Why Small Groups Are Important
Greet also the gathering that meets at their house. – Romans 16:5
In Feed Yourself: Learning to Feast on the Richest of God’s Word, the importance of reading, memorizing, meditating on and praying the Bible in community with other Christians is emphasized. While attending large group gatherings is important to hear teaching and to experience corporate worship, the book points out that feasting on and savoring God’s Word communally is vital and occurs best in small groups.
Here are some reasons why:
It's impossible to obey the "one another" commands if you only go to church on Sunday. How can we “be devoted to one another” (Romans 12:10), or “serve one another” (Gal. 5:13), or “confess your sins to one another” (James 5:16) if we only attend a large Sunday morning gathering. Small groups, however, help make it possible.
All four elements of Acts 2:42 – teaching, fellowship, breaking bread, and prayer – occur on a deeper level in small groups. They do not all occur on Sunday morning, where “fellowship” is equated with a quick catching up over a cup of coffee and breaking bread is consuming a small cracker and a small amount of grape juice once a month and prayer is often limited to an opening and closing blessing from the pulpit. In any case it's impossible to be "devoted" to them if you only go to church on Sunday morning. But in a small group we can have a meal together and discuss our mutual investment in God’s kingdom, pray for one another and dig into Scripture – the apotle’s teaching – more deeply.
Groups of two or three appear to be God's basic building block, the basic cell of the church organism. See Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, referencing the strength of a cord of three strands not being easily broken. In Matthew 18:20, Jesus says where two or three believers agree, there he is. Jesus organized the 12 and 72 in Luke 10 by pairs. The Trinity itself is a small group.
Small groups can be attractive to not-yet-Christians, many of whom are not interested in attending a large church, but are interested in spiritual things, and forming friendships. They will come to a discussion group, a class, or a book study with a friend.
Small groups can accelerate the spiritual growth of new believers. They can learn the truths from the Word more quickly by studying it with other believers, learning from their example, having the opportunity to hear answers to their questions, praying together and growing in faith as they see prayers answered and apply Scripture.
Small groups help grow leaders as they are discipled, take responsibility, help shepherd others and study the Bible more deeply in order to help guide others through it.
As you can see, small groups are where the rubber meets the road in the life of a Christian and in the church.