Fellowship (quality time with other Christians). Your small group meetings should not be seen as events that you attend. Your small group should provide an environment in which individuals meet, connect with one another, build relationships, form friendships, and do life together. Small  groups should be enjoyed, not endured. 

Friendship = quality time + shared interests. Our Free Market philosophy of small groups facilitates the development of genuine friendships. It capitalizes on who you are and where you are and, as you create space for quality time, it allows friendships to take place as you to gather with other people around shared interests. We were created by a relational God and we have relational needs for significant connections. We are created to be at our best when we live in Christ-centered, life-giving relationships.

We believe there are five aspects of meeting together. (Recall the Acts 2 Model, Acts 2:42-47) 

• The Word: some engagement with Scripture 

• Fellowship: growing in relational connection; quality time + shared interest 

• Taking care of the needs of people within or outside the  group 

• Prayer/Worship 

• Outreach 

Now, this doesn’t mean that for each meeting, each of these “boxes” must be checked off for the meeting to be fruitful. We do expect, though, that meeting together will facilitate these boxes being developed in each believer’s life, as well as in their small group community.  

Create an environment that welcomes both churched and unchurched. So many people go to church, try church out, walk in the front door, but they don’t “stick.” Why don’t they stay?  

They don’t stay because they haven’t found relationship; they haven’t found connection with other believers and that’s the thing that’s so important for people. We believe that what makes the local church “sticky,” what makes people who are both churched and unchurched “stick” within a local church is that they know somebody loves them and somebody cares about them. We try to fulfill that through the first M of Small Groups in Action—Meeting. People “stick” because of relationships.

Have fun! Eat good food! Enjoy fellowship! Be intentional and creative about how to incorporate the 5 aspects of small groups into your group. 

Mentor: Help grow disciples of Jesus  

We are called to fulfill our part of the Great Commission. Specifically, we are called to go and make disciples. Disciples are people who grow closer to Jesus, become more like Jesus, as they follow Him. And small groups are ideal environments within which believers can influence one another toward becoming more like Jesus and walking in their God-given purposes. Small  groups are where disciples are made. 

Now, where does mentoring fit into all this?  

Very simply, a mentor is a trusted advisor. In the context of small groups, the role of a mentor (leader) is to help each small group participant progress in their journey with Jesus and into their next levels of faith. (You don’t even have to be a group leader to do that; you can start mentoring right where you are, within your oikos.) 

If you are a small group leader, develop relationship with the people in your group. Come alongside them, get to know them, believe in them, encourage them, pray with them and for them. This forms great foundations from which you can effectively mentor them (we will discuss mentoring in greater detail in week 7).

As you know from NextStep, ‘Multiply’ is a theme that runs throughout Scripture. ‘Multiply’ is very important to God. Thus, it is very important to Manna Church. 

Cultivate an Outreach Mindset 

Multiply happens when every believer uses their oikos, their network of relationships, to add people to the Kingdom. When each of us add, what we have together is multiplication. Multiplication happens when every “add” adds. 

Multiplying disciples has its heart in outreach. We talked about this in our Operational Principles. Outreach is the heartbeat of church. It’s in our DNA. It is our culture. We don’t just do outreach, it’s who we are. We are committed to see people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and to see their lives transformed and changed, and that happens by introducing  them to the Person of Jesus. 

This commitment to multiplying disciples is central to the  purpose of Manna Small Groups. Manna Small Groups are to be passionate and consistent about reaching the lost.  

Your small group is to serve as a venue to spur on your group  members to do their part in helping the lost around them come to know Jesus. There are a number of practical ways your group can cultivate this outreach mindset:

• Pray: Initiate prayer for the unchurched, especially those known by members of your group.

• Invite: Every person can invite an unchurched friend from their oikos. 

• Welcome: Be ready for them to show up! Will they feel welcomed? Will they feel they belong? 

• Go: As a group, take at least one step outside your comfort zone to reach out. Your small group should engage in at least one community outreach activity. As a group, do prayer walks, hospital visits, food giveaways, donations, servant evangelism, and other similar activities. Get behind some of your Site’s outreach initiatives. 

Develop a Multiplication Mindset 

Be intentional about identifying leaders within your group. Be on the lookout for people in your group who God may be nudging to take additional steps in their leadership development. Keep an eye open for their gifts and talents and passions. Take note of the fruit produced by their lives, how they see the future, engage and develop other people, and look to improve.  

When you find people like that, how are you going to engage them? How are you going to help them take some new steps in their journey as a leader? 

You could simply go up to them and say something like, “Hey, I see leadership in you. Why not take some next steps in your development as a leader?” That might work. But, there is another way… 

Learn to “Shoulder Tap”… Effective leaders draw and invite people into ministry. 

1. Connection - You invite them into a conversation. Talk about them— What you see: ‘I see you doing this’ ‘I see this in you’… ‘ICNU’. Talk about the Vision—The Why (the value) of a ministry or leadership role. Talk about  the opportunity—how they might fit into a ministry or leadership role. 

2. Vision - Raise the bar. “Not everybody can do this—I’m not looking for just anyone. I am looking for just the right person.” 

3. The Ask - Clarify the cause. Be clear about what you’re  asking/encouraging them to do. Clarify the time frame for which they are committing. Caution that they should feel commissioned by God—“Is this God’s next step for you?” Call for a commitment.