It’s amazing how quickly we learn to adjust as circumstances swiftly change around us. The things we thought would be a hurdle for later (i.e., moving your church, Bible studies, and small groups online) are now a must-do. I am beyond grateful that technology helps us continue supporting our communities, even if it looks different than it used to.
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I remember the days of midweek church.
We’d gather Wednesday nights for a scaled-down version of Sunday morning: a little singing, some prayer, and meatier teaching.
The kids would be dismissed for age-appropriate classes, while the adults stayed in the sanctuary for lecture- or discussion-based lessons. It was an effective way to get our whole church body growing in biblical literacy. [Read more…]
Logos Bible Software helps you do deeper Bible study and get more out of your time in the Word.
Faithlife Groups help you stay spiritually connected to your church, small groups, and ministry.
Combine them, and you have a powerful recipe for deeper fellowship.
If you’re a pastor, ministry leader, or small group member using Logos Bible Software, Faithlife Groups help you share what you’re learning with your Christian community.
Logos Bible Software has 15 different document types to help you get more from your Bible study. Each has its own unique features and functionality.
Recently, Logos helped you master the 15 document types in a two part series.
Here are a couple ways Faithlife Groups help you use these diverse documents
Say you’re part of a church or ministry that includes teams of leaders and small groups. Each group likely communicates, organizes, and meets together independently of the larger ministry or church, but still remains connected to the main group and actively participates in large group gatherings.
This basic ministry structure can apply to both local churches and to regional or even national levels of any Christian organization. Faithlife Groups allow you to replicate that basic structure when you communicate with your Christian community online.
Thousands of churches already have Faithlife Groups. Within the groups tab, every small group or ministry team can stay connected to the church, while still operating independently.
If your church or ministry is studying a book together, reading it in Logos lets you create a reading plan you can share with your whole Faithlife Group.
Say you want to prepare for Easter together, so you decide to read 40 Days to the Cross: Reflections from Great Thinkers. Here’s an example of what your reading plan might look like:
Or maybe your church or ministry doesn’t read books together. If your group study is isolated to Scripture, you still have a lot to gain from using Logos and Faithlife Groups together.
Within Logos, you can create passage lists that you can share with your entire church, using a Faithlife Group.
Say you’re exploring what Scripture has to say about “wisdom.” Logos lets you pinpoint every passage mentioning wisdom. You can also toggle “memorize” to practice memorizing the verses you’re studying together. When you save this search as a passage list, you can share it right to the documents tab of your Faithlife Group.
Take a look:
There are lots of ways that Logos helps with your sermon prep.
But when you’re done with a sermon, what does your church do with it?
Maybe you filmed it, so your church adds it to a video archive. But that’s more useful to people who haven’t seen it.
Your church’s Faithlife Group is a completely appropriate place to share your sermons in document form. And perhaps, more importantly, when you prepare your sermons using Logos, you can instantly create and share a professional bibliography.
As a pastor or speaker, you should always be prepared to tell people where your insights come from, and when you prepare your sermons with Logos, creating a bibliography is easy:
When someone asks you where you got that quote from John MacArthur, your bibliography can point them to the exact book and page it came from. If they own Logos and the resource in question, they can even create notes and comments on the quote, which can be shared directly to the group.
To see examples of all 15 document types available in Logos and your Faithlife Group, join the Logos Sample Documents group.
Each document has a specific purpose. To get the most of these documents, you’ll need Logos Bible Software, but many of these documents will still have value to your congregation or ministry team regardless of whether or not they own Logos.
Perhaps the best example of this is the prayer list. Prayer lists are created within Logos, but once you share them with your Faithlife Group, anyone can access and interact with them.
Try out the 15 document types, and see how your church or ministry can put them to use!
How does your church share, learn, and grow together? Tell us in the comments!
Small groups are some of the best places to dig into life’s deepest questions. In a good small group with close friends and fellow believers, you can share what you really think without being attacked or belittled for your opinions. It’s one of the safest settings to honestly discuss theology.
But how and when do you start these conversations?
If your small group has any dominant personalities, then having a theological discussion in person makes it hard for everyone to speak their mind.
Group messages can get messy, and even annoying. It’s too hard to track who is responding to what. A really active group message traps everyone in the conversation.
Email conversations can be a nightmare, flooding your inbox with one conversation. When each response creates a separate chain for the conversation, it’s too easy to get lost, or accidentally ignore someone’s thoughtful response.
If your small group has a Faithlife Group, these deep conversations are easy.
The “discussions” tab is your small group’s own personal forum. As with everything in your Faithlife Group, you determine who can see your discussions (in this case, you probably want “members only”).
In “discussions,” you can create a new thread on any topic you want, and your group can see the most active topics at a glance.
Your conversations stay organized within the thread, and the threads are neatly tucked in the discussions tab—so the conversation can continue on the side without taking over your small group.
Say you want to have a conversation about Christian dating.
These conversations can be great in person, but creating a discussion in your Faithlife Group lets everyone take as much time as they need to thoughtfully respond.
After people answer, you can skim over the responses to quickly get a sense of everyone’s thoughts.
If your small group wants to discuss a topic together, a Faithlife Group is a great way to test the waters and see where everyone is at, before diving in together at your next meeting. It’s also a good way to make sure you don’t open a can of worms in the middle of Bible study.
In Faithlife Groups, you can quote directly from resources you own in Logos Bible Software, or your Faithlife Study Bible.
Right now, one of my good friends is exploring Catholicism. He gave me Rome Sweet Home as part of a wedding present.
Having a conversation about the book using a Faithlife Group means that when he quotes Scott Hahn‘s argument about 2 Thessalonians 2:15, I can use Logos to pull up everything in my library on that verse and take the time to produce a thoughtful, educated response, rather than drawing from my immediate reaction.
Even within the comfort of your small group, people’s convictions can create barriers to discussion. Knowing the people in your small group helps you decide if it’s a good idea to bring up a particular topic.
Use your discussions to build each other up (Proverbs 27:17), not to tear each other down (2 Timothy 2:23).
What are you discussing with your small group right now? Tell us in the comments!
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If your small group isn’t using a Faithlife Group yet, you’re missing out on prayer lists, shared reading plans, Community Notes, and more. Faithlife Groups are the ultimate church communication tool. The best part is, they’re absolutely free.
Summer’s here, which makes this the perfect time to gather a church group or a collection of online friends for Bible study.
Start by combining the Faithlife Study Bible (which you can get for free) with Faithlife Groups, and you’ll get all the tools you need to put together a powerful study for people who can’t regularly get together.
One church has already done this and seen amazing results! To let you in on their secret, Torn Curtain Church in Greenville, South Carolina put together a video that walks you through getting involved in their Colossians study:
Are you, your church, or your friends using a Faithlife Group? Leave us a comment and tell us about it.
Download the Faithlife Study Bible, and start your own group today!