By Dan Lentz

1. What short-term goal do you expect to complete in the next month? What long-term goal are you still looking forward to completing in the future?

Read Ezra 3:8-13.

2. When it comes to the ministries you serve in, which of the following factors help you stay engaged and motivated?

• Spirit-led leadership

• working together with others in community

• my sense of duty to finish what I started

• something else

3. What thoughts from these verses or elsewhere in the Bible are key to creating an environment where Christ followers work together in unity?

4. Take some time to review your group purpose. (This is something all small groups should do from time to time.) Some things you may want to consider discussing in your group purpose statement are:

• our group mission or focus

• expectations of commitment to the group

• how we will share leadership tasks

• logistics of where, when, and how we meet

• confidentiality regarding personal discussion

• child care, if necessary

• growth, outreach, and future group multiplication

Pray together as a group for your purpose.

Dan Lentz works for the Small Group Network in Whitestown, Indiana.

For more small group ministry resources, visit www.smallgroups.com.