Leading a Small Group

We've made the material as easy to follow as possible by laying everything out for you. It will appeal to either inexperienced or experienced teachers. The ultimate goal is to be as audience-focused as possible. Afterall, the study is about the power of Jesus' love for others.

Our Teaching Approach

Following the Lessons

The lesson plans are very detailed in order to assist even the most inexperienced teacher to effectively lead the study. If you are an experienced teacher, you will likely want to do some reshaping of the material on your own. You will then own it better, but be cautious of doing too much experimenting. Don't be so creative that you get off track.

Remaining Flexible

It is important that you are audience-focused in the order of your lessons. For instance, if someone challenges whether or not the Bible stories are true, you may want to skip to the lesson that addresses miracles the next time (assuming it is a serious challenge that desires an answer). Be sensitive to where the group is. This may mean abandoning a whole lesson based on a question at the start of the evening. Don't be so flexible that you lose the movement of the material, but be open to what the Spirit might want you to teach.

Explaining the Gospel

You might have to explain justification by faith 25 times before someone understands it. Be patient and expect the need to do this, and you won't get discouraged. Many lessons have a section at the end that mentions the gospel. If at all possible, bring the gospel message into a lesson, making sure you relate it to the material in that lesson. For instance, when talking about compassion, you can speak of Jesus' compassion driving Him to the cross. Or when you talk about honesty, you can say how God needs to deal honestly with our sin. And in addition to sharing the gospel message, you should be open with your group about your own ongoing struggles to love, which will help non-Christians relate to you and see more readily that the gospel is for ones such as themselves.

Interacting With Non-Christians

The prospect of leading a group with non-Christians can be daunting. Satan's grip on people can seem so strong, but it is really quite weak compared with God's power. For one thing, Satan doesn't offer the comfort of family. Non-Christians have little opportunity for the rich fellowship that Christians have, nor do they live carefree lives. They are often lonely and hurting in their closest relationships, because the myths of our modern world just don't cure the soul as Jesus does. So, when they begin to taste your love and Jesus' love, they are drawn in. The neediness of non-Christians might not show on the outside, but it will soon come out if you get to know them. Simply inviting them may appeal to their need to fill the emptiness in their lives. Once they are in your group, the resources you have as a Christian are enormous:

• You have yourself. In a world that is phony and selfish, your love and integrity can stand out with increasing brilliance. Non-Christians are not used to people taking a genuine interest in their lives. How often does someone listen to them or encourage them to talk about themselves?
• You have God's Word. It has its own power to seep into their lives. It works like cancer in Satan's kingdom.
• You have the Holy Spirit, an agent in their souls who is beginning to call them to Jesus.
• You have the prayers of believers, which are effective in taking down any defenses to hearing the Gospel. Jesus tells us to "ask anything in my name and I will do it". Ask for their souls - that they would become fellow worshipers of Jesus.
• You have the Gospel itself, which is the power of God for salvation to all who believe. So, don't be afraid of interaction with cynical unbelievers, because it's not left to you alone to face them. You have the Bible, the Holy Spirit, the body of Christ, the kingdom of God, and the power of the Gospel as your strength.

Endurance

The Apostle Paul frequently used the metaphor of childbearing to describe his bringing people into the kingdom. Be braced for the need to endure. You are a missionary and need to count the cost of what that might mean. Missionary work only becomes successful when you endure in the face of hardship, and the most difficult hardship is messiness. It might be divisions in the team, people dropping out, or participants taking a long time to believe - or rejecting the gospel entirely.

Avoiding the Use of Christian Language

Evangelicals live in a subculture. We have our own language and our own way of praying. There is nothing wrong with this, but as a missionary you must begin to set it aside. You must become aware of your "Christianese." You must leave your culture and enter their culture: strip yourself of all but love and the gospel. So if you start praying as a group, avoid saying things like, "Lord, I lift up so-and-so in prayer." What does "lift up" mean to a non-Christian? Not a whole lot.

Avoiding Quick Answers

It is very important that the Christians in the group not rush in with answers, especially if they've gone through the material before. Yet, they shouldn't be overly quiet. Just be sensitive. Always allow time for others to respond to a question before you provide the answer. It is better to work with something a non-Christian might say than for you to say it yourself. But sometimes you might need to say something for the discussion to get going.

To summarize, our suggested approach to teaching is to follow the lessons closely but remain flexible, explain the gospel as often as you can, interact freely with the non-Christians in your group, and endure with great patience. To help encourage the non-Christians in your group, avoid the use of Christian language and avoid Christian participants' domination of discussions.

Starting a Small Group With Unbelievers

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