Sunday, December 31, 2023

2023 a year of significant transitions & milestones

 


2023 has been a year of significant transitions & milestones on the family & ministry front. 

In the first half of the year, key events included baptizing little Charis on 19 March 2023, celebrating her first birthday with family & friends on 7 May 2023 and going on our first overseas trip as a family of 3 for Wesley’s Church Camp in KL from 10-13 June 2023.

Claire & I are also thankful to have journeyed alongside a group of young leaders across the NextGEN ministries through the Emotionally Healthy Discipleship (EHD) course. 

We returned to my old small group God’s Clay 1, where we had opportunities to reconnect with old friends & form new friendships, with many in similar life stages as us.

On the ministry front, there were a few transitions for me. One of which is now overseeing the entire NextGEN ministry portfolio, covering CM, BeTween, and Youth Ministry (as of 1 July 2023). Although the YM team went through a lot of transitions, with me as the new YM Pastor, a new YM Chairperson & an almost entirely new YM Exco, I’m thankful that we adapted and persevered, and closed off the year with YM Camp held at Wesley. This being the 20th Anniversary of YM, it was timely for us to also Re-Envision the future of YM collectively, and discern what God has in store for us.

More recently, another significant moment was the birth of our second child, baby Cephas born on 6 Nov 2023, almost 18 months apart from little Charis. Despite being a huge adjustment & challenge for us taking care of 2 kids under 2 years old, there has certainly been much JOY & satisfaction as we journey through this season as a family of 4 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 . 

So as we end 2023, we are trusting in the Lord, for His faithfulness & grace as we cross over to 2024 and step into new Faith Adventures with Him. 

(📷 #1: Charis Baptism, #2: Charis 1st Birthday, #3: God’s Clay 1 Small Group, #4: EHD group, #5: Birth of Baby Cephas, #6: Wesley Church Camp, #7: NextGEN Staff Team, #8: Our Little ones Charis & Cephas, #9: YM Camp 2023:SEEK.)


#2023Reflections

Saturday, December 31, 2022

2022- A year of Significant Milestones




2022 has been a year of significant milestones for Claire & I…

With the most significant milestone taking place on 7 May 2022, where we became new parents to our beautiful daughter Charis. We had to learn on the job how to be parents, as we embraced the joys & challenges of parenthood.

This was also the year where I was ordained as an Elder in the Methodist Church in Singapore to complete 4 years as a Member-on-trial (MOT) in my pastorate journey.

We are also thankful to be able to journey alongside a group of passionate Young Adults in Wesley as we went through 28 weeks of Companions in Christ together. They were the group that went through the different milestones with us throughout the year, from seeing us as being parents-to-be, to our baby girl joining us halfway & graduating together at the end of the year.

Besides that, it was a year where we came out of the pandemic and we finally transited all our ministries back to in-person. We resumed all our services, had our first BeTween JAIA camp in March, our first YMLC held in Wesley & ended the year with one of our largest Children Ministry TGIA camp in December.

We do not know what 2023 will be like, but I do know that it will be another exciting season stepping into new Faith adventures with our Lord, from expansions of portfolios in my pastorate journey as a new elder & also looking forward to experiencing new developmental milestones with my baby girl.

(📷 #1 & 2 -Babymoon, #3- Baby Charis’ Birth, #4- Charis 1 month celebration, #5- 👨‍👩‍👧 Christmas day, #6- Our princess in her playpen in my office, #7- Our fellow Companions in Christ, #8- Ordination as Elder, #9- Wesley Pastors 2023)

#2022reflections
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Friday, December 31, 2021

2021 Reflections- “A Year of New Seasons”


As we come to the last day of 2021, as I reflect back the year, this has been “A Year of New Seasons” in my journey of faith…

Started my new pastoral appointment back to my home church at Wesley Methodist Church ⛪️ on 1 Jan 2021. Began reconnecting with old friends, colleagues and getting to know new ministry partners both staff & lay across the ministries that I was assigned to serve with namely (the Children & BeTween Ministry, the Baptism & Membership and the TSS team).

Besides serving in new ministries, we also had a new discovery in September as Claire & I found out that we are going to have one more new addition to our family 👶🏻 as we prepare ourselves for parenthood come May 2022.

We do not know what 2022 will be like, with all the uncertainty of the pandemic still around, and the preparations for our baby to come, but we are trusting and surrendering the following year to God, knowing that He is the Chief Shepherd leading us in every step 👣 of the way in this Faith Adventure with Him.

