In his classic book, Life Together, the late
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, The Christian needs
another Christian who speaks God's Word to him.
He needs him again and again when he becomes
uncertain and discouraged, for by himself he
cannot help himself. He needs his brother as
a bearer and proclaimer of the divine Word of
salvation. Coming up on this weekend edition
of Living on the Edge, Chip will unpack the influence
and necessity of Christian community. I'm Dave
Drewy. Thanks for joining us for this special
program. And I'd like to welcome in our Bible
teacher, Chip Ingram, to give us a bit of context
for the message we'll revisit today. Thanks,
Dave. If you've listened to Living on the Edge
for a very long time, you've heard us talk about
BIO, B -I -O. It's an acronym. It's for life.
Throughout church history or today, you meet
a man or a woman that is a lot like Jesus. And
I will tell you for sure. three things are happening
in their life, in their practice. They come before
God regularly, probably daily. And then they're
doing life, I, in community. They're connected
to other believers. There's support, there's
accountability, there's real love. And finally,
on mission. The heartbeat of this ministry is
believers, not just hearing God's word, but actually
living it out. That's absolutely right, Chip.
And because we are focusing in on the I of that
acronym today, I wanted to share an email we
received that really drives home the importance
of being in community with other believers. Here's
what a listener named James wrote. Over the last
six months, I've been part of two Living on the
Edge group studies at church. I deeply appreciate
your emphasis on the importance of a solid relationship
with God over doing Christian things. Your teaching
has challenged me and changed my life. I continue
to do my best to live as a Romans 12 Christian
and trust God to work in and through me to accomplish
His purposes. Such an encouraging story, Chip.
Well, there's few things that motivate me like
when men step up the way James has. And James,
way to go to every James out there because you're
living in a world that is diabolically opposed
to everything that God wants to do. And when
you get in the Word, When you get into a small
group with authentic community and then you mobilize
like this man is, the world changes. And, you
know, sometimes we forget that it takes time.
It's organic. And, you know, I think of 1996,
we were on two radio stations and we just had
a dream to help some people. And then, you know,
now what is it, 900 radio stations or so and
then TV around the world. But I'm probably most
encouraged by all the small groups that grew
out of that. Did you notice what he said? I did
two studies. This is what's happening because
he's connected. He's growing and applying. And
we developed those studies because people gave
generously. And I just want to say thank you
to those of you that have partnered with us in
the past. And I would like to ask you, if you
have not done that, would you partner with us?
It's just an amazing time. God is working. We
just need to see more James in more homes. We
need to see more small groups and more churches
living it out, serving their community, and we
can get there together. Let's do it. Good word,
Chip. Well, if you want to help us create small
group materials and get believers into authentic
community, pray about becoming a financial partner.
Your gifts fuel our growing library of resources
to help Christians really live like Christians.
Visit livingontheedge .org or call 888 -333 -6003
to give a gift today. That's 888 -333 -6003 or
go to livingontheedge .org. And thanks in advance
for doing whatever God leads you to do. Okay,
let's get started. Here now is Chip with today's
talk, Why You Need a Small Group. Teresa and
I were in a big, big transition in our life.
We had moved to Texas. We had two little boys.
I was just starting seminary. and we found a
local church there in the Dallas area. And this
church had a couple thousand people. We came
from West Virginia, where a megachurch was 250
or 300 people. It was very warm. The preaching
was excellent. The worship was excellent. We
would drop off our kids, and it was just exciting,
and they loved to go to church. And the first
time we were there, people invited us over to
their home. We had a meal. We ate ice cream.
I mean, if you were trying to create an experience
we'd say, that's what a church ought to do, it
would be that. And I'll never forget, maybe it
was six weeks or eight weeks in, of these wonderful
after wonderful after wonderful after wonderful
experiences at church. We were opening the door
and I had my hand on one of the handles and Teresa
did on the other. And our eyes met and I turned
to her and I said, do you want to go to church
today? And she said, no. I said, you know, neither
do I. And there was a Wendy's across the street.
I said, let's go get a cup of coffee. And we
sat down and we tried to figure out this is probably
one of the best churches, best services, most
friendly, very biblical that we'd ever been to.
So what's wrong? Why do I not want to go to church?
We were being taught. We learned a lot. but we
were ministering to no one. Nobody knows us.
We don't know anybody else. There was no intimacy.
No one in the church really felt close, nothing
more than casual hellos and passing concerns.
