DSMN 630: What Is a Group? 9/13/2026

The Written Assignment:

What is a Group

Joo Won Lee

DSMN630: Small Group Ministry (B01)

September 13, 2026

Contents

Summary-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3

Clique Vs. Small Group------------------------------------------------------------------------------4

G.R.O.U.P----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5

4 Questions Related to Church & Small groups---------------------------------------------------5

Inward, Outward, & Upward Concepts-------------------------------------------------------------8

Bibliography--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9

Summarize Arnold (Chapters 1 – 2) and Earley and Dempsey (Chapters 7 – 15), and utilize the Comiskey website to address the following:

     Basically, Arnold discusses small groups tracing its roots to our Lord Jesus’ small groups and compares to the contemporary small groups found in our churches. The relational aspect of the small groups is crucial in that the personal relationships one builds within the small groups settings with one another would ultimately shape up the kind of “disciple”, the ultimate goal of training a believer, would be. And the most treasure, valued, and biblically-endorsed trait in a disciple is none other than “love” as Arnold writes, “Disciples are made in relationship. As you think back over your life, you can no doubt think of many things that you learned by watching and then imitating. This is how we learn to ride a bike, drive a car and lift weights”[1]

     Dempsey and Earley also write that, “Once a group has gelled and the members love each other, the job of building and maintaining community is not finished. It has only just begun. The “one another” commands of the New Testament show us how community is maintained.”[2] Here, we are all reminded of the eternal kernel of truth related to the (Agape) love as narrated in 1 Corinthians 13 that love withstands even the power of faith and hope as it is the most desirable quality in the saints.

     Dempsey and Early write that, “Psalms 73 is the journal entry of Asaph renewing his perspective on the faithful life. He is struggling with the seeming prosperity of the wicked. How can they be wicked and prosper? Then he writes: When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood … God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever … But as for me, it is good to be near God. (Psalms 73:16–17, 26, 28)”[3] 

          (Note: The next excerpt is rather a long quote from the authors, but the author of this paper thought it best to have it inserted here since it just about encapsulates what the reading for this week or rather a discipleship training is all about.) Dempsey and Earley also write that, “There are so many exhortations to love one another in the New Testament that any group that does not have love as its defining characteristic needs to reconsider its priorities. Consider for just a moment the following passages: • The Great Commandment in Mark 12:33—Jesus teaches us that we should love God with all our heart, soul and mind and that we should love our neighbor as ourselves. • The New Commandment in John 13:34—In this passage, Jesus again instructs us to love one another. He goes on to say that by our Christian love for each other all men would know that we are his disciples. Francis Schaefer wrote that our love for one another is the ultimate and final apologetic (which means our defense or answer for our beliefs). • All the other “one another’s”—There are over thirty passages in the New Testament that contains the phrase, “one another.” These passages encourage us to pray for, love, admonish, comfort, forgive, exhort, show hospitality and so on. These “one another’s” show believers how to practice biblical love.”[4]

Explain the difference between a clique and a small group.

     According to Arnold, “Cliques have the following characteristics: close, inward-focused, controlling leadership, past-oriented, Elitist, Static, talk, segmented, unintentional whereas

Small groups is open, outward-focused, spirit-led, future-oriented, Fluid/multiplying, do, integrated,”[5] It appears that a clique is a secluded, closed-off exclusive group where there is no spiritual or soul-saving evangelical outreach growth nor maturity whereas a small group as can be found in regular evangelical is just the opposite: therefore, in a small group there will be a discipleship, bonding/fraternity, growth and maturity of souls among the individual members and the group overall.

What does G.R.O.U.P. stand for, and why is each important?

     G.R.O.U.P. stands for the following:

G stands for Guided by a leader; R stands for Regular meeting times; O; stands for Open God’s Word; U stands for United in service; P stands for Prayer for one another per Dr. Dempsey.As Early and Dempsey observe, “Every Group Member Is a Minister The word Christian means “little Christ.” It means that we are to be like Jesus. What was Jesus like? Jesus described Himself this way: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Notice the words serve and give. Ministering, serving and giving are characteristics of the true followers of Jesus Christ.”[6]

Answer the 4 questions related to groups and your church found in chapter 1 of Arnold.

1.     Who (or what) has been an important influence in your own spiritual life, to lead you to Christ or to help you grow in your faith?

It would have to be my family; my family has been there for me through thick and thin, and they are the rock upon which I can lean on when I am feeling a little weak or lonely. We are all legacy believers in that we have been Christian family for 4-5 generations, but each family members brings a specific strength to the table, and are gifted of special spiritual talents.

