SUMMARY: In this episode, Brian and Rick speak with Chris Surratt, the brand manager for SmallGroup.com at Lifeway, about sermon-based Bible studies. Chris discusses the challenges for small groups pastors and small groups point people in creating a sermon-based curriculum unique to a specific church. Chris warns that what we put into the hands of our small groups leaders is critical to ensuring that small groups are fulfilling their function as not just a place for community but also as a place for foundational and transformational Bible study. Chris shares the benefits of SmallGroup.com as a tool to help small groups leaders access trustworthy Bible study content in a digital format that is completely customizable for an individual church or small group.

Brian and Rick also discuss a blog post by Ken Braddy entitled Should You Ever Drop Someone from Your Bible Study? Finally, Rick shares his list of the week, How Can I Get My Small Group to Be More Missional, an examination of how groups can look for opportunities to serve people and bring the gospel to them.

The Groups Matter Podcast is a weekly show designed to resource, train, and encourage small group leaders. Each episode considers current trends and resources as well as timeless truths and methods of discipleship. It is hosted by Brian Daniel, a Bible study expert from the Lifeway Groups Ministry Team, and Rick Howerton, the discipleship and small group specialist at Lifeway and author ofGUEST: Chris Surratt is a ministry consultant and coach with over twenty-two years of experience serving the local church. Most recently, Chris was the Pastor Of Adult Ministries at Cross Point Church in Nashville, Tennessee, where he oversaw and helped guide small groups and global and local good across five campuses. Before coming to Cross Point in 2009, Chris was on staff at Seacoast Church in Charleston, South Carolina, for fifteen years, serving as a worship arts pastor, campus pastor and on the directional leadership team. Both Cross Point and Seacoast have been recognized as two of the fastest growing churches in the United States. Chris also works with Leadership Network in creating collaborative learning environments for churches across the world. He is passionate about helping people find their next steps toward God within the context of community. Chris’s first book, Small Groups For The Rest Of Us: How to Design Your Small Groups System to Reach the Fringes, will be released by Thomas Nelson on September 29, 2015.

EPISODE SPONSOR: This week’s episode is sponsored by SmallGroup.com. SmallGroup.com is an online subscription service that allows churches and group leaders to create customizable, sermon-based group bible studies. Visit the Groups Ministry blog for a quick how-to tutorial, or visit SmallGroup.com to begin your free 2-week preview.

RESOURCES: If you have a question you’d like discussed on our Groups Matter Podcast, please tweet your question to @BcDaniel or @RickHowerton.