We were relationally high and dry. And I remember
praying, and I got up one morning, and I thought
to myself, I knew that leaders, whether it's
a pastor or business owner, were looking for
people that wanted to make a difference, that
were willing to step in and serve. And so I got
a three -by -five card out and I wrote my name
and some contact information and then very brief
bullet points of I've led a college ministry
and I've done this and I was involved in this,
involved in that. And then I went to the church
office during the week and I said, could I have
an appointment with the pastor? You know, it's
a big church and I'll never get there. And she
smiled and looked on some calendars, and then
she gave me a date. And he had me meet at a restaurant.
It was just like a diner, nothing fancy. And
so we both sat down, and part of what I wanted
to do was talk about where we might fit in the
church. And we had lunch, and we talked, and
he asked me a few questions about my 3x5 card
and this and that. Two days later, I got a call
from the church, and they said, hey, we have
a large high school ministry, and would you and
your wife be willing to kind of help team up
with the group that's there? There's a couple
couples that are working there and figure out
maybe what role you could have. And yes, absolutely.
And I taught here and there, and we connected
with the church. We connected with those kids.
It was like two months later. He said, hey, we
have a big vacancy. We don't really have much
of a college ministry. Would you be willing to?
kind of step in and lead that? And my wife and
I said, yes. And we had the time of our life
going to seminary, leading this ministry. And
as we would meet together, I would disciple them
and Teresa, the girls, and we would spend some
time eating and sharing, worshiping with the
guitar and help the young guys learn how to communicate
their faith and build bridges and love people.
And I look back and all of a sudden our world
completely changed. I had all this pressure.
I was working full time, going to seminary full
time. And the highlight of my week was these
10 or 12 college students who really love God,
who were hungry. And we were a part of their
life. And, you know, we had a baby during that
time. And they just all gathered around us. And
the group grew like crazy. And, yes, it was a
lot of hours. But I don't know if I could have
made it through seminary apart from that group.
And someone asked me, how do you do so much?
And I thought, I'm learning so much Greek and
Hebrew and theology and every book of the Bible,
the joy of teaching every week, that college
group. And if you don't give it out somewhere,
you go crazy. And two things happened. We were
using our gifts. We were building deep, authentic
relationships. And we got to be a part of people's
lives changing. I had been a basketball coach
and led a college ministry on the side as a layperson,
and I knew about developing small groups and
discipling men, and I praised God for the bricklayer
who discipled me. But I had never done it when
there was that much pressure. I'd never done
it when it was my lifeline. And it gave me a
completely different view of the church. Today,
like never before, More people are not going
to a local church. A lot of people have kind
of left the church after COVID and for some very
good reasons and for some not so good reasons.
A lot of people are just online. Others, you
know, you go to church and you hear someone speak
and there's singing and there's some worship
and then you get up and make some small talk
and you leave. And these ideas of life change
and joy and peace and feeling connected and...
They just are not a part of a lot of very genuine,
sincere Christians' lives. See, the church isn't
that building and the church isn't what I'm getting
out of it as a consumer. The church is the living,
supernatural body of Jesus that's vital and it's
organic and it's about people and it's about
being connected. It's not going and listening
to a message. and evaluating that and maybe even
putting it into practice. That's a very important
part of it. I mean, I hope it's an important
part of it because I've spent decades of my life
studying hard, praying hard, preparing messages
to feed God's people. But what the Bible teaches
is that we can't put it into practice alone.
To be loved and to belong and to change and to
feel God's love. and to be used by Him, and to
discover spiritual gifts. That can't happen by
watching online. This is not a guilt trip. You're
missing out. That can't happen by simply going
to church. And I don't mean this as a bad word,
but by being just a consumer. You have to move
to being a participant. You're listening to Living
on the Edge. And before we continue today's program,
let me ask you, are you in a small group? If
so, are you looking for a new study to do together
this year? Well, join us after this message to
learn more about our library of resources that's
sure to help you and your group grow in your
faith together. But for now, here's Chip to continue
his talk. I'm reading a book on emotions. It's
by a theologian, and he's a counselor and has
lots of degrees. But he talks about the deepest
longings, desires inside every human heart is
number one, to be connected, relationally with
other people. And number two, your life making
a difference. When you go to work, when you go
to church, when you wake up, it's that idea of
having purpose and meaning that what you actually
do. is making a difference. Apart from that,
we lose hope, we lose meaning. We see it happening
in young people, in the next generation, because
once you lose absolute truth and once you have
no spiritual religious orientation, well, that
means there's no why I am here. And so often,
They don't experience that when they visit a
church, if they ever do visit a church. And the
great majority of young people that have left
the church is because they haven't been connected.
And that longing and that belonging has not happened.
