Community within the church today is hemorrhaging. Attention spans are dwindling, noise levels are increasing, and we can't seem to find time for real relationships. The answer to such social fragmentation can be found in small groups, and yet the majority of small groups—at least in the traditional sense—are often not the intentional, transformational community we really want and need. Somehow we need to get our groups off life support and into authentic community. Pastor Brad House helps us to re-imagine what gospel-centered community looks like and shares from his experience leading and reproducing healthy small groups. With wisdom and candor, House challenges us to think carefully about our own groups and to take steps toward cultivating communities that are able to glorify Jesus, bless one another, and participate in the mission of God.

Small groups are a great way to promote the spiritual formation of church attendees. But leading them well can be hard work, especially if you don't have a plan. This practical resource helps pastors and small group point people develop and implement a 12- to 18-month strategic plan for their ministries in order to keep it healthy and growing. Developed at Saddleback Church, this completely customizable plan works for any church size and any denomination. Readers answer 22 questions that help them understand their vision, the purpose of their ministry, and how to connect members, grow numerically and spiritually, measure progress, develop leaders, create opportunities to serve, and much more. By the time they're done, readers will have developed their own personalized planner for the next year to 18 months so that they can feel prepared, confident, and purposeful about their small group ministry.

Nearly all churches and ministries consider themselves dedicated to evangelism, and many explicitly include outreach in their mission statements. But few are actually bearing fruit. Kevin Harney diagnoses this problem and offers guidance for multiplying the outreach impact of churches. Organic Outreach for Churches provides direction for local congregations to weave evangelism into the fabric of the church. Commitment to the Great Commission is not simply about sending money and prayers to missions or holding occasional events to reach out (although these things are good). Organic outreach happens when evangelistic vision and action become the domain of every ministry and the commitment of every person in the congregation. This will not happen accidentally. There is huge spiritual and practical resistance to such changes. But the only way evangelism will become an organic part of a church is when every leader and each member is gripped by a commitment to proclaiming the gospel. This book is a roadmap for pastors and leaders who wish to infuse evangelistic passion into every aspect of their church's life.

Could sharing your faith be the secret to developing your spiritual maturity? For many followers of Jesus, discipleship means doing certain things to deepen our connection with Jesus Christ. But our spiritual growth checklists are often disconnected from the mission of reaching a lost world with the gospel message. Taking a holistic approach that unites evangelism and discipleship, Kevin and Sherry Harney demonstrate how God's plan for our spiritual growth is intimately connected to his mission to the world. In Organic Disciples, the couple lead ordinary followers of Jesus through seven markers of spiritual maturity, showing how simple shifts in our Bible reading, prayer, community life, giving, service, and other biblical practices can connect us with God's work of reaching people with his love. You'll learn: Why true spiritual maturity will always lead believers outward to engage the world with the good news and truth of Jesus. How to overcome the common roadblocks and false narratives that stand in the way of spiritual maturity. How to design a personal pathway of growth to be more like Jesus in character and mission. Along with the Organic Disciples book, churches and individuals can utilize a free, self-directed online tool at OrganicOutreach.com to help each person identify where they are in their growth journey. Also look for eight-session small group curriculum—Organic Disciples Study Guide (9780310139089)—to take congregations and Christians deeper on this journey.

This is a book for pacesetters -- church leaders who desire to help their churches break free of the things that turn them in on themselves. It is a masterly mix of biblical principle, objective analysis, and personal experience.

If you are a man who feels that spiritual growth is at times frustrating--you are not alone! Most men find spiritual growth overcomplicated and the needed discipline beyond their reach. But it doesn't need to be that way. In Called to Act: 5 Uncomplicated Disciplines for Men, author Vince Miller provides a simple understanding of five core spiritual disciplines that will ignite a lifelong journey of spiritual development. Leave the ranks of the hesitant and stuck, and join a movement of men.

This book brings the best of leadership theory and research together with biblical reflection and examples of leadership in action to offer a practical guide to Christian leaders. Combining expertise in leadership studies and biblical studies, Justin Irving and Mark Strauss explore how leadership models have moved from autocratic and paternalistic leader-centered models toward an increased focus on followers. The authors show how contemporary theories such as transformational leadership, authentic leadership, and servant leadership take an important step toward prioritizing and empowering followers who work with leaders to accomplish organizational goals. Irving and Strauss organize their book around "nine empowering practices," making it accessible to students, church leaders, and business leaders. Integrating solid research in leadership studies with biblical and theological reflection on the leadership ideas that are most compatible with Christian faith, this book is an important resource for all Christian students of leadership.

Jeffrey Arnold, in this book on the dynamics of small group spirituality, argues that healthy small groups must grow outward in their commitment to those outside the group in evangelism, prayer, and missions.

Like nothing else, small groups have the power to change lives. They are the ideal route to discipleship—a place where the rubber of biblical truth meets the road of human relationships. However, church leaders often feel at a loss when it comes to assessing the strengths and weaknesses of group life in a church, and they struggle with understanding and solving the root causes of problems. Group Life resources provide, in ebook format, the practical tools and training resources needed to develop life-changing small group leaders, coaches to shepherd group leaders, and ultimately, a thriving church-wide small group ministry. These resources include the updated and revised versions of the best-selling Leading Life-Changing Small Groups and Coaching Life-Changing Small Group Leaders, the new Building a Life-Changing Small Group Ministry and the supplemental Group Life Training DVD. Appropriate for individual or group study, the books function as manuals and workbooks that teach and allow readers to process and record information as they learn. Downloadable web-based vision clips and supplemental videos in the DVD help readers explore and discuss topics further. Group Life Resources conveniently integrate with the ReGroupTM curriculum, giving trainers the option to use them together. Bill Donahue and Russ Robinson’s Building a Life-Changing Small Group Ministry presents a broad introduction for pastors and point leaders to use as they navigate through the process of establish-ing and developing independent groups or a church-wide ministry of small groups.

Nearly every church is trying to help their congregants build relationships with others, grow as disciples, and/or engage in meaningful service through small groups. Many have argued that these small groups are the preferred vehicle for relationship building, disciple making, and membership assimilation in the local church, especially in large, multisite churches. Leading Small Groups That Thrive shows small group leaders, step by step, how to plan for, launch, build, sustain, and multiply highly effective, transformational, healthy small group experiences where people grow spiritually together. Based on a large-scale research study of small group pastors, leaders, and members, Leading Small Groups That Thrive gives church leaders both what they want--practical, straightforward, actual small group member voices and experiences, and compelling guidance on how to build transformational groups complemented with real-life examples and data of successful small groups--and what they need--substantial, challenging insights and a data-driven model grounded in the latest research on church small groups.