Xenos Home Group Model

Patrice McCormac
John 17:21-23

The foundation of Xenos was the home group model, where the church first began. Still today, Xenos is a large church based upon a collection of home groups. This workshop explores the structure of home groups as well as some key features of these groups, including evangelism, discipleship, and community. Finally, this workshop provides an overview of leadership and home group planting.

Persuasion vs. Pressure

John Ross
Ephesians 4:15-16

In order to lovingly guide people toward a full and satisfying life for Christ, we must learn to persuade rather than pressure them. This can take on many forms but always puts God at the center and focuses on grace. There are many biblical techniques we can look to to learn to persuade people to experience the fullness of Christ.

Restoring Evangelism in your Home Group

Doug Patch
John 15:5-8

There are clear biblical principles leaders can use to help spur their home group on to evangelize. Leader's must give a clear biblical case for what God commands in regards to evangelism. They must also lay out how the group is doing in comparison to God's call. Leaders must also communicate how God's grace overcomes underlying sin and encourage people towards what motivates and empowers them to live out the call of evangelism. It is by God's power and grace that moves people to love the lost and so casting this vision is the key motivator.

Effective Teams: Lessons from the Life of Paul

Mike Sullivan
Romans 16:1-13

Through exploring Paul's comments about his own ministry team, we can discover valuable principles for how to make our own teams effective for the Lord. What made Paul's team was effective was that they were faithful, they grew while serving, gave second chances, served and fought together, prayed for one another, and challenged each other. Perhaps above all, they loved each other, a deeply valuable team trait.

The Good Shepherd

Conrad Hilario
Mark 10:45

Through the story of the Good Shepherd, we see what God's leadership looks like in our lives and how we should lead others. This is contrasted with the characteristics of a bad shepherd. Four things we learn about God's leadership are: 1) He wants a personal relationship with those who follow Him; 2) He leads by example; 3) He is continually involved in our lives; 4) His leadership is characterized by self-sacrifice. Are we going to commit to living as servant leaders as Jesus did?

Leading Home Group Evangelism

Doug Patch
1 Corinthians 3:5-9

Leading home group evangelism can be challenging to say the least, but it can first be helped by avoiding some common errors. Several general principles that help promote this include having leaders agree on the need for change and beginning change with themselves. There is no rigid formula, but there are steps we can take to approach the group in an effective way to motivate believers. This workshop presents five key steps to summarize an effective approach.

Intro to the Xenos Home Group Model

Phil Franck
Hebrews 10:24-25

This workshop includes a brief overview of the number and structure of home groups in Xenos, the history of how Xenos came to be, and how these home groups plant new groups. When a plant happens, new leaders must be considered through biblical criteria and raised up. There are several main areas that are crucial for leaders within the groups to focus on and emphasize, which include both evangelism and discipleship. We can promote both of these focuses in our home groups in numerous ways as we equip ourselves with some practical suggestions.

Leading People Toward Repentance

Conrad Hilario
Matthew 26:14-27:3

Repentance is an important aspect of the growing Christian life and having intimacy with God. All throughout the Old and New Testaments, biblical characters demonstrate what it truly looks like to have godly repentance and what it looks like to have worldly sorrow. While both of these may be preceded by feelings of sorrow or guilt, godly repentance brings us closer to God and includes us agreeing with God without minimizing our sin. As we examine other key differences, we can discern true godly repentance in ourselves and other believers.

All Quiet in the Western Church

Craig McElvain
Matthew 9:16-17

The statistical decline of people in the Western church is alarming, and if continues at its current rate, the church is at risk of dissolving into an ineffective, forgotten task force. This decline is apparent in both attendance and church planting, though church planting is still the most effective mode of growing the church as evident by the research. The Western church may be in decline due to the church (and the believers inside of it) having often become impersonal, selfish, and hypocritical. Apart from these characteristics, there is hope if we emphasize aspects common to all church planting movements, ten of which are included in this presentation.