Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Small group leaders, pastors, and more discussing strategies for growth and community in church groups. The Small Group Network is an international ministry that equips churches to engage in deeper discipleship and community.
James Browning: Hello, and
welcome to F G squared.
Steve Gladen the global pastor of small
groups from Saddleback church polls
from his over 25 years of experience.
To encourage and equip listeners like
you to lead small group ministry.
So let's listen and learn together.
Derek Olson: Welcome to SG squared.
Steve Gladen on small groups.
Derek here
with the main man
who, oddly enough, his initials
stand also for small groups.
Steve Gladen.
Steve, how you doing, man?
Troy,
Troy: my goodness, it's been,
don't know, 24 years, 23 years.
I don't know, man.
I don't know.
It's pretty close.
Yeah,
right here.
Yeah.
Yeah.
12.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, yeah.
So hero worship was just dying to be done.
What was that?
Oh, well, Siri, the gods are displeased.
Um, yeah.
So, uh, yeah.
Hero worship was actually was written for.
The small group that meets in my
home on Wednesday nights, we've had
a group of young adults for many
years in my, my home and long, like,
I don't know, 10 plus years ago, we
started it and it was all singles.
And then I did a bunch of weddings
and then it was, then it be
gradually became all marrieds.
And so now I've got these young adults.
I've been beta testing stuff and
Guinea pigging them for a long
time on classes that I've written.
And, hero worship was one of
those things that I wrote.
Just specifically, honestly,
for myself, it was, I want to
know Jesus more intimately.
I want to, I want to out of love
for him and admiration for him.
I want to go, how can I
practically, uh, out of adoration
and love become more like him.
And so the book was written just,
and I, and I tried this out on these
people who were trapped in my home and,
uh, they, they had this experience.
It was really rich.
It was really beautiful that we
did together in community as we
all walk through these practical
ways every week that we can
walk in the imitation of Jesus.
And not out of a sense of duty
or obligation, but of a sense
of adoration and love for him.
So that's where the title comes from.
And, you know, if you have a hero,
we tend to want to be like them.
Right.
If you, you know, if you love Michael
Jordan back when the bulls were at the
top, uh, you know, you wanted to wear
his shoes and you wanted to stick your
tongue out when you shot and, you know,
or if you're a Kansas city cheese fan,
you know, Patrick Mahomes is your guide.
Then you, you know, you want to
throw sidearm like he does and you
want to cut your hair like him.
My son cut his hair like him.
That's how I know this.
So.
Um, but you know, we, we tend to imitate
the people that we admire and who is
more worthy of our admiration than Jesus.
So the book was written as a 12 week
experience to walk through these
practices and the imitation of Christ.
And the first season of my podcast was
basically just every episode parallels a
chapter in the book as a, just to augment.
The material that's in there and
during the week, you people a
little bit of something to kind
of remind them of what they're
doing, what they're doing it about.
So it's written kind of like a, it's sort
of a book slash journal slash small group
experience that, um, we've, we've run.
Quite a few people through here
at my church here in Kansas city.
And it's been really beautiful.
So, um, the next season, the podcast
I'm planning to do, going to be,
um, interviews with people who've
been walking with Jesus for a long
time and, and asking them like,
how is their worship relationship
with God grown over the years?
What are the practices and rhythms
that they adopt in their own lives
him better, to become more like
him and to kind of expand their
sacred imagination as to who he is.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh,
there's always a bonus.
Yeah.
There's always more.
We deliver.
Derek Olson: you know, in your, in
your, analogy, sports analogy of hero
worship, you forgot two important, um,
examples.
That would be Michael Pennix at
Washington and JJ McCarthy at Michigan.
You know, people are really
into those quarterbacks.
Yeah.
And, uh,
I'm sorry,
Steve,
Troy: You've just exhausted
my sports knowledge.
Just, just so that, you know, so
Derek Olson: I'm
sorry, that was a,
Troy: Mahomes
Derek Olson: that was a,
cheap shot at Steve.
Troy: Well, apparently she and Travis
are buying a house here in Kansas City.
So paparazzi are going to be
all over that, but yeah, yeah.
Derek Olson: Well, I love this
series we're in, Spices for Your
Small Group, because I really believe
that as small group point people
harness these, or
these spices for their groups,
their groups will come alive.
