A 3/3 Group (PRONOUNCE AS “Three-Thirds”) is one that divides their time together into 3 parts. The format focuses on faithfulness to past leadings of the Lord, hearing together from the Lord, and planning obedience in the near future to any guidance given by the Lord.
This 3/3 pattern can be used for a simple church (or home church), a leadership cell, or peer mentoring group.
This is how it works:
Care and Prayer: Take time to have each person share something they are thankful for. Then each person should share something they are struggling with. Have the person to their right pray for them about the items they share. If anyone is struggling with something that requires more attention, stay after to care for that person.
Vision: Spend time singing together and tie the lyrics to the themes of loving God, loving others, sharing Jesus with others, starting new groups, and helping others do the same. Alternatively people could share Bible passages that communicate these themes. Check-in: Have each person share how they did regarding the commitments they wrote down from the previous week:
If they forgot to follow through on a commitment or did not have the opportunity to do so, then those commitments from the prior week should be added to this week’s commitments. If someone simply refuses to obey something they clearly heard from God then it should be treated as a church discipline issue.
Pray: Talk with God simply and briefly. Ask God to teach you this passage.
Read and Discuss: Read this week’s passage. Discuss the following questions:
Read this week’s passage again.
Obey. Train. Share. : Take at least five minutes in silent prayer. Have everyone in the group pray for the Holy Spirit to show them how to answer these questions, then make commitments. Everyone should write the commitments down so they can pray for people knowledgeably and hold them accountable. They may not hear something related to every question every week. They should note if they share a response which they are not sure they heard from God, but they think may be a good idea since the accountability will be handled at a different level in that case.
Practice: In groups of two or three, practice what you have committed to do in question 5, 6 or 7. For example, role-play a difficult conversation or facing a temptation; practice teaching today’s passage, or practice sharing the Gospel.
Talk With God: In the same groups of two or three, pray for every member individually. Ask God to prepare the hearts of the people who will be hearing about Jesus this week. Ask Him to give you the strength and wisdom to be obedient to your commitments. This is the conclusion of the meeting.