(📷 #2- CM Pastoral Team, #3- TSS Team #4 - BMC Pastors, #6 -BeTween Team)

#2021reflections #AYearOfNewSeasons
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Wednesday, February 19, 2020

What is Truly Essential?


This is a personal reflection that I shared with the CG cluster coaches last night (18 Feb 2020) that I hope to encourage us to really ask ourselves what is truly essential for us to live out the Christian faith in the midst of this COVID-19 situation.

With MOH advisory for us to temporary suspend or postpone non-essential events, it has challenged me to reconsider what is truly essential for us to live out our Christian faith today. Or what many others have already shared, this is a time for us to “rethink church” or perhaps this might be a time for the church to “pause” from our busy programmes.


Just this recent Monday, one of our Pastoral Team Members shared three questions to us during our staff devotion that resonated with some of my recent thoughts on the implications of this COVID-19 has on our churches today.

1. Why do we meet?


2. What happen if one day we cannot meet as a church?


3. What are we as a church going to be known for?



But before we can go into that, let us reflect on Hebrews 10:23-25 to glean some insights to these questions.

Hebrews 10:23-25, "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.


Worship Services
Firstly, since we have been given the opportunity to carry on with our worship services with all the necessary precautions, we should always still keep on meeting up corporately to worship God together, be it virtually (if one is sick/quarantine etc) or physically (but with the necessary safeguards advise by MOH).

It is truly essential for us to keep on meeting to "watch over one another in love”, to pray with one another and to spur one another on towards love and good deeds. As Bishop Chong reminded us in the recent MCS 135 anniversary service across all 46 Methodist Churches in Singapore, he said “Religious belief not lived out in the presence of others, and not in interaction with others, has no place or purpose at all.”

Small GroupsSecondly, I believe meeting in smaller groups in homes is still essential. This is something that we should not neglect especially all the more in times of crisis where we need to encourage one another more in the faith. This is where I’m reminded of the early church in Acts 2.


Acts 2:42-47

"They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

The early churches started meeting in homes, the disciples broke bread together, fellowship, listened to God’s word and prayed together. These house churches are like our small groups today or here in CMC we call it Care Groups (CG). We meet in homes and we experience the gospel come alive in our meetings together.

So, going back to the 3 questions again:

1. Why do we meet?We meet to spur each other on in the faith together as a body of Christ. The church is not just a physical building, it is the people of God coming together!

2. What happen if one day we cannot meet as a church (or I would rephrase “in church”)?


To answer this, we need to go back to the first question. And that is that we can still meet together if we see church being more than just going to the “physical church building”. This is where the CGs comes in, it is even more essential that we should not neglect coming together. Yes we take all the necessary precautions even when we are coming together, but we should always still meet to “watch over one another in love” to spur each other on in the Christian faith.

3. What are we as a church going to be known for?
No church wants to be known as a virus cluster, so how can we leverage on this crisis for God’s kingdom work instead! Do we want to be a church that is just fearful, allowing our fear to cripple us, or are we going to be a church that will still carry on the mission of God’s kingdom work within all these safeguards! I believe even in our small groups, we can be a group that impacts the world just as we read in Acts 2:47, “… the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

So, let us keep on keeping on, and persevere on in the faith by encouraging each other on to love and good deeds!  

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Reflections of 2019... “A year of stretch!”

(📷: Photo order: 1: Started 2019 with 2 Pastors at CMC, 2: Discipleship Group with the Youth leaders, 3: CMC YA Retreat, 4: Vacation in England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, visited London & Old Trafford, in Manchester, 5: CG cluster coaches, 6: Back to 4 pastors at CMC, 7: Vacation to Kyoto, Nara, Osaka in Japan 🇯🇵, 8: IGNITE “Heartbeat” Camp 2019, 9: Christmas 🎄 party with both of our families)

I ended the year 2018, sharing at the watch-night service from Joshua 1:9 that for the year 2019, God has reminded me to “Be Strong & Courageous” ...“for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

And true enough, 2019 was a period of growth, in fact to use the words of Ps Vincent it was a “period of stretch”. Although we started the year in “uncharted waters” with only just 2 pastors and we didn’t know what to expect. But on hindsight, I believe God had His purposes & plans for that season as we saw God doing exciting things in the church & we saw the leaders & staff stepped up.

