Small groups are exactly that, small. They make the bigger group that meets in a corporate setting feel like a much small place. Everyone one loves the big setting, the fun, the music, the energy, the games and the messages etc. Small groups seem to bring it down to a much more relatable setting, which is the point. Even though small groups are exactly that, there is really nothing small about the impact they have on students. If a small group is lead well, a small group can have an anything but small impact on the students who are in it.

Some areas in which small groups are not so small are that students are:

Growing in faith- Groups are talking about and owning their faith. It is our goal with the curriculum we provide for our students, they will become a full fledged follower of Jesus on their own standing by the time they leave high school. Students from the moment they enter a small group begin to grow in their faith which can have a huge impact in their live and the lives around them.

Growing in community – Small group community is one of my favorite things. I still talk with guys I was in a high school small group with. The group I am in now I know will be producing a growing faith and life long friendships. Students, because they are meeting every week for 4 years (ideally), are going to know each other really well. They have the chance to be real, open, and honest with each other and the relationships that come from small groups is HUGE.

Growing in discipline – The fact they are meeting every week shows discipline. the fact they are committing to study is HUGE. They are making a decision to pray for each other every week is HUGE They are reading God’s living Word every week, which is HUGE. Being a disciple of Jesus has is in the word “discipline” and groups are teaching it every time they meet. This is HUGE for high school students to learn.

Changing for eternity – I do not know what else could be as huge as this. There is nothing small about this. Year after year we see students fully dedicating their lives to Jesus because they experience Him in group as they are studying Him and then they begin to express it in their lives though service and then other’s eternities are changed because of them. There is nothing small about it.

Small groups may be the name of it, but there is NOTHING small about the impact they make in student’s lives.