Author Archive for Mark Miller – Page 2

Connect Your ONE!

By Mark Miller · Comments (0)
Sunday, August 18th, 2019

Identify, intercede, invest, intentional and invite.  Five actions and ways that you and I can be involved in encouraging group members to get involved in Who’s Your One (a national emphasis by Southern Baptists).

Who. Who do you know that does not know God?

Your. This is personal. It is God’s will and His command for every believer to be a witness.

One. The challenge is to win one.

Your class is designed to make disciples.  Making disciples happens best in relationships.  Your Sunday School class or group provides the relational environment necessary for believers and new believers to grow. Become accountable to each other for your ones.

Consider these five steps to Connect Your One to a lifetime of growing in Christ:

  1. Connect Your One to God through reading the Bible and Prayer
  2. Connect Your One with a Small Group
  3. Connect Your One through Baptism and Church Membership
  4. Connect Your One to share their story with a lost friend
  5. Connect Your One through Serving and Stewardship

Your group matters…so celebrate with each group member when their one is saved, baptized and set on the road to discipleship. 

Mark Miller, Discipleship Specialist, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board

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Categories : Sunday School

Who’s Your One: Invest

By Mark Miller · Comments (0)
Friday, August 9th, 2019

Once you’ve identified your one, it is crucial that you find time to build the relationship with them. Your one is worth your investment of time, money, and emotions.

Occasionally, I decide to look at my retirement account.  My hope is that the account has grown, but I must take the long look.  Some weeks, the account is down and some weeks the account is up.  I keep investing…why because over time I trust that the account will grow, and I will be able to retire with dignity.

Investing in your one will be similar. Don’t give up, keep investing in your one.  Lance Crowell, Discipleship Leader for the Southern Baptists of Texas recommends three key things that you can do to develop your relationship:

  • Find common interests and spend regular time with them – What do they like to do? What can you enjoy together?
  • Listen more than you talk – Ask good questions and focus on developing a deeper relationship.
  • Be willing to be the 2:00 am call – Develop the friendship so that you stand ready and available in a time of need or crisis.

Many of my Sunday School class members are avid hunters (not me).  One Sunday, a new family was sitting behind us in worship.  The man and one of my members begin talking and both were avid hunters. That afternoon, over 20 years ago, he took him hunting and they are some of our best friends today and leaders in my church.  Ask questions, listen for those common interests, connect with your one.  Over time, your investment will grow and you will have the opportunity to share with him about Jesus.

As you invest, remember your one is not a project, but a person who needs Jesus.

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Categories : Connect, Conversation

A Church Disciplemaking Process: Large, Small, Smaller

By Mark Miller · Comments (0)
Wednesday, September 12th, 2018

Get Smaller! An effective disciple making strategy begins large, moves to small, and gets smaller.
Why? Because disciple making best happens in the context of relationships!
Begin Large! We are all worshippers. God is the audience of our worship. He should be the center of a disciple’s attention. Your disciple making process should encourage seekers and believers to be an active participant in worship. I saw this humorous quote on a church sign several years ago, and it has always stuck with me: “CH__CH; What is missing?” The church is not complete without “U”! Likewise, a Christian’s life can never be complete apart from a healthy, Bible believing, Spirit filled church. It goes hand in hand. Begin Large!
Why? Because disciple making happens best in the context of relationships!
Move to small. When you ask church members why they stay at a particular church there really is only one answer. They never say that they stay because of the outstanding preaching or the wonderful music. They don’t stay for the teaching or the decorations. They don’t stay for the special programs. When you ask people why they stay at a church, the overwhelming answer is: they stay because of the relationships that they have with other members. People come to a church for a lot of reasons. But people stay at a church because of the fellowship.
Your fellowship requires getting small. It requires a connection. Fellowship is about doing life together. Doing Life Together requires: Show Love, Get Involved, Have Fun, Be Engaged with each other. It’s about fostering a sense of community together. We must get small by encouraging every worship attender, church member and even the lost to get connected to a Bible Study group where relationships are formed in the context of Bible Study. Get SMALL!
Why? Because disciple making happens best in the context of relationships!

