Ok, a little late in the day, but nonetheless here we go. In leu of an awesome Easter weekend, the theme for this week is tailored to how you and I as small group leaders can help a new Christian begin to live as a follower of Jesus. Honestly this particular opportunity is one that gets me amped. But, I often find myself going WAAAAY too fast or speaking in Christianese saying things like “dude, ready to start your ‘walk’ or ‘we are going to wean you off milk and onto some meat man.’”. Go ahead, try those out on a guy who has been a Christian for 24 hours. The only thing that will keep him from running screaming is his new found appreciation for grace. Hopefully the links below will help you develop a little bit of a gameplan for discipling a new believer.

• “Eight Keys to Discipling New Christians” (article from Christianity Today): I know, the title is cliche but this article is short and helpful.
• “Top 10 Things newcomers in your church think a small group is” (article from SmallGroups.com): Humorous list to help remind us as leaders what someone new may be thinking about an invite to our “small group.”
• “Measuring Growth in your Small Group” (Article by Summit Small Groups Team): Let me explain because putting a link to an article I wrote feels soo lame. I struggled finding a lot of good stuff that is free on this one. So, instead of re-writing here, I am linking you to an article I wrote for SGX. If you think this is lame…just keep your comments to yourself!
• “Enjoying Grace and Detecting Legalism” (Sermon by C.J. Mahaney): This is my favorite non-Summit pastor to hear preach. The guy is passionate, honest, and full of joy. I promise you will smile and be challenged by God when you listen to him.

Hopefully what you will learn from all of this is that discipleship for a new believer SHOULD not be too different from how you encourage your own spiritual disciplines. As always, if you have any good resources in this particular area, please share!