And then the last episode, we talked
about 10 ways to get group serving.
And then now we're talking about 10
ways to get your group worshiping and
looking over your notes.
Troy, I just love,
uh, the depth you're bringing with this.
So number one, you've got
sing along with your favorite
worship song with a text.
Break that down for us.
Troy: Yeah.
So just, just to be honest, I mean,
I've led small groups for many,
many years, not as long as Steve.
Cause that's, you know, he,
he knew Abraham, but, um,
but, uh, but, you know, a long
time having people in our living
room and let's just be honest.
It's weird to sit around a
TV and try and sing together.
Right.
I mean, it's just, it's an odd thing
to do it unless you've got someone in
your group who's particularly musical
and maybe they play guitar, they've
got a piano or something like that.
And then you've got a bunch of people
who are like, really emotionally
available to jump in and sing
wholeheartedly in the living room.
It's, it's, it's a, it's
an odd nut to crack.
And so.
One thing I would just say is, yes,
um, we want to figure out how do we
worship God as a response to who he is.
And so what are ways that we can remind
people of who he is, who we are in
relationship to him what he has done.
And then respond to that in a way in
a, that makes sense when there's, you
know, eight of us in a living room.
Right.
So, um, So we don't, obviously we
don't reduce worship just to music,
although music is a fantastic way.
I was a music pastor for 32 years.
So, you know, invested, but,
uh, but, um, but it's obviously
that's not all that it is.
And so I tried to give with some
of these strategies, here's ways to
worship God that don't require you.
To sit around the TV and kind of
work up some singing together.
Although if you can do
that, man, that's amazing.
Um, so anyway, singing along, maybe
you pull up YouTube or something
on your TV and you find this,
you've got a favorite song and
either you can have the text of it.
People can pull it up on their phones
or they've got these lyric videos that
you'll see on YouTube and you can pull
that up have everybody kind of as,
as, as you're maybe singing quietly
along with the artist on the TV note.
Which parts of those songs, like
are particularly resonant with you.
They're particularly meaningful for you.
And then when you're done with it,
have everyone talk about the text.
Well, and then why was that portion of
the song, the bridge or the second verse
or whatever it is powerful for you.
Um, and then after everyone has
been able to share, go back.
sing along with it again.
And I guarantee you, you're
going to have just a little bit.
You're going to take a little step
closer towards being engaged with,
um, how God is being revealed through
that little four and a half minutes.
So,
yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, and that was probably the
only like really musical thing that
I have in my list of things here.
So just thought I'd get out of the way.
Just acknowledge the fact that I did
music for a long time and I get it.
I get the challenges of doing that.
But there are so many other ways
that we can bring our worship to God
in the context of somebody's home.
Yes, so my conviction is worship is
always a response to the revelation of
God, that God is always the instigator.
He's always the first mover, and
He has made Himself known to us
through the revelation of creation,
through the revelation of Scripture,
through the incarnation of Jesus
as God in the flesh who shows up.
Uh, for us and the revelation,
even of the Holy Spirit, as we
experience life with God in real time.
Um, so one of the best ways to
kind of open up our hearts to
that is, is through scripture.
So what I suggest here is you
read a passage of scripture.
I think John 15 would be
a great place to start.
Um, this is the great, I am the vine and
you are the branches portion of scripture.
It's personally a really central, uh, from
my own walk with Christ read it together.
Maybe you read portions of it.
You know, each person reads a couple
of verses or you have one person read
the whole thing then, um, offer after
that as a group sort of popcorn prayers
of gratitude, where everyone can kind
of say, this is this portion of this
scripture, this portion of this little
revelation that God has spoken to
me through that chapter is something
that I have a heart of gratitude for.
You know, the Psalms say, I will enter
his gates with Thanksgiving in my heart.
And so I honestly think the
gratitude is really sort of
our opening posture to worship.
And it's meant to, to kind of
expand that with people in your
group and bring it to the surface.
Yeah,
Derek Olson: song,
read a passage of scripture
and offer gratitude.
I love that.
It gets our eyes off our,
our
problems and our issues and on
to all the blessings and just the
all the good things God's doing.
number three, you've got
festoon, a passage of scripture.