We started the year with our Transformed Series & 7 weeks of consecutive prayer meetings and this was where I really learn to trust that God is indeed our chief shepherd who will lead us every step of the way & equip us for His ministry.

I personally grew a lot as a young pastor, as I assimilated into this new family in the east & I was exposed to serve & lead in ministries across the church, and even to be involve in areas of the pastoral ministry that was new to me.

It was also a year where I build deeper relationships with members of the church and also the leaders of the CG & IGNITE ministries. I got to spend more time with this fantastic group of cluster coaches who meets diligently every fortnight & I also started a discipleship group with some of our youth leaders.

And came 1 August 2019, we had 4 pastors again, where I really enjoyed the last 5 months serving alongside this bigger & stronger team under the leadership of our new PIC. We continue to grow even more as a team, as our entire pastoral team planned ahead for 2020.

In September, we also had our first Young Adults retreat after 6 years, where we saw Young adults across CMC building deeper spiritual friendships with one another & to prepare themselves as His kingdom people in their vocations!

So as 2019 come to an end, and I look forward to the coming year. I believe God is preparing us as a church to be more Kingdom-minded and i’m really excited to see what God has in store for us as we step into the new year of 2020 being a “Church in Action” in the east, “Passionate for God, Loving the Community!”

Monday, December 31, 2018

Reflections of 2018

As I looked back 2018... it has been a year of much transitions and personal growth for me as a young pastor. I transited out of my home church where I began my full-time ministry journey at Wesley Methodist Church since 2011. This was the church where I started serving as a youth worker and in the recent years with the Pastoral Care, Discipleship & Nurture and Small Group Ministry after my theological studies.

7 years later... I began my pastorate journey and was appointed as a Pastor in the Methodist Church on 1 August 2018 & was posted to Christ Methodist Church as my first appointment. Was sad to leave my old friends, colleagues & home church in the earlier transitional period, but since then I have been warmly welcomed by the leaders, staffs and congregation at CMC.

5 months has gone by really fast and I really thank God for this wonderful community whom have embraced my Wife & I as we slowly begin assimilating in this new season of our lives here. Many leaders and congregation members have reached out to us as we made many new friends in this “kampung” like family church in the east.

As I look forward into 2019... we believe God is leading us as a church into “uncharted waters”, I am excited to see what God has in store for us, yet I also have my fears or uncertainty of what the year will be like or new areas or people that God will be leading me too. Whatever the future holds, I believe God is reminding me with this promise from the Lord taken from Joshua 1:9 , “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”


(📷: Photo order: 1: My last Sunday at Wesley, 2: My MOTs batch for 2018, 3: A new season at CMC, 4-6: Vactions in Hk 🇭🇰, Italy 🇮🇹 & Bali 🇮🇩, 7: National Day 🇸🇬, 8: Home for Christmas 🎄, 9: My new family at CMC!)

Friday, February 02, 2018

Mountain-Top vs Valley Experiences

Some personal musings after a conversation with someone today...



In the vicissitudes of life, we all go through the rhythms of mountain-top & valley experiences. I believe all of us desire and pray to always have that mountain-top experience, where either we encounter God’s majestic presence in a very tangible way, or everything seems to be going well hoping that we can just move from mountain-top to mountain-top experiences. However, there are also times, that we are thrown into the dark valley either by unforeseen circumstances or by our own doing. We get discouraged, struggle in those crisis moments and in desperation we either end up being very bitter or we press on praying for God’s deliverance for our situation.


Perhaps, if we see that the Christian faith is not only about having those transfiguration moments at the mountain-top, where we try to do all we can to stay up there, but it is something more counter-intuitive. It could actually be an intentional choice to walk straight into the valley so that we can learn to walk by faith, and not by sight. To put our trust in God, even in the most unsettling of circumstances. And that is what Jesus did, he knew it was God’s will for him to walk into the valley, when he was in the garden of gethsemane crying out in sorrow, “...remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” Or even on the cross, Jesus felt the weight of God-forsakeness in that moment carrying the weight of sin. He knew it was God’s will for him to go through those period of suffering, yet he took that faith to do the will of God walking straight into the valley.


So as we look at our situations today, perhaps you know there is a valley ahead of you, or you are in a valley right now. Do not be discouraged, as perhaps God is leading you to put your hope and trust in Him, to take that step of faith forward, knowing that He will be there with you. These are significant circumstances in life when we avail ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit in our life, surrendering our situations before Him that we can experience the shalom peace of God and the manifest presence of Christ with us even in the midst of the darkest of valley we are in.

