Small Group Initiative

Jesus ended His earthly ministry by issuing The Great Commission. He said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”[1] For many people this command is personally challenging as they feel ill-equipped to carry out the task of carrying the Word of God to their World.

Start in Your Jerusalem

Before the Day of Pentecost, Jesus told His disciples, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”[2] Notice the natural progression of the ever-expanding ministry that Jesus is calling each of us to. We are to start in Jerusalem, then move on to all Judea and Samaria, and then finally to the end of the earth. Therefore, starting in “your Jerusalem” simply means that you initially reach out within the radius of your own personal contacts; family, friends, neighbors and the like. A personal invitation to someone you know is the best way to start.

Let God’s Word do the Talking

The next challenge in “reaching your world with the Word” is to choose a message that will clearly presents the complexities of Biblical truth in a simple, straight forward manner. Dr. Chuck Missler’s Learn the Bible in 24 Hours (LTB24H) is just the right message for laying the foundation of the Christian faith. Utilizing the learning tools available through Koinonia Institute (KI) is an excellent way to reinforce the learning experience. When you link the message of LTB24H and the KI tools with an intimate small group experience you have an ideal environment for spiritual exploration and growth.

Join the LTB24H Small Group Initiative

Starting July 2016, Koinonia Institute will begin a special offer that will enable you to start an official KI Small Group which will utilize the “Learn the Bible in 24 Hours” instructional material through the Koinonia Institute online school. The purpose of this initiative is to:

• Enable KI members to host a small group in their home, church, or public place thus allowing them the opportunity to reach out to their “World with the Word of God.” Encourage the shared experience of learning together.
• We know that there is no better place to mature spiritually than in an environment of intimacy and trust where the participants “may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”[3]
• Equip others to take what they have learned about leading a KI Small Group so that they can host a small group of their own. KI is all about “equipping the saints for the work of ministry,”[4] so let’s get going.

Here are a few options you can consider for organizing your KI Small Group Meeting:

Weekly Fellowship

This is a traditional type small group where you meet, enjoy some fellowship, watch the assigned LTB24H session, have a group discussion on the content and then take the session quiz together. This will generally take around two hours per week (plus set-up and clean-up time).

Flipped Classroom

A flipped classroom leverages time away from the meetings and has been increasingly incorporated in many public and private schools over the past 20 years or so. In this model, participants, at a time convenient for them, watch the next session between group meetings. This eliminates the group watching the LTB24H together and for many, may be a better use of time. When the group gets together, the anticipation is that each member is ready to engage in discussion and the joint experience of taking the session quiz together. This type of home group takes about 1½ hours depending on the length of time spent in group discussion.

Bible Blitz

This option allows the participants to accelerate the classroom experience. Unlike the weekly model described above, a Blitz anticipates the participants doing several sessions in one sitting. For example, the group may decide to meet on the first and third Saturday mornings for six months. During these twelve sessions, two sessions would be watched, with discussion following each one. (Or eight days with 3 sessions at each)

Remote Tutoring

In this model, there is no regular meeting (although the group may still meet when it likes.) The KI Academic Advisory Board recommends at least an initial “Meet & Greet” and a culminating celebration. The leader serves as a tutor or facilitator as each participant watches weekly sessions and completes weekly assignments. This decreases the time in meetings for those whose schedules make it difficult to meet regularly.

KI Small Group Leader Requirements

To become a KI Small Group Leader you need to do the following:

• Complete the KI Bronze Medallion certification.
• Have a current KI Membership which will be maintained throughout the duration of your KI Small Group experience.
• Complete the KI Small Group Leader’s course.
• Register yourself on the KI Small Groups home page. This will give you a KI Small Group Leader’s membership number.
• Invite people from “your Jerusalem”[5] to your small group by encouraging them to take advantage of the Special LTB24H KI Small Group’s Offer (shown at the end of this article).
• Instruct the people you invite to create a student account on the Koinonia Institute main website. Make sure that you remind your group members to use your KI Small Group Leader’s membership number when they register so they can get the Special LTB24H Small Group discount and be linked to your online class.
• Lead your group of at least 3 members to completion of the Dr. Chuck Missler’s “Learn the Bible in 24 Hours” series. This series has 12 sessions in the Old Testament and 12 sessions in the New Testament.
• Agree to submit regular reports of your group’s activities with the KI Small Groups Coordinator.

Special K-Credit Offer

For those interested in completing their KI Silver/Gold Medallion certification, the KI Small Group Leader will earn 2,500 K-Credits for leading a minimum of 3 people to successfully completing the entire LTB24H course (BIB101–1 and BIB101–2). Do this with 3 different groups and you will get a total of 10,000 K-Credits (which is enough to satisfy the Koinonos Track requirements for the KI Silver Medallion)[6].

Special LTB24H KI Small Group’s Offer

• The Small Group Leader registration is free.
• Each individual Small Group participant registration fee is US$49.95 (a savings of US$105) for the entire LTB24H course.
• All successful Small Group participants may apply the KI academic credits obtained on this course toward earning a KI Bronze Medallion.