What I really want to say is, Jesus really cares
about you. He loves you. I mean, He really loves
you, and He's for you. And we all have some common
needs, and those common needs... They can't ever
be satisfied by what can come across the screen.
They can't be satisfied by even doing a good
job or having a great career or even marrying
the right person. Loneliness and depression,
the number one health issues in our world, can
only be solved by deep, enriching, honest, authentic
relationships. And all of us are so insecure.
And all of us have so many defense mechanisms.
And all of us are so afraid that people will
get to know who we really are. We spend so much
time posing in relationships. And Jesus so longs
for us to come in honesty and authenticity and
transparency. And that can't happen in a large
group, whether it's 100 or 500 or 5 ,000 worshiping
together. That large group worship service has
a very, very vital and important place. But our
personal relationships require the container
of a small group. Psychologists tell us the only
way to overcome the stress and pressure of life
is some sort of small supportive group. We kind
of laugh sometimes. You get a little bit older,
and if you look at teens in a high school, and
you get the sports group, and they dress this
way, and sort of the music -type group, and they
look this way, and the more nerdy people look
this way. And, you know, sometimes we can laugh
and say that's what kids do, but we want to belong.
I mean, it's inherent in every single human being.
And whether you're 60 years old and on big Harley
Davidson motorcycles with long hair, or whether
you're preppy looking, or whether you're a software
developer, or whether you play softball on the
weekends with this group, we all are looking
for groups and belongings. And then we dress
in ways and we speak in ways that we are desperate
for people to say. I want to be in this group
because I'm desperate for someone to know me
and I can know others in a meaningful way. Our
greatest desire is to be known and to discover
who we are and that our life has meaning and
value and that we'd have that in love and acceptance
with other people. Where and how do you get that?
What I know is that there's a small percentage
of followers of Christ, and there's a small percentage
of people who go to church regularly that are
in what I would call an authentic, deep, relational
small group. This fall, we're going to really
cast a vision to say, you need to be in a small
group. We're going to talk about all of our small
group resources that we make, some things that
every believer needs to study. We have it on
video and we have it in different formats. And
you can tell me, well, my church really doesn't
provide that. I'm going to say, fine, you start
one. I will tell you this, instead of just giving
you some great content and having you watch a
video or study something on your own, I will
lead the small group. You put the video on. Teaching's
only about 25 minutes. I'll lead the first few
minutes of that group. You don't have to be alone.
If you just open your home, invite some friends,
and you would be shocked. If you said to a group
of people, my house, we're going to do this,
it's eight weeks or whatever, and why don't you
come? Ask one person, hey, would you mind maybe
bringing some drinks and a few snacks? And you
just do that together. And yeah, it's awkward
the first week or two, but in all of our small
group resources that we make, in the back of
them, we give you, hey, here's how to set up.
Here's how to kind of lead and facilitate things.
Here's a few things not to do. And I just can't
tell you how critical and important this is.
And I told you, you know, we've been doing lots
and lots of teaching, and we just taught through
the entire book of Philippians. And what I want
to encourage you is hearing about that is good,
but getting that kind of information and then
a discussion where you share. And where, yes,
the truth of that becomes at the core of meeting,
but then you begin to share your life and your
struggles and your ups. and your downs, and you
begin to really authentically and openly pray
for one another. And as you begin to go on that
journey, God will show up. I remember I was coming
off of one of my many back surgeries. And I realized
that my attempts getting back with it were not
doing well. And I'm kind of cheap, so I didn't
want to pay a personal trainer. But I realized
I've got to get strong again, and I'm not doing
well on my own. And so there was a place. I didn't
know anybody there. And I pulled in and said
hi to the guy and told him what I needed to do.
And he said, well, this last person's done. Let
me do a little interview. And he got a clipboard
out and asked me a bunch of questions. And we
got through, I don't know, maybe 10, 12 questions,
15 minutes. He looked at me and said, you sound
very familiar. I said, well, what do you mean
I sound familiar? He goes, well, I've heard your
voice. And then he kind of looked down at the
clipboard. He goes, are you Chip Ingram, like
the guy that's on the radio? I said, well, yeah.
And he broke out in this big smile, and I said,
you've got to be kidding me. And he then began
to tell me his story. It's one of the most powerful
stories I've ever heard, and we have now been
friends well over 10 years since. And he told
me the story of being involved in full -time
Christian work and having a huge moral failure.
Lost his family, later married the woman that
he was having the affair with, had a couple kids
with her. And he lived in that life for well
over a decade. And then God got a hold of his
heart. And I had met him shortly after he had
really come back to the Lord. a really deep repentance.
