LEADING A SENT 6:7 SMALL GROUP

• Pray for your own heart - for you to be filled with the Spirit and be guided by Him as you prepare and lead.
• Pray through your oikos to determine who you should invite to the group.
• Pray for God to prepare hearts.
• Pray for logistics - promotion, convenient location, time, etc.

Carefully choose the time, location, and backup facilitators.

• If you want to foster greater connection and authenticity between participants, meeting in homes is preferable. Consider how childcare will be handled.
• If possible, plan for a 1½ hour group. This allows for 1¼ hours to cover the material, and then another 15 minutes at the start for mingling and refreshments as folks arrive.
• If you only have one hour, make sure not to sacrifice the main content of the Facilitators Guide (teaching notes), nor some time for interaction. If you prepare well and edit your lesson to fit the time you have, you will be in good shape.
• Choose someone to facilitate the weekly meeting in the event you are absent. Consistency is key to an effective small-group study. Changing dates and times or missing meetings because facilitators are not present is a sure way to encourage dwindling attendance.

Promote the group

• As an added resource see How to Start a Sent 6:7 Group.
• Start your promotion three weeks to a month before your group study begins.
• Make your invitation/challenge to the group specific.
  • We encourage hosting your group in seasons (fall and winter, and spring and summer), which allows for short breaks for both Christmas holidays and summer vacations.
  • In a spirit of truth and grace (highly relational) and keeping it missional too, ask for them to commit to coming to at least 80-90% of the sessions. Assure them that we will take breaks as life gets hectic. We know that life gets hectic, but for the sake of the group, their growth, training, ministry, etc., but we are asking them to commit to 80-90% each season.
• Promote the group as many ways as possible. Facebook, Instagram, email and text messages, church bulletins, church foyer tables, posters, and personal invitations. Use all channels available to you. A personal invitation is the most effective way, by far.

Prepare each week.

• Study the material ahead of time and meditate on it throughout the week.
• Are there any handouts, paper, tools, etc. - that you need to make sure to bring (in-person) or send (digitally) before the group begins? (For example, Satisfied? booklet, pencils or pens, resources from the appendix, etc.)
• It is helpful to go over your final teaching notes many times before you actually teach, so as to allow the Holy Spirit to pour His heart into you.
• Pray over the message – asking God to teach through you and cause learning to happen in a life-changing way.
• For deeper study, consider looking at theological resources and tools (commentaries, word studies, etc.)
• Refresh your memory by looking through your notes, either the night before or the morning of.
• Be familiar with the Participant’s Notes (PN) for each lesson, not just the Facilitator’s Guide (FG).
• If PowerPoint slides are being used, familiarize yourself with each one and where they coincide with the Facilitator’s Guide (FG). In some of our curricula examples, the green highlighted CLICK means that you should advance the slide at that point in the FG as you teach.
• Have all materials pre-printed and ready to hand out to the group or send each group member a PDF copy of SENT 6:7 and ask them to both download it and get a copy made and bound.
• Depending on your group’s needs, have other resources available that Sent 6:7 refers to in your session notes.
• You will find a helpful glossary of terms here, to help you define certain terms and concepts that will emerge from your DBS.
• It’s important to note that the material is divided into the following sections…
  • The Motivation and Encouragement section each week is for general use. It is not to motivate the group for that day’s lesson but to “Cast vision for who they can become in Christ or what God can do through them.”
  • The Context section is to give you important background information for the Bible text you will study that week.
  • In the Discovery Question section be sure to encourage specific application to lessons that emerge from the Bible passage you studied, in order to grow in Christ-likeness. For example, in Session 2 you will study “forgiveness”. You might want to ask: Is there a relationship that I need to take steps to restore? Maybe I need to forgive someone or ask someone for forgiveness, just like in the story?"
  • The Retell the story section encourages us to learn to retell the Bible story in our own words, as it will help us remember and give us the ability to share it with others.
  • The I will by when statements are meant to allow all participants to capture what the Holy Spirit is impressing on all for specific application.
  • In the Looking Forward section, the meaning of each part is important:
    • Preparing involves some kind of equipping and practice, for skill development;
    • Pursuing encourages application; and
    • Praying gives all the opportunity to entrust everything into the Lord’s hand while expressing dependence on Him and His power to help us pursue Jesus and His mission
  • The In Your Time with God section is a place where we put valuable resources that the participants can use, study, read during the week when they have their devotional/quiet time with the Lord.

• Be ready or arrive at least 20 minutes prior to the group study so you can have room seating set up, refreshments ready, and have time for personal prayer. If computers and screens are being used, allow even more time.
• Start and finish on time. Resist the urge to “wait until everyone is here” before starting, or to “keep going because everyone is engaged” when it is time to stop.
• Let everyone know they are welcome to stick around but that they’re free to go at the prearranged finish time. It shows you respect their time.

• Begin with a little informal time to allow participants to connect with each other on their own terms. Food, even if it’s light fare, usually puts people at ease.
• It’s probably a good idea to provide the food for the first couple of meetings. Later, invite participants to bring something each week.
• A sit-down meal for the final week of the study can be a great way to celebrate and reflect on what you’ve all learned together.
• Arranging the chairs in a circle facilitates better discussion.
• Using a group list of names, emails and phone numbers, look for opportunities to make connections during the week. For example, send weekly encouragement, homework, the snack schedule, or articles that participants will find interesting.
• Create a group forum for communication using a tool like WhatsApp or GroupMe.

