Mark's Blog

A Life That Matters

Had a chance to check out a new DVD-driven small group curriculum yesterday.  A Life That Matters is a "cutting edge small group Bible study inspired by Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Life. Tell the Story Productions has taken those themes and incorporated them into a six-week Bible study that will inspire."  You may have heard about the series in an article over at The Pastor's Toolbox earlier this year.

I liked what I saw!  Each of the six sessions have a Touched by an Angel feel.  Quality production, engaging stories, and a real change from the "talking head" studies your groups have been using.  They're offering the study at a special price right now.  If you check it out, tell them Mark sent you!

DVD-Driven Curriculum

Looking for a way to help more of your congregation have a toe-in-the-water experience with a small group?  You'll find some recommended church-wide campaign ideas right here.  Below you'll find some of the DVD-driven small group studies that you should know about:

Experiencing Christ Together: This series was the follow-up to Lifetogether's groundbreaking original series Doing Life Together.  It is a six-book series that features some of America's best known Bible teachers (John Ortberg, Bruce Wilkinson, Erwin McManus, etc.)  Each book in the series contains six sessions.

Liquid: Designed specifically for your small group, LIQUID is a DVD-based experience that features five 10-minute episodes in each seriesalong with a reflections guide.  This modern-day film series mirror ancient biblical stories with emotionally provoking videos, introspective questions, and tips for leading a small group.

The Life You've Always Wanted by John Ortberg is a small group edition of one of his most popular books.

God is Closer Than You Think: Six Sessions on Experiencing the Presence of God: Another of Ortberg's books presented as a small group study.

H2O: Ten episodes, ten stories, one timeless quest - to quench the thirst that burns in every human spirit. Join H2O Guide Kyle Idleman for a cinematic journey through the human experience, and find out how the offer of Living Water has the power to change everything.

3:16: The Numbers of Hope: Max Lucado digs deeply into one of the most famous and oft-quoted passages of the Bible-John 3:16. First situating it in its biblical context as part of Jesus's conversation with Nicodemus, Lucado then dissects the 26-word promise phrase by phrase, picking out key theological ideas that provide hope to Christians.

The Easy/Hard Continuum

All topics are not created equally.  Know what I mean?  Whether you're talking about a weekend message series or small group curriculum, the topic you choose determines some things right away.  If you think about it, you can see that certain topics would have great appeal to your church members but might repel their neighbors.  Other topics might be very appealing to seekers but seem too simple for long-term believers.  With me?

So the question is, "How do you determine what topic makes the most sense when you're designing an alignment?"  I've found what I call the Easy/Hard Continuum a good way to understand the challenge.

What's it mean?  A topic that  belongs on the "easy" end is one that would be easy to invite my neighbor to talk about (whether it's a weekend message series or a small group study).  Think 40 Days of Purpose.  At its peak it was easy to invite your neighbor because everyone had heard about the Purpose Driven Life.  Right?  Other topics on the easy end might be stress, relationships, marriage, etc.  You get the idea.

What about the "hard" end?  Do a six-week series on hell or judgment and see how easy it is to get your members inviting their friends.  That is why it's called the "hard" end of the continuum.

What can you learn?  If you're putting together an all-church alignment and you want your members to invite their friends...better choose from the "easy" end.  You're leaving a lot on the table if you don't.  For more on this see my post on exponential outreach.  On the other hand, if you're trying to deepen your members or lead them through a capital campaign...ok to go with a series that is a little harder.  Let's be clear though, it doesn't make sense to overlook this important understanding.