Most of the caring
Most of the loving
Most of the encouraging
Much of the learning
Most of the admonishing

And on and on and on. Until this generation the small group was seen as the front line of the evangelistic/ disciplemaking process. Today, we are enamored by big things. Perhaps it is a sign of the times. We live in a culture that is enamored by big things: big football games, big malls, big Wal-marts, big worship services. These thing are important and have their place. There is nothing like worship in a big, big crowd.

But, there is a reason that Zachariah said, "despise the day of small things." (Zechariah 4:10) Most of what it means to be a church happens in, through and around small groups.

I have been thinking a lot about small groups lately with our newly created mission and values. The more I review our mission, the more I see the value of small groups. You see, without small groups, a church is only a half church. It is only living out part of what it means to be the church. This is why this pastors will even more be eating, breathing and sleeping small groups. It is why the our leadership will be attending small groups. We would readily understand and think it strange if a Minister of Education refused to ever attend worship. We would not accept an answer about scheduling problems or time pressure. We would see it is a spiritual issue, and rightly so. It is also a basic spiritual issues I am talking about here. Small groups are a part of what it means to be the body of Christ.