus Christ who gives us the strength to change.