2.     Based on what you read in this chapter, what are some of the practical results of Jesus’ disciple-making?

As Arnold writes, “Jesus committed himself to the disciples in every way. He made himself accessible to them and confided in them, calling them his friends. Because he committed himself to his disciples, Jesus had great expectations of them. Second, in return, the disciples were committed to Jesus.”[7] The fact that our Lord did what He said, and was truthful by showing by (perfect) examples, probably made most impression on His  own disciples, who in return went out onto the world and tried to do the same.

3.     How were small groups used to build the early church?

Small groups in the early church focused on communal living; these efforts and progresses are particularly well narrated in books such as Acts:

     As Arnold writes, “A fascinating aspect of discipleship is that Christians in the twenty-first century are in a direct line that can be traced back to the original twelve disciples. In 2 Timothy 2:2, Paul illustrates the process of disciple-making in the following way: “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” Thus, all disciples of Christ have been entrusted with the gospel message, which they are to continually invest in the lives of others. Rather than ending with us, the process must begin anew with us, as with each new generation.”[8]

As Dempsey and Earley notes that, “Every believer has at least one spiritual gift and that spiritual gift should be used to build up the body of Christ and to minister and serve others,”[9] Therefore, in essence a communal living based on most the two greatest commandments guided by the Holy Spirit, that is how the early church was built.

4.     What are key differences between a healthy group and a clique?

     As Arnold writes, “In healthy groups, as friendship deepens, members are able to challenge one another to take new steps in growth. Growing Christians find new reasons to worship and thank God together. Out of this kind of community comes a sense of joyful challenge that draws others to join them as they seek opportunities for growth. The possibilities are limitless. We must be careful, however, to differentiate between healthy small groups and unhealthy ones. Not all small groups provide a positive impact. If structured carelessly, small groups can hinder growth, exclude people, provide platforms for negative or destructive personalities, and keep people from reaching their potential for service and outreach.”[10]

Explain inward, outward, and upward, and apply the concepts to your context.

     ‘Inward’ means that a group is exclusive, closed to outsiders and the group itself is not necessarily looking forward to growth; ‘outward’ means just the opposite to ‘inward’ in that the group is open to outside to recruit, evangelize to, welcome new members to its group so that it would continue to grow, expand, and mature toward establishing certain stated goals: in case of Christianity or church, this stated goals means two things for a small group setting: 1) Obey and keep the Great Commandment as outlined in Matthew 22:37-40 ESV, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

 2) Go make a disciple of every nation, tongue, and people as outlined in Matthew 28:19-20 ESV, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.”

“A fascinating aspect of discipleship is that Christians in the twenty-first century are in a direct line that can be traced back to the original twelve disciples. In 2 Timothy 2:2, Paul illustrates the process of disciple-making in the following way: “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” Thus, all disciples of Christ have been entrusted with the gospel message, which they are to continually invest in the lives of others. Rather than ending with us, the process must begin anew with us, as with each new generation.”[11] “Upward” is the continuous communication between the disciples and the Holy Spirit; the regular worship, prayers, and supplication, and even all kinds of services or (physical) offerings made to church including the mission works/trips in the third world country, that would have made a difference in the discipleship-making and kingdom expansion efforts at large.

Bibliography

Jeffrey Arnold, The Big Book on Small Groups (Revised Edition) (InterVarsity Press, 2017)

Rod Dempsey and Dave Earley, Leading Healthy, Growing, Multiplying, Small Groups (Wordsearch, 2018).

[1] Arnold, Jeffrey, The Big Book on Small Groups (Revised Edition) (InterVarsity Press, 2017), 24.

[2] Dempsey, Rod and Earley, Dave, Leading Healthy, Growing, Multiplying, Small Groups (Wordsearch, 2018), 41.

[3] Dempsey, Rod and Earley, Dave, Leading Healthy, Growing, Multiplying, Small Groups (Wordsearch, 2018), 46.

[4] Dempsey, Rod and Earley, Dave, Leading Healthy, Growing, Multiplying, Small Groups (Wordsearch, 2018), 59–60.

[5] Arnold, Jeffrey Arnold, The Big Book on Small Groups (Revised Edition) (InterVarsity Press, 2017), 10.

[6] Dempsey, Rod and Earley Dave, Leading Healthy, Growing, Multiplying, Small Groups (Wordsearch, 2018), 53.

[7] Arnold, Jeffrey, The Big Book on Small Groups (Revised Edition) (InterVarsity Press, 2017), 19.

[8] Arnold, Jeffrey, The Big Book on Small Groups (Revised Edition) (InterVarsity Press, 2017), 22.

[9] Dempsey, Rod and Earley, Dave, Leading Healthy, Growing, Multiplying, Small Groups (Wordsearch, 2018), 33.

[10] Arnold, Jeffrey, The Big Book on Small Groups (Revised Edition) (InterVarsity Press, 2017), 31–32.

[11] Arnold, Jeffrey, The Big Book on Small Groups (Revised Edition) (InterVarsity Press, 2017), 22.