Impacting our Community with the Love of Christ

Several kids from Iju-Ishaga Community (New Oko-Oba area) of Lagos state, Nigeria on Sunday 27^th January 2013 gathered in our home to celebrate the New Year with thanksgiving to the almighty God. The thanksgiving service was anchored by my wife, Pastor Blessing. She gave thanks on behalf of these kids to the almighty God and in turn exhorted the kids to be of good moral conduct to God and to their parents throughout the year 2013. Food and drinks were served to relish the occasion. And gift items also shared with the kids.

After the party, the kids joyfully returned home to share their experience with the family and friends. While they also encouraged and invited other friends to attend the normal weekly fellowship that comes up every Sunday. Positive feedbacks revealing the hunger of some of their parents for God also reached us and we trust God to turn them in for God. What a good opportunity to bless our community with Christ love through these kids.

Worship session

Opening prayers

Food & Gift items shared

A kid doing the dance for God

Exhortation time

Refreshment time

Refreshment time

Group photo

What is Small group? Part 2

Small groups, practically speaking is different from our early morning Sunday school classes; from a bible study groups or prayer warrior groups. Except this groups are saddled with the purpose of community, evangelism, discipline and multiplication ONLY then would they fix into the definition of a small group. 

Like the example of our Lord Jesus’ ministry while on earth,His initial objective to choose twelve men was to train twelve men who could bear witness to His life and carry on with the work after He has gone. Unlike many ministries today, there was no proof that Jesus was in a haste to deliver the mandate attached to His ministry. The delivering of His mandate is attached to the success of these twelve selected men in a small group setting. The Lord therefore, spend quality time modelling His life and ministry to the twelve selected disciples. This is not to say that Jesus didn't have time to minister to other people outside this small group of twelve men- Jesus was indeed a crusader as well as small group lover.

i understood from Jesus’ strategy for successfully growing a church/ministry, is to start from small group and grow it upward to become a mega church. And I think you will agree with me, everything great in life started small. With determination and conscious efforts could become great, multiplying everywhere. This is simply Christ strategy for His church and we present day ministers of the gospel ought to follow suit.

Beloved, do you want to see growth in your church/ministry? I encourage you to embrace the small group. Organize your leadership and member into small groups of believer with the goal of community, evangelism, discipline and multiplication. As you and your team begin to work at it, you will start to experience quality and quantity growth in your church. These quality and quantity growth is what makes your church/ministry full of life and healthy.

What is Small Groups

Small Groups by definition is a group of four to twelve people meeting weekly outside a church building for the purpose of Community, Evangelism, Discipline and Multiplication of leaders. This is a wonder working tool in the hand of any serious minded pastor that is hungry for all round growth and development of the church and God's people.

Jesus our perfect example in the work of ministry couldn't do without it. He employed this simple tools as He attempted to reconcile the entire world for God. He has all the power & anointing to win the entire world for God but He rather chose the best option- Small group of twelve disciples. which after training, latter took their city by storm and subsequently making the gospel available to us all.

Small groups, when embraced and entrenched into the core activities of a church's life will ultimately help the Church to promote quality and quantitative growth. Love; soul winning and discipline are common features of a true small group based church/ministry.

We shall look at this in greater details latter.

Many blessings of God be upon His church

Pastor Elijah Samuel