Tips for Celebrating Birthdays

Remembering someone’s birthday shows them that you care. But, anytime you publicly recognize one person’s birthday in your Home Group, you run the risk of forgetting someone else’s. To avoid unnecessary hurt feelings, you might want to consider a more simple method to the madness.

Choose the 1st or 4th HG of the month to be your day to celebrate all birthdays for that month. Here are some suggestions to help you pull this off:

-Make it special, but keep it simple.
-Put a candle on any dessert that was brought to Home Group.
-Gather the birthday folks in the middle of your group, dim the lights and sing HappyBirthday loud and proud.
-Blow that candle out and end with a prayer of blessing on each of them.

Remember to have fun. Avoid embarrassing people and make it something that they look forward to each month. In this way you will show everyone in your group that they are special. And please save a piece of cake for me.

Keys to a Great Community Group Experience

A number of things contribute to making the Sunday morning Community Group experience great, and a great experience attracts new members and keeps current members coming back for more. Some of the things that make a difference relate to the physical and social experience, some to the learning experience. In a nutshell, if the people in your Community Group enjoy being together and enjoy the Bible study, they’ll be back; if they don’t they won’t—at least not for long.

The Community Group Check Up looks at four different areas related to the physical/social experience.

The physical environment. The room is clean and uncluttered, neither too hot nor too cold. The right amount of seating around tables makes it feel comfortably full. Coffee and a variety of fruits and foods are in plain sight for people to enjoy.

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The social environment. People are drawn into the lively Christian fellowship when they arrive. Timid people aren’t ignored but invited into ongoing conversations. Guest’s are greeted at the door, introduced to other members of the class, and never allowed to sit by themselves.

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The preliminaries. The opening welcome, announcements, prayer, sharing, and “community business,” while essential, remain “preliminaries” that don’t overshadow the study of God’s word nor make guests feel like outsiders.

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The learning environment. A gifted, well prepared teacher leads an engaging discussion around the content and questions in The Scrolls. The teacher contributes information along the way but doesn’t lecture. Everyone is given ample opportunity to participate.

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Welcoming a Guest

You’ve heard the expression “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Well, here are some suggestions that will make that first impression a good one. In a word, “SMILE”.

Say “hello.”
Make the first move. Initiate the conversation. “Hello” works very well.

Make eye contact.
Show by your eye contact that you are focused on them. Looking around the room communicates that you are thinking about other things or that you’re looking for the next person to speak with.

Introduce yourself & Inquire about them.
Tell them a little about yourself and without interrogating them, ask good questions that require more than a “yes” or “no” answer. For example, “How did you come to our group?” “What do you do for a living?”

Listen with your heart.
Try to understand where they are coming from, what makes them unique. Do your best to remember their name and other critical information they share. Remember to call them by name and follow up with them on your previous conversation. “How is your job search going? You mentioned last time that you might have a lead.”

End with an invitation.
Thank them for coming and invite them to sit with you in church or come to your Home Group. Tell them about the next group activity and offer a sincere invitation to participate.

A SMILE can go a long way in making a guest feel welcome!

4 Tips for Intentional Discipleship

We are called to "Go and make disciples"...How do you do that!?! How do you start? Here are 4 Tips to help you begin an intentional discipling relationship.

4 Tips for Intentional Discipleship from Pantego Bible Church on Vimeo.

Communication via Email

E-mail is a funny thing! It is all about our convenience. I start writing it when I am ready, I finish writing it when I am ready, and I send it after I have, or have not spell checked and or proofed it. We often read our e-mail when we want, replying when we want, knowing that the sender or receiver will never know what we were wearing or if we picked our nose in the process.

E-mails can be funny, informative, encouraging, and the opposite of each of these. The point that needs to be understood is why you have sent the e-mail. Sarcasm is often misunderstood because the person either does not know you, or does not know that you are J/K (just kidding).

The trick is to be personal but not too informal. Blow is an example, look for these three things:

1. Is it personal?

2. Is it brief?

3. Is it helpful?

SAMPLE

Hello Bob & Sally,

My name is Darren Holt and on behalf of Pantego Bible Church, Welcome! We hope that your experience with us has blessed you. It was a great to have the opportunity to meet you at the Guest Connection time on Sunday. Besides the corporate Sunday worship service, we also have Community Group Bible studies on Sunday mornings, as well as Home Groups that meet regularly in your area.

Our prayer is that you would find a Biblical community that can pour into your life. We truly seek to love and minister to people by encouraging biblical community inside local neighborhoods. Being connected to local believers is essential for developing deep, lasting spiritual relationships.

We believe everyone needs a place to BELONG, a place to BECOME more like Christ, and a place to go BEYOND.

I have copied the Shepherds and some friends of mine that live in your area so that they would also be able to help get you connected.

· Your Community Group (North Trinity Area) meets at 9 am in room 150.

· The Rhiddlehoover Home Group meets Tuesdays @ 6:30pm. Their number is: ###

· The Acosta Home Group meets Sundays @ 1-3pm. Their number is: ###

If you have any questions or if there is something that I can do, please let me know.

We look forward to getting to know you.

In Christ alone,

Darren Holt

817.713.6167 cell

Leading From the Front

Do you remember high school speech class? Talk about awkward. If the person giving the speech was uncomfortable, then the whole room was uncomfortable. If the person upfront was confident, then that put everyone at ease. The atmosphere of your Community Group Bible study can be adjusted just as easily as a person changes a thermostat. It is critically important to your group that you lead from the front and that you lead well. Here are some helpful reminders that will make that experience enjoyable for all.

Eyes - Make and keep good eye contact. Don’t read the announcements…talk to your people. Try to visually connect with every person in the room while you are at the front. And if you smile, they will smile back. Try it. And use the whiteboard

Ears - Speak a little louder than you would normally speak in a conversation. Talk to the person sitting at the back and you’ll be fine.

Hearts - You are not just making announcements; you are connecting with the people you love. If you can connect with their hearts then you will connect in all other areas. Refer to individuals by name; catch the group up on something good that has taken place in the life of your Community Group. Brag on the generosity and care that is taking place. Inspire your people to greater expressions of living life on mission.

Successful Connection Calls

Here are 5 quick tips for making connection calls.

Successful Connection Calls from Pantego Bible Church on Vimeo.