What, tell us about this word festoon.
Did I did I even
pronounce that right?
Troy: you did.
Yeah.
So festoon a passage of scripture.
Isn't that a great word?
I love that.
Cause I, first time I
saw it was from CS Lewis.
And, uh, in his writing, he talks
about the, to, that you festoon
your home for Christmas, right?
You're decorating it, you're augmenting
it, you're, you're celebrating, you're
bringing this thing, um, and personalizing
it for the purposes of the season.
so when we festoon a passage of
scripture, what we're doing, it's,
it's just basically, it's like praying
it back to God in a personal way.
Right.
So to say, um, you know,
Yahweh is my shepherd.
God, you are my shepherd.
You are looking after me.
You are leading me.
You have taken care of me and I'm
trusting you with this pathway.
Thank you.
God, Yahweh, God of all the universe,
creator of all things, you know me
and you know, my journey, and you're
taking me on a journey, you know, you
make me to lie down in green pastures,
man, I need to lie down and rest.
Thank you that you would lead
me to this place of goodness
and stillness and wholeness.
So you could take that posture with all
of any, really any passage of scripture.
I think Psalm 23 is a great place
to start and festoon it your own
perspective and your own place
in time as you walk with God.
Well, you know, when, when the
disciples saw Jesus praying, they
felt like they weren't doing it right.
And so they asked him,
well, then how do we pray?
And Jesus, he didn't
teach him how to preach.
He didn't teach them how to
teach, he taught them specifically
how to pray, and he starts with
this, with the Lord's Prayer.
So um, you know, this is sort of
another way of festooning it, but you
can do this as a group by saying, you
know, our Father, right, our Father in
Heaven, what kind of Father are you?
What does that make me?
Well, if you're my Father, I'm your child.
You're a father who is in heaven.
That means you're different
than my earthly father.
Your name is holy.
It's different than my name is not holy.
Your name is holy.
What does that even mean?
Um, so using your perspective as you
pray these phrases and apply them in your
life, it's, it's another way of festooning
it, but you could do this as a group.
Each person, could take a certain
portion of the Lord's prayer.
One person covers, you know, our
father, other person covers in heaven.
The next Holy is your name and use
that as a way to sort of expand
everyone's perspective uh, on
worship, on prayer, on how we bring
ourselves before God as a community.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then, and we're personalizing it,
You're, you're saying it's like, okay.
You know, our father, you know,
sometimes I don't feel like you're close.
I don't feel like I'm being
parented, but I'm trusting that
you were there, you know, is where
am I right now with that piece?
You know, um, us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
God, deliver my child from the evil one.
You know, the world is pulling at my kid.
Oh God, please lead him away from that.
Give him a clear path towards
what is good and true.
Draw him to yourself,
you know, so you can, um.
Everyone can offer that and
you can do that individually.
You can do that as a community.
Yeah.
Yeah.
There's no wrong answers.
You know, we, my wife and I teach a
class on prayer here at our church.
And, uh, one of the biggest hangups people
have is I don't have the lingo, right?
I don't have this, this
elevated vocabulary.
To pray out loud in front of other people.
And it's like, man, I love Dallas
Willard's definition of prayer.
He said, prayer is talking to God
about what we're doing together.
You know, he is your father.
Let's just talk to him like a daddy.
And let's, let's, let's
not have any pretense.
We're not impressing anyone
and no one is judging you.
So maybe you're really good
at that elevated language and
like, maybe you repress that.
When you're with your group, right?
And maybe you feel like you
don't have that language.
Well, don't worry about it.
Cause no one is judging it.
And God most certainly doesn't
care if you have this elevated
vocabulary, just be honest and
come to him like he's your daddy.
Derek Olson: Well said.
I love what you just shared there, Troy,
because I think most people in groups,
they want the real deal anyway.
They don't want.
Somebody that sounds
fancier than they really
are because most people
they're just
trying to get the basics of this down.
Anyway, so
I just love that being being you
Being who you are in front of
god knowing that it's all good
Number five you've got read
revelation four and five.
Uh
Revelation
wow this might uh
alarm some people tell us
a little bit about this.
Troy: Well, this is, it's not
the four horsemen part of it.
