Are you registered for a Bible study or small group this fall? I hope you are! If not, you may be missing out on one of the sweetest opportunities we have to grow in our faith and in community.

I can’t tell you how many children’s ministry and family ministry leaders I talk with who are new to a church staff—or new to volunteering—and have never participated in a small group Bible study.

Almost all of them!

So let me give you four solid reasons why you should jump into a study this fall:

1. You are a child of God—not His employee. As believers in Jesus, our primary identity is child of God, not ministry employee, staff member, or volunteer.

It is absolutely essential that we keep growing into the likeness of Jesus, especially when we are representing Him in a role of leadership. And honestly? It is so much easier to serve Jesus when we are spending time with Jesus.

Studying God’s Word alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ strengthens us for the work God has called us to do.

2. Small groups remind us that we are wired for Christian community and we are better together. A small group is a wonderful place to grow in Christian relationships with the Body of Christ right where we serve.

And it’s also a beautiful opportunity to remember that the Body of Christ is much bigger than the church where you happen to serve—or the church that happens to be your place of employment. A quick online search of small study groups for other local churches in your community or on your commute can give you a bunch of choices to fit your schedule.

We need one another. We were never meant to do ministry alone.

3. Your small group can become a ministry partnership. If you participate in Christian study in the church where you serve, you have a natural place to share your heart, your vision, and the ministry God has entrusted to you. It can be the perfect place to say, “Here’s what God is stirring in me. Will you pray with me? Will you help me? Will you come alongside this ministry?”

Sometimes the best ministry partners are sitting right there beside you in Bible study!

4. You are modeling a life of learning for the bigs of the littles you serve. When we willingly submit ourselves to a small group, we model something incredibly important for the adults and families we serve: We never outgrow our need to learn and grow in Christ-likeness.

Making margin for spiritual growth keeps us teachable. It keeps us humble. It reminds us that even when we are leading others, we are still disciples ourselves. And I think that’s a pretty important lesson for our littles—and their bigs—and our colleagues to see.

This fall I’ll be joining a women’s-only small group that meets on Thursday mornings in the home of a hostess-with-the-mostest, co-led by two other amazing women of faith whom I want to know better. Our study will be Father’s House: The Path That Leads Home by Karen McAdams and Rachel Faulkner Brown.

The very first line on the back of the book says: “This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike ‘What’s next, Papa?’”

And I’m here for it.

I want to live an adventurously expectant life—one that keeps asking, “What’s next, Papa?” and then eagerly follows where He leads.

So, friends, here’s my question for you: What small group or Bible study will you jump into this fall?

Find one. Register. Show up. Open your Bible. Make some new friends. Grow a little deeper.

Your ministry will be better because you did. And so will you.

“And you did not receive the ‘spirit of religious duty,’ leading you back into the fear of never being good enough, but you have received the ‘Spirit of full acceptance’ enfolding you into the family of God.” Romans 8:15

Last week, LifeWise Academy Cherokee was invited to give a five-minute “speed date” presentation alongside nine other nonprofits at the monthly Cherokee Christian Ministerial Association luncheon. Our LifeWise Program Director invited me to come along and help share the story.

We set up our LifeWise table, enjoyed a fabulous lunch, and then the presentations began.

I wasn’t sure what to expect.

But I left encouraged, challenged, and reminded of something important: God is active and on the move among His people in my own backyard!

1. The Lord is Active and on the Move – It’s easy to become overwhelmed by the needs of the world. Pick up your phone, read the paper, watch the news—and suddenly the weight of everything feels like it belongs on our shoulders.

It doesn’t.

We are not called to carry every need. We are called to be faithful to the places and people God puts in front of us.

Around that luncheon table were people answering God’s call in very practical ways: supporting families, tutoring children, serving senior adults, providing transportation, meeting medical needs, and so much more.

God is already doing something. Where might He be inviting us to join Him? Safe Passage & Trail Life

2. We Don’t Have to Reinvent Every Wheel – Churches are really good at teaching God’s people to love their neighbors. But we can be even more effective when we partner with people who are already in the trenches.

One organization serving single moms to dream again shared that their greatest need right now is tutors—from elementary math to English and chemistry. Serenade Heights

Another is serving senior adults who need rides to appointments and helping people living in their vehicles. Stand Up for Seniors

Someone is already doing the work and made a way. Maybe our job is to ask, “How can we help?” The Hope Center

3. Sometimes We Need to Go Where the People Are – I was especially encouraged by a mobile medical ministry bringing free medical services into the community. For families without reliable transportation—or whose schedules make a traditional medical office difficult—going to them matters. Bethesda Community Clinic

God’s people are using their gifts, experience, education, and even family partnerships to meet people right where they are. Encompass Ministries

4. Our Voices Matter – Our Christian community has gathered multiple voices to help elect local officials who share a Biblical worldview. If anyone says Christians should not be involved in local politics, they don’t know history. Every person, which means every elected official, has a worldview. I’d prefer to support candidates who share a Biblical worldview. Take Action Cherokee

“All politics are local.” Tip O’Neill, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

5. The Body of Christ Is Showing Up

That may have been my biggest takeaway. The Body of Christ is answering God’s call to love neighbors in so many ways, across all ages and stages of life. And sometimes what looks like a little offering becomes much more when the Lord gets His hands on it.

If this is happening in my backyard, it’s happening in yours. Convoy of Hope and Matthew 25:40 Car Care

Not every organization will have a website, but many will have some kind of social media presence. Schedule an hour and dive into the pool of people in your community who are already doing God’s work.

Learn about them. Make a phone call. Ask how your church can partner. You don’t have to make any promises, but learn what the Lord is already doing to serve the least and the lost of your neighbors.

Consider showing up once — to simply to bless someone with the ministry of your presence.

Keep a little resource notebook of local organizations you can recommend when a family in your church has a particular need.

Because someone has already started from a sacred scratch.

Look around, listen well, pray faithfully, and join the good work God is already doing.

We are better together and in the words of one of the presenters, “It takes an army.”

“What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.” 1 Corinthians 14:26