Saturday, July 15, 2017

“Building a Kingdom-minded Small Group” (Revised Edition, 14 July 2017) – Benjamin Lau

(My farewell speech to God's Clay 1 Small Group on 14 July 2017)

Introduction
Some of you here will know by now that today will be my last day with this God's Clay 1 small group. After much prayer & counsel with some leaders, I believe God has led me to come to this decision that the season has come for me to officially pass on the baton to the new leadership of God's Clay 1 small group. Please give your full support to Peiqi (Paige) & Jabez (who has willingly agreed to step up & replace me as the new ASGL), together with their core team who will lead you all to the new vision and plans that God has for this small group. 

This leadership transition has been on my mind since we started as a new God's Clay 1 (GC1) small group when we multiplied into 3 small groups during the ACTS2 Church campaign back in Feb 2015. I knew then that my season will only be a short time, as my role was to assist peiqi in the transition until I can find a new leadership team and a successor. Today 2 years on, God has been leading Claire & I to find a new small group which we are still praying about, either a new group that we can be a part of or even lead together since we got married. 

Another reason, why I felt I needed be leave this small group, is personally believe that the new GC 1 leadership need to have the space to lead freely without the predecessor leader around. It is not an easy decision for me as this small group has been a huge part of my life first being part of the transition to this new group and also being part of the original group that was formed 15 years ago in 2002 just before the Youth Ministry (YM) started. I believe God has new plans for this small group in GC 1 moving ahead, with a totally new group of people coming together to fulfil God’s kingdom purposes in the new season ahead.

But before I hand over to the new leadership, I felt led to share some of my burdens on what I see a small group should be one last time. Some of you here know by now that I have this deep conviction that a small group or I prefer the term "cell group" should always be Kingdom-minded, which embraces a vibrant discipleship culture where members in the group will live out being that witnessing community in and outside the church impacting the world for Christ.

Few years ago in TTC, I wrote this paper, “
Building a Vibrant Kingdom Minded Cell Group“ which I have rewritten in the context for this last sharing with you all tonight.

1) Catching God’s Kingdom vision for the Small Group
The first step every small group should go back to is going back to the core of God’s vision and mission for this world and that is knowing our place in light of God’s Kingdom plans. God is constantly calling us into a redemptive relationship with the divine community and to each other. We need to see the broader picture beyond the four walls of the church that this kingdom vision is not just for the concerns of the “souls” of people, but how we are bodily present in creation.[1] If we follow Jesus’ model, he began a discipleship group within the context of their culture and society where they were disciples following and obeying his leading to be like-Christ.[2] This group was an enactment of the divine community where Jesus brought the realm of God into the lives of this people to one another.[3] 

The purpose of such a group was also to prepare leaders, where Jesus modeled the art of influence, taking initiative to lead and to be a living example for them to follow.[4] Jesus led this group so that they could be an example to the church that would change the world for Christ.[5] After Jesus ascension, he sent his Holy Spirit to empower and prepare these disciples to lead the early church, where it began to grow and many were added to the church.[6] Since than the church have grown in numbers and multiplied throughout the world.

However, when a church grows bigger, there will be less space for everyone to experience such “openness, acceptance, earth, and personal growth” which can only be experienced in a smaller community.[7] This is where we go back to the concept of how a small group should be like, it is like a mini church; which allows one to grow in spiritual maturity and fully experience what church life is intended to be. I say "church" here not as a building but as a united body of Christ coming together.[8] In a way it is like experiencing the vibrant life in the fellowship of believers in Acts 2, where members met together in homes, to break bread, worship God, study His Word, share their possession & give to the needy.[9]  Scott Boren describes this with a  missional aspect, he shared, "Instead of doing groups for the sake of experience community, groups experience community for the sake of participating in God's redemption of creation."[10]

2) Knowing the Context and the Curriculum of the Small Group
I would like to also establish that a group will consists of people of varied walks of life,
personalities, social status, different level of spiritual maturity and perhaps God would put some in our midst that will really "sharpen" and test our patience. We cannot have the mindset that we can always be this "holy huddle" who are just of the same spiritual maturity or social status that are comfortable with one another and would only focus inwardly at our own needs every time we meet. That is one of the biggest and likely danger a small group can fall into, and we need to have an education that brings us to see the wider context and content in our curriculum that will bring the small group to focus beyond the four-walls of the church in the context of mission and service.[11]