Let's just get that out there.
So just in case they're worried, um,
you know, revelation four or five is
this beautiful scene that, uh, John
has of the throne room in heaven.
And it's maybe one of the paramount
kind of like The heights of
worship in the whole new Testament.
It's this beautiful scene of the angels
and the elders and everyone's gathered
before the throne and Jesus is there,
the alpha and the omega, the beginning
and the end, it's just, it's such a
powerful dare I say, revelation of.
a future reality and a present
reality that we have, that, that when
we're worshiping God, we are tapping
into something that's transcendent,
that is going on, has always gone
on in the throne room of God.
the same time, we are foreshadowing
and looking forward to our eventual
participation in this United consummated
relationship that the church has with God.
That's a lot of, that's a lot of
language just to say, read those two
chapters and then respond with, with,
with either just in conversation with
one another what does that mean to you?
What does that say to you?
Or you could respond in prayer.
Once again, you could come to
God with some sense of gratitude
or some sense of anticipation as
to what he's bringing you into.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, uh, It's it's a way of it's
kind of a sacred imagination.
How do you place yourself into this story?
In other words, if you were there,
I'm pulling up Luke 10 here.
It's been a while since I looked at this.
Um, but in Luke 10 versus 38
through 31, we're seeing this.
Where Jesus visits Mary and Martha
right in the famous story where they're
preparing dinner and, and, uh, Mary is
at his feet and just, you know, enamored
with him, worshiping him and Mary
or Martha is preparing for the meal.
And what would it be like if you
were in the room, if you were.
know, sitting on a chair and you are
observing Mary and you're observing Martha
and what are the other disciples doing?
What does it look like?
What does it smell like?
What is the smell of the food
in the kitchen that's cooking?
Where would you be seated?
Is the floor, is it a dirt floor?
Is, is it a wooden floor?
Are the, the front door open?
Are people peeking in the outside?
Where are you?
Maybe you're Mary.
Or maybe you are Martha, but
as you read the story, ask
yourself, what does it look like?
What does it feel like?
Close your eyes and imagine.
what everyone else is
experiencing in that scenario.
As you read the passage, like three
times out loud, go back, read it
again and go back and read it again.
And then when you're done have a
conversation about everyone like,
well, where were you in the room?
Who were you in the room?
What is your story?
Why were you there?
What were you observing?
What was bothering you about it?
What was comforting to you about it?
just, for a few moments, just say, I, what
if I was there, was that experience like?
And then just share that with one another.
Yeah, right.
Hmm.
Yeah,
that's good.
Thank you.
Derek Olson: No, ditto that.
Uh, number six so far.
That was my favorite point so far, Troy.
I love this.
And
Steve, I was thinking
exactly what you just said.
It's like making
a Bible story come
alive in 4d, you know, and
it's just slowing it all down.
and because
even in the church, unfortunately, we've
sped everything up so fast.
Services and even small groups, you
know, we got to end by this time.
I love how this is just
slowing it all down.
Putting yourself in the story.
Uh, that was amazing.
Okay.
Number seven,
write down 10 things, great or small,
um, that people are grateful for this
one might even be better than number
six, Troy, break it down for us.
Troy: Well, just, you know, just to
say that, affirm what you just said.
I think so much of our spiritual
growth to do with slowing.
has to do with decluttering
our hearts and our minds.
Um, we're always pushing,
pushing, pushing, pushing.
And, uh, I just don't think that
that is a, an interior environment
conducive to your, to intimacy with
God or intimacy with anyone else.
And so I think, I think you're on
the money with all of these things.
You've got to take your time.
Uh, love doesn't happen in a hurry.
It just never does.
And so as we clear the table
for time to spend with Jesus.
Um, especially in the living room,
you know, we don't have these, we're
not dealing with the parking and
the children's ministry and, you
know, getting your kids checked in,
checked out where in someone's living
room, hopefully the kids are okay.
It's not Lord of the flies in the
basement, but, um, the, you have that
capacity to linger in these things,
uh, like you're saying, Derek's, I
think it's a really important point.
Um, and so writing down 10
things that you're grateful for.
Um, As most human beings are like,
we're like Velcro towards problems.
I mean, our minds are just
geared towards finding the issue.