He had gone back and rebuilt bridges and apologies
and was making amends, was living in a very,
very difficult situation. You can imagine the
struggles, the guilt, the shame, the issues he
had to overcome. In the midst of all this, we
would work out three times a week, and he was
a great trainer, and I was making progress, and
we shared a lot. And as we talked month after
month after month, I realized that there was
something missing, and I said, do you know why
you can't get over the hump? You need a group,
man. No one can do this alone. You're the most
disciplined person I know. You're in the scriptures.
You're praying. You're making every effort. You
can't do this alone. You need a small group.
And he goes, oh, my schedule, I can't do this,
I can't do that. I'm working multiple times and
doing this and doing that. And I had a buddy
at a church who's doing a real early morning
small group. Six, 15, 300, 400 guys were coming
to it, and then they would break into groups.
I said, you need to go to that. He's a good friend.
He's a great teacher. You'll meet great men there.
The guy rearranges the schedule, and that was
the beginning of life. of the Spirit of God using
other men, of being understood, of being loved,
of realizing he wasn't alone. And that was for
two years or so. And then pretty soon, they were
taking a big, big break for like months. And
his group didn't want to take a break. And so
he kept going and he led it. And then after that,
there was another guy that had a friend. And
so he starts another group. And all these years
later, he leads about four different groups.
He has led more people to Christ, his 88 -year
-old father and like 90 -year -old mother. And
if you really think about it, the people that
really want to change have learned this. You
got to do it in a group. And so here's my plea.
You need a small group. And if you don't have
one, launch one. You don't know how, we'll help
you. But Christians need to live like Christians
for their good and for the glory of God. And
Christians cannot live like Christians. apart
from authentic community. And authentic community
happens in the context or the container of a
small group. And that's my prayer. That's my
longing for you. You're listening to Living on
the Edge with Chip Ingram. I'm Dave Drewy, and
I hope you were encouraged and motivated by this
special message from Chip, why you need a small
group. Chip's back with me in studio now. And
Chip, it's pretty obvious from this program why
we as followers of Christ need community and
how necessary small groups are. I mean, they
can forever change someone's life and help all
of us mature spiritually. And as you mentioned
today, we have a growing library of study guides
and video resources for small groups. So take
a minute, if you would, and highlight a few our
listeners should check out. Well, Dave, we all
have special times in our life where there's
either crisis or we know we need to improve our
parenting, our marriage, or there's some emotional
issues. And as people go through, there's plenty
of small group resources like that. But what
I think is missing is what historically has been
called a catechism. A catechism is a well -ordered
process of truth by which you go through it systematically
and intentionally. in order to become more and
more like Jesus and to fulfill more and more
what Jesus has called us to do. And so if you
follow Jesus' life, his actual chronological
life, the first thing is he defined what a disciple
is. And so the very first study I encourage people
to do is true spirituality, becoming a Romans
12 Christian. It'll let them know this is what
it means to be a follower of Jesus. The second
thing Jesus did is he took them through various
experiences to reveal who God was like. What
is God really like? And so our second study,
it's called The Real God. And in that, we study
the attributes of God and how to get them from
your head into your heart. The third thing that
Jesus did is he helped them understand. How does
life change really occur? How do you put it into
practice? We have a study from Ephesians chapter
4 called Transformed, The Miracle of Life Change.
And then the fourth one I'll give you, because
I don't want to lay it all out, is that when
you take these kind of steps, all hell breaks
loose. I don't mean that as a cuss word. What
I mean is it's challenging. It's difficult. There's
spiritual warfare. And that's our study from
Ephesians chapter six. It's called the invisible
war. What every believer needs to know about
Satan, demons, and spiritual warfare. So let
me encourage you, unless there's a critical need,
a high felt need, consider studying in order
the catechism. the way Jesus taught his disciples.
Well, to learn more about the studies Chip mentioned
or any of our other small groups, go to livingontheedge
.org or call us at 888 -333 -6003. And let me
tell you, these materials are so easy to use.
Chip provides the teaching. Then you'll have
time to discuss what you've heard alongside our
helpful study guides. We even offer some insights
for leaders on how to care for and guide their
groups as well. So if you're not in a small group
yet or are looking for something new to study,
check out our resources. And for a limited time,
we've discounted all our small group tools. Visit
livingontheedge .org or call us at 888 -333 -6600.
to learn more. Atlas NewsTap special offers.
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please know that however you support us, it is
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much. Well, from all of us here, I'm Dave Drewy,
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