Such an education would incorporate Diakonia as the central focus in its curriculum as that will bring forth the group to be Kingdom-minded.[12] With such a context being in place, by having the starting point of learning the “compassion” of Jesus, it will transform us to be incarnational who desires to serve and proactively welcome and reach out to the least, the last and the lost into the faith community of the group.[13] Such a “Kingdom-minded” focus will bring forth a new vibrant cell life that will inevitably grow and multiply. This is why I prefer the term "cell groups" as it is meant to have life and to multiply to impact others in this world.

1) Firstly, the curriculum has to be experiential, as it requires the active engagement of members within the small group. We need to experience such fellowship, which demonstrates the “Spirit of grace in action” within the group.[14] James Dunn describes this shared experience as the “Koinonia of the Spirit”.[15]

2) Secondly, the curriculum must be reflective as it encourages the members to not only rationalize with their heads, but also use their hearts and emotions.[16] When we reflect on why we serve within the group, we realize we serve because Christ came not to be served, but to serve, and to set an example for us.[17]

3) Thirdly, the curriculum must be relational, where we acknowledge that every learning endeavor entails a communal learning from one another in our relations with one another.[18] When small group members mutually relate to one another it brings about this attitude to serve and to encourage one another, this is where it also creates such mutual-discipleship to take place as well. 

4) Fourthly, the curriculum must be inclusive where we need to consciously consider the involvement of everyone.[19] This aims for the small group to model out what the church who reflects the world of the all-inclusive nature of God's love as we reflect the truth of Jesus' prayer that we are indeed all one in God.[20]

5) Fifthly, the curriculum must be integrative where it has to be comprehended as one unified whole.[21] In reference to Icenogle’s concept of “One-Anothering in Christ”, we learnt how the house church modeled the life Jesus had with his disciples.[22] Here we can learn how he integrate this “one anothering character of mutual ministry” into all aspects of life, which creates an environment for a discipleship culture within the small group.[23]

3) Practical steps forward as a Small group
Adopting the Wesley SGM strategy of “Gathering, Nurturing and Flowering” it gives a good depiction of a small group life in a church. This model works as a logical “road-map” of progression in a linear method, however, we need to be aware that this model is not as linear as it appears, in fact I believe a healthy small group should have the goal of having all three environments right at the beginning instead of just a natural progression of point A to B.

The core team needs to develop a shared vision of small group with the biblical vision and mission purpose. And this shared Kingdom vision should not just stay within the core group but translated and amplified to the entire small group. Having established this I will be sharing some practical steps that we can take forward in this model of “Gathering, Nurturing and Flowering”.

Gathering
Beginning with the first step of the “Gathering” process. I believe when the group gathers together, the small group leader and core team needs to create an environment in the group with an “open chair” concept, if possible right at the beginning of the first gathering of the small group.[24] This “open-chair” vision is to invoke a clear picture to the group of the mission of the small.[25] The group need to have the consensus to authentically engage and accommodate the seekers.[26]  
                                                                            
Nurturing
The “Nurturing” environment establishes such a discipleship culture, where I believe a small group should start discovering, growing and learning to exercise the different Spiritual gifts within the group. It should be an environment that has such a culture of honor for one another that allows one to serve one another mutually. An environment where we can experience the manifest presence of God and just allow the Holy Spirit to fill us & empower us to exercise our gifting’s for the common good.
                                                                                 
Flowering
The “Flowering” environment is where the small group can be that "Witnessing Community", that can live out the mission of "Missio Dei", God's heart for the people. We are to be intentional about being "missional". We are not only to feed ourselves as part of a Christian life as a community but to reach out to others as well. A group that is generally touched by God will naturally touch others too.

As the small group expands and experiences the fruit of their efforts, the group needs to be prepared for small group multiplication for it to continually be effective in keeping such a vibrant Kingdom-minded group and for relationships to be maintained within the small group.[27] When such a stage is reached, every member in the group will be discipled, people are coming to Christ, and every individual can live out to be that Kingdom-minded believer that are witnesses for Christ in and outside the church.[28]

Concluding Remarks
Imagine this picture of such a vibrant small group, if every single member in the group is mutually, loving, discipling, caring, serving, giving, encouraging and ministering to one another.
A group that will integrate the gospel in all aspect of their lives, a group that will look out for the least, the last and the lost who bless others along the way. I believe such a group will embrace and fulfill the church small group ministry vision of "Growing groups that bears lasting fruit".[29] This is my ideal picture of what a vibrant Kingdom-minded small group look like, and I believe is a vision that God’s Clay 1 small group can become as you all participate together as that witnessing community in God’s kingdom plans for this world!




