Help kids get ready to go back to school

Looking for a Small Group project? Here’s one for you! Bel Air is filling back packs for 150 children. Here’s your chance to send a child to school in the fall with confidence and hope for a great school year. The packs will be distributed though Cloud & Fire Ministries, Family Rescue Center and Hope [...]

Autumn 2009 Small Group Season

As you think ahead to the Fall, here are a few dates and tidbits to help you in planning:
SEPTEMBER
9/20 :: New Host/Leader Orientations at 12:15 or 7:15p.m. Complete the orientation online first.
9/20 :: Autumn Small Group sign ups (patio and online). Hosts, please ensure your group page is up to date.
9/27 :: InstaGroup – find or [...]

Writing a group description to enhance your group

The first step for people to join a Small Group is to look at the list of groups available online or with the Small Group staff. Help ease the process of people finding the right Small Group by following the following guidelines when you complete your group description. Scroll down to see an example of [...]

Engaging Downtown through The Bridge

A few months ago, I visited “The Bridge: Los Angeles,” BAPC’s satellite campus in Little Tokyo, the heart of downtown. The worship service ended early to allow time for us to go on prayer walks around the city. We set out in groups of four or five. Passersby might have thought we were in a [...]

Getting lost

I have zero sense of direction. When people ask me about what Small Groups are available in their neighborhood, I usually have to jump onto Google Maps to double-check where their neighborhood is. When I drive somewhere I haven’t been before (and even many place I frequent), I have to write down the directions both [...]

“Share the toy with your brother!”

When I hear the word sharing, my mind wanders back to a phrase I heard often as a boy, “Chris, share the toy with your brother.” Growing up with two brothers and not a lot of money, we boys quickly learned that sharing was the only way to get any playing time with our favorite [...]

A few tips about using a study guide

1. It is designed to help your study of God’s Word. Read the introduction to get acquainted with it. There are generally four primary elements:

Group Life – tools to create a healthy environment.
Observation – What does the Scripture say?
Interpretation – What does it mean?
Application – What does it mean to my life?

 2. It’s not a [...]

Carpet Loops

In my Independence Day blog, I mentioned that we can imagine what the impact of one person is. The most vivid time that I was able to do so was a few years after I became a Christian.
I was in one of my first Small Group experiences–visiting a group that met at the church building. [...]

Encourage One Another

In I Thessalonians 5:11 we read, “Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just in fact you are doing.” In the context we will see that the believers were to encourage one another even when they thought the Lord would return very soon – even in their lifetime. They were to remind each [...]

Independence Day

Today is the Fourth of July–Independence Day. My family spent the day visiting the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. They had a bunch of activities going on–from face painting to trick roping, and even had visits from “Presidents” Lincoln and Washington. As I write this, I’m hearing the first of the fireworks being shot [...]