If you get a hundred emails in a day,
Steve, and one of them is a complaint,
the only one you think about is
the person complaining, you know?
And so it's, it's natural for us
to gravitate towards problems.
So it takes a disproportionate amount
of effort time to focus on what is good.
What is beautiful?
What is noble?
What is, what is the glass half full?
In your life, maybe it's just a, a quarter
full in your life, but to, to turn your
heart and your mind in that direction.
So writing down, 10 things just as
a discipline, things, you know, I
heard the birds this morning when I
went outside and I let my dog out.
Right.
I, uh, I love it when I came
home and, uh, I smelled.
My wife making tacos in the kitchen, you
know, I mean, uh, I'm so grateful that
my car, which has been kind of sketchy
worked all day, you know, whatever
it is, we're finding those things
where there is a place of gratitude.
And if we do that more and more, we're
going to find out there's a whole lot more
to be grateful for in our lives than there
is really, uh, to have anxiety about.
if we can do this as a group and then
have everyone in a form of popcorn prayer.
And once again, just taking your
time, everyone, you've got 10 things.
If you've got eight
people in the room, right?
That's, that's a few things.
I don't know.
I'm not a math whiz, but I think
that's about 80 things that you
can, uh, offer up gratitude for.
Can you imagine if everyone in your
group, if there's eight people in your
group and they're all specifically
praying for 10 things, you've got
80 prayers of gratitude going up.
What is that going to do the climate
and the culture of that group?
And that, in that particular
meeting, a, it's a thing of beauty.
Yeah.
Right.
All right.
That's really good.
Yeah.
Oh boy.
Right.
And, uh, yeah, talk about awkward, right?
Um, well, here's the thing.
It's, uh, once again, so much of
what we need to do is to slow down
to clear up space for us in God.
It's about us cultivating
a relationship with him.
So here's what I would suggest.
Uh, once, first of all, acknowledge
that contemplation or silence in a group
setting is a weird thing it's okay.
It's okay that it's awkward.
It's okay that it feels strange.
It's purposeful, right?
It's not just, we're not doing this just
for the sake of feeling weird about it.
We're doing this for the sake of carving
out some time to be still before him.
So here's what I would say is set a timer.
Maybe start off small for
like, maybe it's 60 seconds.
Maybe it's two minutes
and you set a timer.
And during that, that silence,
everyone just be still.
try to, um, we're not emptying ourselves
just for the sake of being empty.
We are clearing the space to be
filled by the presence of God.
We're being filled thoughts of him.
We're being filled with who he is.
once again, you're using your imagination
to say, what if Jesus was in the room?
And what if I just close my eyes and
for this next couple of minutes, as
we acknowledge the silence, just to be
present, I don't have to have an agenda.
I don't have to have a list
of things I'm asking for.
I don't have to have a list of complaints.
I can just be.
him and you guys are Derek.
Are you married?
Derek Olson: Yes.
Troy: Yeah.
So, you know, the more comfortable
you get with your spouse, you know,
that you don't always have to fill
up every moment with with words.
Sometimes the greatest intimacy
is just being able to be
comfortably still with one another.
And that's some of the most
beautiful time that you have with
your spouse, or maybe even with your
children is just being together.
So as we're trying to cultivate this
kind of comfort with God, and we can
do this as a group, believe it or not.
So sitting quietly for a couple
of minutes and then just kind
of say unpack that experience.
Was it good?
Was it weird?
Were you visualizing him?
Were you comfortable?
Um the monkeys, the crazy monkeys in
your brain ever settled down during
the course of those couple of minutes?
What, what was that like?
And, and then maybe in future times,
maybe expand on it, maybe try two
minutes, 30 seconds, know, but get
to the point where comfortable with
this and maybe even looking forward to
the stillness for just a few moments.
Yeah.
Well,
Derek Olson: So
counter cultural yet.
So
must need it.
Must have.
Must do.
Love it.
Okay.
winding this down to number nine.
I believe you you've got read Ephesians
chapter six verses 10 through 17.
Why this specific passage?
Troy: it's the full armor of God, right?
It's, um, it's Paul's famous
passage about how we navigate the
spiritual conflicts in our lives.
He says, your battle is not with flesh.