Bibliography

Boren, M. Scott. Missional small groups: becoming a community that makes a difference in the world. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 2010.

Boren, M. Scott, and Don Tillman. Making Cell Groups Work: Navigating the Transformation to a Cell-Based Church. Houston, Tex: Cell Group Resources, 2003.

Donahue, Bill. The Seven Deadly Sins of Small Group Ministry A Troubleshooting Guide for Church Leaders. Zondervan, 2005.

Dunn, James. Jesus and the Spirit. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975.

Foster, Charles R. Educating Congregations: The Future of Christian Education. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press 1994.

Harris, Maria. Fashion me a people: curriculum in the church. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1989.

Icenogle, Gareth Weldon. Biblical foundations for small group ministry: an integrative approach. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1994.

Kirkpatrick, Thomas G. Small Groups in the Church: A Handbook for Creating Community. [Bethesda, MD]: Alban Institute, 1995.

L.Maddox, Randy and Theodore Runyon. Rethinking Wesley's theology for contemporary Methodism. Nashville, Tenn.: Kingswood Books, 1998.

Neighbour, Ralph Webster. The shepherd's guidebook: A new approach to the cell group church. Houston, Tex.: Touch Outreach Ministries, 1990.

Reid, Clyde H. Groups Alive--Church Alive; The Effective Use of Small Groups in the Local Church. New York: Harper & Row, 1969.

Steele, Les L.. On the way: a practical theology of Christian formation. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1990.

Susanne Johnson, Christian Spiritual Formation in the Church and Classroom. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1989.

Tye, Karen B. Basics of Christian education. St. Louis, Mo.: Chalice Press, 2000.

Tye, Karen B. Christian Education in the Small Membership Church. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2008.

Wesley SGM. Wesley Small Group Ministry Handbook 2010. Singapore: Wesley Methodist Church, 2010.




[1] T.S. Eliot, “Chorus from ‘The Rock’,” Complete Poems and Plays (New York: Harcourt and Brace, 1952), 24.
[2] Ibid., 117-120.
[3] Ibid., 117-121.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid., 199.
[6] Acts 2:41(ESV) “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.”
[7] Thomas G,Kirkpatrick, Small Groups in the Church: A Handbook for Creating Community (Bethesda, MD: Alban Institute,1995), 17.
[8] Gareth Weldon Icenogle, Biblical foundations for small group ministry: an integrative approach, 309.
[9] Acts 2:42-43 (ESV) “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.”
[10] Scott M.Boren, Missional small groups: becoming a community that makes a difference in the world (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 2010), 23
[11] Karen B. Tye,  Basics of Christian education (St. Louis, Mo.: Chalice Press, 2000), 43.
[12] Maria Harris, Fashion Me a People: Curriculum in the Church,146–147.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Gareth Weldon Icenogle, Biblical foundations for small group ministry: an integrative approach, 309.
[15] James Dunn, Jesus and the Spirit (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975), 259-60.
[16] Karen Tye, Basics of Christian Education, 95.
[17] Diakonia Group Paper, (Singapore: TTC, 2014), 2.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Karen Tye, Christian Education in the Small Membership Church (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2008), 141.
[20] Diakonia Group Paper, 3.
[21] Karen Tye, Christian Education in the Small Membership Church,143.
[22] Gareth Weldon Icenogle, Biblical foundations for small group ministry: an integrative approach, 291-292.
[23] Ibid.
[24] Bill Donahue, The Seven Deadly Sins of Small Group Ministry A Troubleshooting Guide for Church Leaders (Zondervan, 2005), 129-139.
[25] Ibid., 143.
[26] Ibid.
[27] M. Scott, Boren, and Don Tillman. Making Cell Groups Work: Navigating the Transformation to a Cell-Based Church, 378-380.
[28] Ibid.
[29] Wesley SGM. Wesley Small Group Ministry Handbook 2010, (Singapore: Wesley Methodist Church, 2010).