Home

What is your goal?

Effective small group leaders don't just "lead a group." They raise up leaders to reach the world. They help the body of Christ minister to its members. They create a spiritual family and build a spiritual army. When small group leaders understand this dream, they immediately raise the value of their groups in the eyes of each member.

When the value of a group is raised through a dream, the leader is changed. The dream of group health motivates the leader to pray for her members and to prepare for group meetings. The dream of group growth inspires the leader to contact and invite people. The dream of multiplication sparks the leader to take the time to mentor upcoming future leaders.

When a leader shares the dream of health, growth, and multiplication, that dream changes the people. Once they buy into the dream, members will pray for the group. They will not want to miss a meeting. They will invite others. They will more easily care for, share with, and appreciate one another.

Having a Dream Positively Predicts the Future

A study of Harvard graduates revealed the power of written dreams in positively predicting the future. Forty years after graduation, researchers found that 5 percent of the class had accomplished more than the other 95 percent combined. This 5 percent had one thing in common: they wrote out their goals while in college. The other 95 percent also had something in common. They had not written out their goals.

In his research of the world's most effective small group-based churches and leaders, Joel Comiskey also found the power of dreams to predict the future. He writes,

Cell leaders who know their goal their groups will give birth - consistently multiply their groups more often than leaders who don't know. In fact, ifa cell leader fails to set goals that the cell members can clearly remember, he has about a 50-50 chance of multiplying his cell. But if the leader sets goals, the chance of multiplying increases to three out of four.' 

-- The 8 Habits of Effective Small Group Leaders by Dave Earley