And blood, which to some people, that
means kind of freaky, you know, because
like, it's easy to vilify the person
across the street or the person across
the political aisle or the, you know,
the person, the neighbor whose dog poops
in your yard, whatever it is, it's easy
to see them as, uh, as a, as an enemy.
And Paul is telling us this actually
the real, the real war is being
waged in the spiritual realm.
says, and this is how.
You deal with it.
So my conviction, having been a worship
pastor for a really long time, that one of
the greatest ways that you can put on the
armor of God, that is, you know, the belt
of truth and the helmet of salvation and
the sword of the spirit through worship.
corporate worship.
it's an amazing way to declare
these truths in your life, right?
And to do that corporately
one another is even better.
So you go back, you look at verses 10
through 17, you see these different, um,
different elements of, of your armor.
So I'm just, I'm just
looking at here right now.
Uh, he says, therefore take up the whole
armor of God so that you may be able
to withstand Um, the enemy, so fastened
belt of truth around your waist, put
on the breastplate of righteousness.
Your feet are shod with, um, the gospel
of peace, the shield of faith that
like, which clink quenches all the
flaming arrows of the evil one, the
helmet of salvation and the sword of
the spirit, which is the word of God.
Can you think of a better
way to proclaim all of those?
Elements of your armor in the
spirit, then through corporate
worship, it involves you in every
dimension of who you are as a person.
And so when you declare those
truths, you are waging war.
And it's my conviction that the enemy
cannot stand in the face of God's people,
worshiping in the spirit and in truth.
So.
Back to your living room, right?
What does that look like?
Um, so you take your favorite worship
song, maybe it's off of YouTube or
it's just audio or whatever it is.
Hopefully you're looking
at the lyrics and.
After you, you've listened to the song,
you go then back to Ephesians chapter
six, and you identify in the lyrics of
that song, what parts of the armor of God,
the song best represents and identify.
Yeah.
Well, this was actually the gospel
of peace this, the chorus of this
was just the buckle of truth, or that
was clearly the helmet of salvation.
And you go through these elements
of the song, identify those things.
And maybe if you're really
courageous, you're seeing it again.
Hmm
Yeah.
Well, I think this is a wonderful way
for people to see an expanded revelation
of God in the life of someone else.
so if our worship is a response
to God's revelation, and it is,
God is always the first mover.
we observe how he has operated in
the life of someone else, you know,
someone else that we know, someone
else who is in our living room.
It is a beautiful, powerful way for us to
expand our own understanding of who he is.
It's one thing to read,
like the biographies of St.
Augustine, you know, or you're, you are
Johnny Erickson Tata or somebody, you're
like these amazing people who've got
these amazing stories, but what's in
once the person who sits across the table
from you as you're sharing chips and
dip, and you sit down and they tell you.
is how I came into
relationship with Jesus.
And they go ahead and take some
time and they expand on that.
And this is what it looked like.
And these were the, the people
that God brought into my life.
And these were the circumstances
that surrounded it.
And this was the moment where I realized.
I needed him.
This was the moment where I surrendered.
And this is what happened
to my life after that.
And it was really hard,
or it was really great.
It was really easy, or my parents got mad,
or my girlfriend became a Christian too.
And all of these things occurred.
And while you're telling that story,
everyone else in the group writes
down three characteristics of God
with whatever language they want.
The best exemplifies how they saw
him interact with them in that story.
And then afterwards you share with
one another those same observations,
uh, like this is how I saw.
I saw God meet you as your provider
or I saw God meet you as your healer
or I saw God interacting with you
just kind of like as a loving daddy.
And as everyone makes these observations,
first of all, the person who told
that story is going to be blown away.
By the perspectives of this, you
know, all important event in their
life and everyone else is going to
have their own relationship with
God enriched by the clear hand the
savior at work and someone else.
And so then after you've all shared one
another with those observations, then it
just, I would suggest you just another
time of prayer where everyone offers up
just a short prayer of thanksgiving for
God's character revealed in the story
of this person that they know and love.
Yeah.
Derek Olson: So well said.
well that is the 10,
uh, Ways your small group can
worship, but Troy because he's
so amazing has given us two
extra bonus points
And, um,
Troy: That's 11 and 12.
Yeah, very good.