• If you want honesty, be the first to share openly and personally.
• If you want the group to experience the community, make a point of sending a quick text throughout the week to check on individual group members or just to say “hi.”
• Set up a time to meet for coffee or dinner with a couple or individual you don’t know well.
• Stay in touch with the needs of the group and brainstorm opportunities to serve each other.
• To foster a culture of praying for each other regularly, send a mid-week group text asking people to share prayer needs.

• You are a facilitator, as well as a teacher. Empower others to discover the truth of Scripture for themselves by asking great questions. Don't turn your discussion time into a lecture.
• Allow the Holy Spirit to speak through the study materials. While it's great for you to share your own experiences, stories, and opinions, let the text be the main focus.
• Keep discussion questions to a minimum as you will only have about 30 minutes in the Looking Up section typically. We ask these questions in the Looking Up section always:

1. What caught your attention and why?
2. What can we learn about God or people?
3. How can we live differently in light of this passage? You could also use: Is there a command to obey, example to follow, promise to claim, or sin to confess? Or Why is this story important?

• In the Looking Forward section we always ask: How do I need to specifically apply this to my life? (I Will By When)
• As you discuss the Bible, you may be drawn into theological debates. Remember this isn't the purpose. The goal is life change, not simply gaining knowledge.
• Create a safe environment for group members to share. Don't put down group members' comments or questions. Affirm people when they share, don’t just move on to the next person or topic.
• Ask open-ended questions that can't be answered with a simple "yes" or "no." If you must ask a "yes or no" question, be sure to follow it with "Why?"
• To encourage non-talkers to participate in your discussion, call on them by name. For example say: “I’d like to hear what (insert name) thinks about this question.” At the same time, never force participation, which would create an unsafe environment. This also works when there are overly-talkative group members by making it clear who should be speaking.
• Stimulate further discussion by responding to members' contributions. You can simply acknowledge their response (Thanks for sharing, Helen.), or you can ask guiding questions to clarify general or vague responses (Tell me more about that).
• Be aware of nonverbal communication as well (a groan, deep sigh, or laughter)—some say up to 90 percent of communication is non-verbal.
• When someone answers incorrectly, respond carefully. Instead of telling group members they're incorrect, turn it over to the group. Ask, "What do others think?" or "Does everyone agree?" You can also ask, "Do you find that in Scripture?" Be gentle in your response. It may be better to confront the issue one-on-one outside of the meeting.
• When your discussion goes off on a tangent, acknowledge the new topic's importance, and suggest that you table the topic until later. Having people participate—even if their comments are off-topic—is a good thing. Just keep steering the conversation back to the main topic.
• Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. As your group grows closer together, some will become more open in sharing personal struggles and challenges. At times, it will be appropriate to stop and pray immediately.
• Remember at all times to be CONFIDENTIAL regarding the personal things shared.
• Encourage note-taking to enhance the learning process.
• Apply The 30 Second Rule. Too often, leaders ask a question, wait three to five seconds, and then jump in to answer it themselves. Group members will learn that you'll always give the answers, which will discourage future participation. It takes at least 20 seconds for many people to process questions, especially reflection and application questions.

• Keep the group open, if people want to join you after you’ve begun, let them in. You can catch them up with the group content via personal meetings at a later time (over coffee, for example)
• Don’t worry if people depart the group - as family situations change, people move, jobs change, there is sickness and, sometimes, people will lose interest
• The essence of making disciples is influence. Keep these Five Fundamentals:
  • Love and Influence
  • Teach-Model-Coach
  • Call to faith, action, challenge, and entrust
  • Move to those far from God
  • Church, Kingdom and community
  • (find a longer description here for further study: Five Fundamentals of Groups that Multiply Disciple Makers)
• We want to make sure that Sent 6:7 PURSUE groups encourage missional living (*).Jesus commanded us to teach with obedience in mind, as well as taking the gospel to all people. So, remember the MAWR Principle (model, assist, watch, release).
  • (*) Neighborhood parties with a theme, Life the City questionnaire, Soularium Image Survey, The Amazing Question, Story of the Soul or Short-Film gathering in your home
• We encourage you to try to practice some of the missional living applications together, when possible; and encourage gracious accountability to play a part in the culture of your group.
• Many topics and issues may arise in your small groups. We encourage you to look for credible resources and spiritual leaders to serve your small group members for good answers.
• There are some with an apostolic, missionary mindset, who are called and responsible for expanding outreach and going to where Jesus is not known, who will want to look for a leader who can replace them, so that they can move on to start new groups, faith communities or churches. America as a mission field needs an increasing number of leaders who love well in laying a foundation for new believers and getting them connected in a great community. If you are that kind of person, you will want to stay connected to the group you’ve started, as you move on to begin another group! The calling to love people we don’t yet know will cause some of us (and maybe you) to keep moving the gospel forward. But you can stay connected. You should connect the leader who takes your place to a DEVELOP group for their continued encouragement and leadership development.