Get smaller. Disciples are best made in a community of close relationships. Jesus had Peter, James, and John. The apostle Paul had Timothy, Silas, and Luke. David has his inner circle of three mighty men. Consider starting a D-Group. A D-Group is a smaller group of about four people who meet together to share the Word of God with each other; learn Scripture together, and support and encourage each other through prayer and relationships.

Why? Because disciple making happens best in the context of relationships!

Disciplemaking is a process! That process should move from Large, to small, to even smaller. Why? Because disciple making happens best in the context of relationships!

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Categories : Bible Study, Disciplemaking, Group Life, New Groups

Greeting and Meeting Guests

By Mark Miller · Comments (0)
Tuesday, August 15th, 2017

 

“Every week may be somebody’s first week. If it’s not a good week, they may not ever come back for a second week…” wrote David Francis in Great Expectations: Planting Seeds for Sunday School Growth. I can testify from my personal experience in looking for a church when we moved to Spring Hill, Tennessee that David is correct. We visited five churches and three of them we never went back for a second visit.

Every group needs to be prepared to make a great first impression. If you expect new people every week, what are some things you will do BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER they visit?

Before they visit, consider who’s saying “Hello” when they come? When my wife and I were looking for a church, we attended two classes at a well-known church. In both instances, only the teacher said hello.  Let me encourage you to have someone besides the teacher say hello.  One old idea is to have hidden greeters that will have this assignment.  A hidden greeter introduces themself and then introduces the guest to other members, and invites the guest to sit with them during the service.

During the visit, smile and show your teeth! Welcome everyone! Register the guest! Ask guests and members to wear a nametag! Inform the guest of Group Activities! Expect them to say YES and ask them if they want to enroll (belong to your group).

The real test of a friendly class comes after the benediction. Train your people to speak to each other and express care about each other. The guests are watching.  Offer to take guests to the Worship Service or to help them find where the preschool and children’s buildings are. Shake hands while exiting.

After the visit, follow UP! Send a text, an email, write a letter, make a phone call, meet them for coffee or dinner, and even go visit!

BTW, my wife and I ended up joining the one church that showed they really wanted us.

Mark Miller is the Group Specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.

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Categories : 31 Ideas of Outreach & Evangelism, Evangelism, Outreach/Evangelism
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Short-Term Evangelism Emphases for Small Groups

By Mark Miller · Comments (0)
Friday, August 11th, 2017

Dr. Thom Rainer once shared with me the following statement: “Evangelism seldom gets done unless it is intentional.” Some synonyms for the word “intentional” are deliberate, calculated, conscious, intended, planned, premeditated, preplanned, and preconceived.  If you want to see lost people getting off the road to Hell and on the road to Heaven, then leaders should intentionally plan and encourage their members and groups to get involved in Short-term Evangelism Emphases.

One mid-size church in Upper East Tennessee canceled their evening service during July and encouraged their groups to meet in different houses and invite their neighbors and friends to a cook out at members’ homes. They called these Touch Nights. At the end of July, almost 1000 people who weren’t members were touched.

My church in Spring Hill, TN has designated September 3 as Serve Sunday. Instead of worship and Bible Study that day, groups and members will receive assignments and go serve in the community. Last year, members did landscaping at the schools, painted and cleaned houses, etc.  This church is intentional about getting their groups outside the walls of the classroom.

A small church in Dickson, Tennessee just conducted their annual Back to School Bash. Over 100 families from the community came for recreation, games, food, and heard the Gospel.

Churches of all sizes have utilized the Connect>1 Evangelism Campaign to challenge their members to pray for lost people, learn a Gospel presentation, invite unchurched people to their group, and to share the Gospel.

Every church can do something. Every group can do something.  Every member can do something.

Mark Miller is the Group Specialist at the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.

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Categories : 31 Ideas of Outreach & Evangelism, Evangelism, Outreach/Evangelism
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