Thanks, Steve.
Yeah.
Derek Olson: these two bonus points
Uh, Troy, give us these
bonus points and, um,
There's one of them that includes
something about foot washing,
which could get really interesting.
Troy: Right.
Yeah.
Well, first of all, and, um, the
first one I thought of would,
wouldn't it be great if your group.
And observed God's hand in nature.
So depending on where you live, um, you
might have a wonderful park nearby, or you
might be able to like where, where Steve
is from, you can drive down to the beach,
but, um, but just go out and be outside
as a group and just observe God's hand.
in nature, but as a shared
experience with everyone.
Maybe you take a hike or it's a day at
the beach and you intentionally observe,
gosh, this is what is so beautiful.
This is where I see his creativity.
is where I see his wisdom.
This is where I see his power.
How does it manifest himself?
How does his revelation through
nature expand for you when you
go looking for it as a group?
And then share that with one another.
And then, uh, the last one, the last
of our bonus, uh, strategies here
for expanding worship in your small
group would be, um, to include these
sort of almost sacramental physical.
like communion, like foot washing, like
times of silent prayer and reflection.
These are ways, I'm convinced that
worship is a full life response to God.
It is, it is an act of your volition.
It's submission and surrender.
It's an, uh, a lack, it's
an act of understanding.
It's intellectual.
It's emotional.
It is, uh, it's communal.
It's corporate.
It's something that we do together.
Right.
As a body.
It's, um, it's also something.
that is physical.
you sing, when you bow your head,
when you close your eyes, when you
lift your hands, when you, you're
involving your physicality in some way.
And so there's something really powerful
about when we just acknowledge that
I am turning the whole of my life,
including my body towards God and worship.
That's why communion is one of those
things as a sacrament that's so powerful.
We are literally, depending on
what you believe about communion
and your faith tradition, right?
You're taking in the life of Christ into
you to be lived out in and through you.
You could be serving one another in,
you could have a time of foot washing
where husbands all wash the wives.
Or the feet of their
wives or and vice versa.
and, or the, once again, as we talked
about before, one of these things
that feels kind of disruptive dealing
with silence with one another.
Um, all of these are ways where we involve
kind of, um, more intentionally a physical
dimension of worship that we're not.
always accustomed to.
And I think it'll really open up some,
um, it'll open up your perspective on
what it is to worship God by, by kind
of taking some courage and serving one
another communion in your living room.
Right.
Right.
Yeah.
I like that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Thanks so much.
Um, yeah, well, you know, if you like,
you can go to my website, new worship.
com and I have a newsletter that I
send out every week and I've been,
um, I've been writing just kind of
continuing, um, on worship at different
perspectives on worship there.
uh, I'm probably going to be doing,
uh, another book here very soon,
specifically on worship and just
kind of being a guy who has been
involved with it for long, long time.
And now I'm, I'm no longer
doing music on the platform.
I'm more in a teaching role in my church.
And, uh, and, uh, so I'm developing this
material because I, I think God has given
me all this experience for a reason.
And I'm excited to see how God
expands his worship relationship
with people as they seek him out.
So, uh, yeah, so you can find me there.
You can sign up for my newsletter
there, or, uh, um, you know,
you, you write me an email.
Troy at new worship.
com.
If you like this two W's and
I'd love to hear from you.
And if you have any questions or thoughts,
I would certainly love to respond.
Derek Olson: Troy, thanks
so much for your time, man.
I loved the in depth analysis on these
10 ways small groups can worship.
I do really believe it's going to
spice things up for all the
small group point people watching
and listening to this episode.
Uh, I would encourage everyone,
uh, check out Troy's newsletter.
He just shared, keep in contact with him.
And, uh, again, our prayer, our hope was
that this episode really encouraged you
and empowers you to lead
better, healthier, small groups.
If you enjoyed this,
share it with somebody,
uh, give us a five star rating on,
uh, Spotify, uh, Apple podcasts,
leave us a comment and tell
Steve and I how good we look.
And, um, until next time,
we'll see you later.
Troy: Goodbye.
Thank you for listening.
Don't forget to subscribe
wherever you listen to podcasts.
And to dive in deeper get more resources
or join the small group network just
head over to small group network.com.